REO Speedwagon - Take It On The Run

Discovered that a bunch of CDs have their left/right channels reversed for "Take It On The Run". Based on my experience with "Keep On Loving You", I'd guess that Epic's 1988 CD The Hits is the culprit, although I can't confirm with the vinyl for this song.

LP version, running about 3:59

These have their left/right channels correct:

• Realm's 3-CD Greatest Hits Of The '80s Vol. 1 (1995; if I had to guess I'd say that this may be based on the mastering of Hi Infidelity)

These have their left/right reversed:

• Epic's The Hits (1988)
• Time-Life's Guitar Rock Vol. 4 1980-1981 (1994; "Shake It Up" on this disc also has L/R channels reversed)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 16 The Early '80s (1996; differently EQ'd digital clone of The Hits)
• Warner Special Products' 2-CD Midnight Rock (2000; digitally exactly 2 dB quieter than Guitar Rock)

45 edit, running about 3:35

These have their left/right channels correct:

• JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll 1980-1984 (1994; seems to be a little treble-boosted)
• Sony's Rock Hits Of The 70's (1995; soundstage severely skewed to the right channel; I suspect that left and right channels are out of sync by a few samples)
• Time-Life's Gold And Platinum Vol. 4 (1997; differently EQ'd digital clone of Only Rock 'N Roll 1980-1984)
• Time-Life's Classic Soft Rock Vol. 4 More Than A Feeling Disc 1 (2006; differently EQ'd digital clone of Only Rock 'N Roll 1980-1984)

These have their left/right reversed:

• swaitek's promo 50-CD The A List Disc 8 (1994; I'd guess that this is a homemade edit of The Hits done by TM Century, no noise reduction)

I'm not a huge fan of the sound on any of the above CDs, but if I had to pick:

For the LP version, I'd pick Realm's 3-CD Greatest Hits Of The '80s Vol. 1 (1995).

For the 45 version, I'd pick JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll 1980-1984 (1994).

Edited by crapfromthepast