Erasure – Wild!

For what is worth,
This is a loudness-based remaster.
Nothing has been touched whatsoever, in to what a good remaster consists of.
I checked originals and this reissue to exhaustion.
You'll find it hard to ABX the tracks when they have the same volume levels.

QC/Mastering issue: 2-14: 91 Steps (6 Pianos Mix):
Light crackling approximately 2:39-2:40, 2:49-2:51; present on EBX3.3 https://discogs.futbolgratis.org/Erasure-You-Surround-Me-Remix/release/819972

On the first disc, there are two mastering errors in which the beginning of a song does not correspond with where it should be, based on the original 1989 releases. At the end of "Blue Savannah," the bells of "Drama!" are heard, i.e. the album version of "Drama!" starts late and is short. At the start of "You Surround Me," the end of "La Gloria" is heard, which fades out as "You Surround Me" fades in. On the 1989 LP, "La Gloria" is the end of Side 1 and "You Surround Me" is the start of Side 2, and so there should be no crossfade between these songs; there was no crossfade on the 1989 US CD.

Remastering adds a bit of depth and clarity but is (to me) underwhelming. Yes, I am one of those people that expects a sound normalization with modern (excellent sounding) recordings, so just a super minor boost detected here isn't awe inspiring to me. However, nuances exist throughout bringing a bit clarity/fullness to Andy's voice (which seems impossible, less "air" sound) as well instrumentation (percussion and, yes, piano, and some guitar licks) stand out a bit more. However, I wish a stronger decibel level was used to master onto the media to just bring the whole thing to life ... making it magical ... not just technical better. I have a lot of remastered albums and I was hoping for a powerful sound at listening reference level but it was just a minor enhancement to the original recording, until you turn it up then you'll really notice the differences as mentioned. However, why do I need to transform the volume to reference level? The 2nd disc has some interesting materials on it, I had most of it already but still is a great bonus. Digibook style Packaging is beautiful.

UPDATE: The Wild! songs appearing on Always: The Very Best Of album are beautiful and as I would expect (in one way) but are not as deeply remastered as the tracks as they sound on the 2019 Wild! Album ... darn ... combine the WOW/clarity of the Best Of with the remastered finesse of the remastered Wild! then you'd have something to go "Wild" over!