Having only ever owned the 2000 UK CD of Loveboat, I've never been sure if there is a better sounding release out there.  Of course it's notable for sounding muddy.  Can anyone give any info about real audio differences (if any) on various formats and regions.  Are we all waiting for a cleaned-up, properly mastered re-release of this beautiful and wildly underrated album?

Loveboat was not released in the US until 2003 (by that time I'd already bought the UK import).  Does the US version sound any better or worse than the 2000 UK CD?

Can anyone who owns the new vinyl re-issue compare the sound quality vs. the UK CD?  Vinyl vs. CD argument aside, does it sound better?  Often, vinyl gets mastered correctly while CD gets the Loudness War shaft.  Any audio engineers that can test?

My dream is to see all Erasure's albums re-issued in multi-channel but until then, what version of Loveboat sounds best??

It's funny you're posting this thread today since I was listening to "Loveboat" earlier today and thought about those sound "issues" we've
all questioned time and time again!

It has been mentioned somewhere in the the past that Flood did this per Vince request. It was with those intentions to sound like it does. That being said, I would remove Freedom and relegate it to the Bside and move Here in My Heart over to the album and it will sound complete. freedom is a really odd single and does not play well into the album in my opinion.

I prefer the sound of the original UK vinyl release (not the reissue). The lo-fi recording really lends itself to vinyl listening with headphones.

Quoted from Mikedepaz

That being said, I would remove Freedom and relegate it to the Bside and move Here in My Heart over to the album and it will sound complete. freedom is a really odd single and does not play well into the album in my opinion.

That Here In My Heart didn't make the album is as confusing now as it was then. It's on par with Don't Suppose, and almost let's-not-make-Phantom-Bride-a-single level incompetency. That said, I feel Freedom deserves album inclusion, and even single status (so does Here In My Heart), though I felt the remixes didn't do it justice.

Quoted from Tin Soldier

That Here In My Heart didn't make the album is as confusing now as it was then.

Uh? Now I'm confused. 'Here In My Heart' is on the album.

First, let me say I haven't had a drink in weeks...

As for the track, I had it in my head when typing that it should have been a single, and my ire was mainly that, but Mike's post (taken as the gospel in that moment I was posting from my phone in a car...not driving it!), had me go on a tangent there. I should have pulled out the iPod first. I threw in Don't Suppose as that's still a sore point.

No, I don't expect to live this down, nor should I. Before the firing squad is assembled, go tie Uncle Mike to the stake as well.  

Quoted from kwerty

Uh? Now I'm confused. 'Here In My Heart' is on the album.

Yeah for a moment there it felt like I was in The Twilight Zone!

Glad it's sorted.

I'll say this...if we've become senile, at least we can enjoy hearing Erasure for the first time over and over again.  

Or they could have included the two b-sides from the Solsbury Hill Single (Tell It To Me and Searching). Weren't they written during the Loveboat sessions and later re-recorded for the single? I thought I read that somewhere. These two songs beat Freedom hands down no questions asked. I am with Mike here, Freedom is like an Alien element (see what I did here...) on the album and doesn't really go with the flow. It should have been a stand-alone single or, alternatively, a b-side. And yes, the remixes were pretty average too. The album on the other hand, I really love it and consider it one of Erasure's best works!

Edit: Now I remember again, I think Tell It To Me and Searching were written for the American release on request from the label but weren't included on the album in the end. So yes, they probably couldn't have replaced Freedom at the time...

Quoted from Tin Soldier

I'll say this...if we've become senile, at least we can enjoy hearing Erasure for the first time over and over again.  

If it came to it, I'd like to live in THAT world!  

Listened to Loveboat tonight to test out a new speaker, and I am still in love with this album. It is full of great sounds and songs.
It certainly was a change from the standard Erasure production, but it still sounds so fresh and experimental.

Quoted from ben

Listened to Loveboat tonight to test out a new speaker, and I am still in love with this album. It is full of great sounds and songs.
It certainly was a change from the standard Erasure production, but it still sounds so fresh and experimental.

Apart from Freedom which sounds like a filler track, Here in My Heart would have made this a complete beautiful album to me

Quoted from Mikedepaz

Apart from Freedom which sounds like a filler track, Here in My Heart would have made this a complete beautiful album to me

Wow, you went from absolutely wrong, to absolutely right in one sentence.  

Quoted from Mikedepaz

Apart from Freedom which sounds like a filler track, Here in My Heart would have made this a complete beautiful album to me

"Freedom is my favourite track on the album. It is the only one classic ERASURE pop track (with a gospel twist) on "Loveboat".

Concerning the overall muffled lo-fi sound of the album, I consider it as an early demo version and I suppose a proper recording with see the light, one day or another...