Which remasters to pickup?


Ive got a few old cds that that have since been remastered. I want to know which ones are worth picking up.

Sly and the Family Stone-Anthology Remastered
Cream-Remasters
Led Zeppelin-Remasters
Santana-Remasters
Al Green-Remasters
Isaac Hayes-Remasters (import)

I dont have an SACD player yet, but Ive got a few hybrid sacds that sound pretty good. The Rolling Stones are the best Ive heard so far, the Police are okay, and Im anxiously awaiting the new Pink Floyd DSOTM disc. Also feel free to recommend anything in the soul/old r&b/classic rock genres.
bundee1
Keep in mind remasters lose an intergrative sound, that the originals have. You may hear a few notes you hardly hear on the original. Honestly I can't stand hearing "remasters". Its the old saying, "new is not always better". My favorites, like Chicago Hits, I don't even care to listen on the remasters. OK, now bomb away pro-remastering club.
You have to be kidding right?
All remastering does is clean up the recording to be played back in digital.The Beatles were some of the worst recordings I have ever heard.If they were not remasterd they would be intolerable.

Some recordings are a must.I have a Passive Pre-Amp that brings the worst out in any recordings and remasterd stuff sound great.CSNY with Southern Cross is the worst CD I have.I cannot listen to it.

One of the better remasterd recordings I have are of Steely Dan.They are absolutely amazing!The original LP's were always good as far as recordings go,but the CD's remasterd Hits are awesome.
Thanks guys. Any comments on the discs above? The WIZ in NYC is going out of business so I picked up Led Zep remastered box 1, and Cream remastered box for $60 (30% off). So far Led Zep sounds pretty good. Any other suggestions?
As a general statement, if you are willing to spend some extra money OR get lucky on some E Bay auctions, etc. most of the JAPANESE remasters are incredible. Personally, I collect the mini LP sleeve remasters but that is certainly not necessary as the normal jewel cases conatin the same remastered discs. Some of the most recent discs I have received that were clearly superior in quality were titles such as The Who - Quadrophenia, The Band catalog, the new Stevie Wonder catalog and on and on.....
Cool, where do you get them ? Keep your suggestions coming. Oh by the way the Cream remastered box set isnt that great, but the Zeppelin is pretty good.
Everyone must go out and buy the new Essential Sly and the Family Stone 2 disc remaster!!! Damn this disc whoops up on the old cd's. The drums sound so tight they just keep the funk chuggin along. Some tracks are mixed weird with the drums to tha far right and all the band members vocals lined up to the far right. The bass is more prominent and everything sounds so much clearer! It has all the tracks from other best ofs and others plus a second disc of music I havent even listened to. Damn, one of the best songs I never heard before is "Underdog". It was their first single and its slammin. I wonder if anyone has sampled it, its soo good. The drums are so hard, the vocals so pumpin, and the horns so horny!!!! U MUST GO BUY NOW!!!!!
My favorite remastered catalogs are by:

Joni Mitchell (Reprise/Asylum catalogs) (HDCD)
Steely Dan
Stevie Wonder
Peter Gabriel
Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry (HDCD)
Grateful Dead (Warner Bros. catalog) (HDCD)
Recent Rod Stewart 3-cd set of Mercury catalog

In some cases, the remasters finally sound as good as the vinyl (Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan). In some cases, the remasters surpass the original vinyl (Roxy Music, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart).

I'm not nearly as impressed by the Stones (on redbook) as most people seem to be. The Who's remasters are quite spotty, but the brand-new "Who's Next" deluxe edition sounds excellent at first listen, plus the bonus material is great.
The new Police remasters are quite good. I also agree with Danlevy on the Steely Dan & Roxy Music.
Jasman, are you referring to the new 25th anniv. remasters (digipack) by the Police? Do you know if they are any different from the '96 remastering?
I've found that most of the remasters done since 1999 are very good. The Santana remasters are excellent as are the Rolling Stones. The BEST remaster I have heard so far is Pink Floyd's DSOM. The redbook layer is great but the multi-channel SACD is AWESOME!
Which Santana remasters are you referring to, the individual albums or the new anthology?
Etta James "tell mama" remaster is stellar...the Zep remasters are pretty good...but something tells me they will go sacd or 24 bit real soon (probably by x-mas)...Aretha Franklin "Lady Soul" sounds pretty sharp too...good luck
I dont regret buying the Zeps cuz I only payed about $30 for 2 discs. If theyre as good as the Pink Floyd SACD Id buy them over. What label is the remastered LADT SOUL on?
Do you know if Aretha sang "Can it all be so simple"?
Sony has released a number of Santana CD's in the last couple of years, probably due to the success of the Grammy sweeping "Supernatural". Santana's Greatest Hits and Abraxas are 2 that I bought and both are excellent. In fact, I recently bought Abraxas on SACD and don't think the SACD layer is any better than this remaster!
"lady soul" is on stax/atco reissue series...as are the Otis redding releases...
RE: Santana remasters... Now, if we can only get them to remaster "Supernatural" (too much compression on the original release -- sounds great on a boom box, awful on a high rez system).
If that question was for me:
I am almost positive it is a Sony remaster on redbook CD, and I picked it up at Best Buy for $9.99!
"What's Goin' On" was recently remastered on the original Motown/Tamla label for redbook. Actually, several weeks ago Best Buy was runnning a special where you could get both "What's Goin' On" and "Let's Get It On" remasters for $10 (that is total, not each). I nabbed them both, but so far have only listened to them on my PC at work, so I cannot comment on the sound.
Tom Petty Rewind Box Set!

Awesome Collection all remastered on HDCD. Sound is awesome and the set covers so much of his career. All the tracks sound better than ever... and the acoustic stuff!? Ahhh... to die for!
I agree with Danlevy

the Steely Dan, Peter Gabriel and Joni Mitchell remasters are very well done

might I add the Genesis Definitive collection, King Crimson 30th anniv edition, Todd Rundgren (british), and Elvis Costello (with bonus cuts) are all clearly sonically superior products and well worth the upgrade.