Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought the original CD reissue of this album back in 1986; it has remained an essential part of my holiday listening ever since. I skipped the subsequent reissue, since I really didn't need to have "Greensleeves" badly enough to warrant buying the disc again. That said, I was happy to hear that A Charlie Brown Christmas had been given the proper remastering treatment and reissued with bonus tracks and restored artwork. However, I was not happy once I started listening. 1. The recordings have clearly been squashed using compression and limiting. As a result, the average level is comparable to that of a current pop release. Like classical music, jazz is supposed to have dynamic range. This new master doesn't have all that much (or not as much as it should, anyway). Sure, there was plenty of room to increase the volume somewhat (since early CDs often failed to take advantage of the headroom that was available), but there was simply no good reason to resort to compression. When it comes to remastering old(er) recordings, the number-one rule should be to provide the most faithful reproduction of the original recording possible, not to re-create the recording as if it had been made today. If I wanted to induce listening fatigue, I'd listen to whatever this month's new flavor is instead. 2. The mix sounds sterile, and bears little resemblance to the mix we've all been living with. 3. As folks have already pointed out, the version of "Linus and Lucy" presented here is a different version. So, I think I'll ditch this edition and go buy that 1988 reissue instead. I'd recommend that you do the same.