Cheap Trick - In Color - Steve Albini Sessions -1998 Cd Flac- Link

Streaming services (Spotify/Apple) use the 2008 "remaster," which brick-walled the dynamics. The Albini session is available on some platforms, but streamed at 256kbps AAC.

9/10 for sound quality (Loses one point because the vocals are intentionally too quiet in the mix). Mood: Angry, sweaty, and perfect for a winter garage.

The drum sound here is the definitive Albini sound. Bun E. Carlos’s kick drum doesn't thump; it punches you in the sternum. The FLAC preserves the transient perfectly. On MP3, that attack blurs. On FLAC, it’s a surgical spike. Mood: Angry, sweaty, and perfect for a winter garage

Do you own the original 1998 promo CD? Have you compared the vinyl pressing of this session to the FLAC? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.

The result? A brutalist, stripped-down re-recording of their 1977 classic, In Color . Officially released as a promo CD in 1998 (and later a very limited Japanese tour item), this isn’t just a remaster; it is a full-throated exhumation. Today, we are analyzing the of that elusive disc. Carlos’s kick drum doesn't thump; it punches you

But here is the truth: In Color (1977) sounds like a beautiful photograph. In Color (Albini 1998) sounds like the negative. It is visceral. It is the sound of four guys in a room who hate the fact that they have to play their own hits again.

By 1998, Cheap Trick was in a weird purgatory. They were beloved, but considered "classic rock." Steve Albini (Pixies, Nirvana, PJ Harvey) was the anti-producer. He hated digital reverb, hated headphones, and famously rejected "The Record Industry." it’s not clean

The gem of the session. In 1977, this was sweet. In 1998, it is sleazy. Tom Petersson’s 12-string bass is so distorted it clips the preamp (Albini left it in). The FLAC version shows you the "air" between the guitar strings; it’s not clean, but it is honest .