Jackson Browne - Running On Empty

it's just an early fade to 4:49.........would you like an mp3 of the 45 for your review??

Okay, here's an interesting situation I haven't yet seen brought up anywhere on this forum... According to my research, Jackson Browne's first six album releases on the Asylum label (which includes Saturate Before Using, For Everyman, Late for the Sky, The Pretender, Running on Empty, and Hold Out) were first issued on CD in the '80s and then later remastered in the late '90s. All pressings of each album look identical on the outside and even share the same catalog numbers. Unless there's a "digitally remastered from the original master tapes" sticker on the front (which would appear only on unopened, factory sealed copies), the only way to tell the difference between an original and a remastered pressing is by looking at the hub of the CD itself. If there's an "RE-2" etched among the matrix numbers, then it's a remastered CD. If no "RE-2", then it's an original pressing.

I recently picked up an original pressing of Running on Empty and made a direct audio comparison to my remastered copy. The title track runs 5:30 and tracks into the next selection on both pressings. Yet much to my surprise, I've discovered there is reverb added throughout the song on the original pressing, yet clearly sounds more "dry" on the remastered pressing! The difference can most noticeably be heard on the snare drum strikes.

So this then boils down to one important question: Is the commercial vinyl 45 and LP version of "Running on Empty" with or without the added reverb? In other words, which CD pressing contains the correct mix?

Edited by Todd Ireland

MMathews wrote: But- don't ask me where i ripped it from now - it runs 4:17 and has full cold ending with applause. If i read correctly, the 45 is merely an early fade of the LP and is much longer than this.

Well, it's not a promo edit. I checked my copy and both
the mono & stereo sides agree with Jim's timings.

I checked my "Running on Empty" on CD and it's 4:47. I took this from the "Very Best Of" Rhino CD, and it started at the song (no 30 seconds of audience applause/chatter). I can't recall if I faded the applause ending a bit early. So you're 4:17 version, Mark, must be missing part of the song.

OK
Not important to anyone but me - but i at last figured
out where my custom edit came from. I got it years ago
from a friend. I simply ripped it from his cdr because
it sounded good. Back then i was just trying to get
good mp3 library going.
The edit, btw, used the 45 version, and removed 30 secs
of the ending guitar solo from 4:00 - 4:29. It's so
seamless it could have been recorded that way.

And, it's been so long i had forgotten the 30 seconds of
"quiet audience chatter" before the song starts on the
LP.

I also notice that while the "Running On Empty" album is
available on I-tunes, you can no longer purchase the LP
version. They replaced it with the 45 version, and it
does not track into the next song.

I've encountered "revisionist" album re-issues like this
before, and i find it very irritating. It's not that in
this case i can't live without those quiet 30 secs of
intro, but if i am a customer purchasing an album i once
owned on vinyl or CD, i expect to get the same album. I
doubt i'm alone in that.