I just finished listening to all three versions on the disc (CD stereo, SACD stereo, and SACD surround sound) and let me tell you this disc is a mast improvement over the previous mastering job done back in 1993. I first actually listened to - out of all discs - "Every Breath You Take: The Singles" so I can start myself on the early days of CD sound to give a fair comparison on how far things have come. Not just that but also in overall quality of the mastering in regards of accuracy to how the songs are supposed to sound like (ie: sound drops). Since "The Singles" was done with the original sources tapes in fairly good condition, the sound outside of it sounding a tad thin is actually pretty good - but mid 80s mastering was something left to be desired for CD at that point outside of Mobile Labs. After priming myself with that disc, I went over to the initial release of "The Classics." The first major noticeable thing I noticed was the many mastering errors on the earlier tracks - most noteably on "Can't Stand Losing You." From mixing errors. The song starts out a tad rough then suddenly after the first chorus it goes to fine but at the end the song suddenly goes into an erratic left-right-left-right pan, something that is more definatly from bad mastering since it wasn't present on the "The Singles." Other errors that I noticed were small things like small volume differences between tracks - you won't notice this unless you are listening to the disc on a good headphone set like I was. Then in 2000, another release of the compilation happened on the DTS CD format. Most of the songs on "The Classics" have been given brand new 5.1 mixes using the 1993 masters as the source - except many of the song problems were for the most part fixed. Well, except for "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" which instead we got a new version - some say its the lost 1986 version, while others say its a mix of outtake, demo, and from the studio. For the most part the mix on this disc is very good with a few exceptions, like the snare "echo" on "Can't Stand Losing You." Also the last two tracks on "The Classics," in this case the 1986 version of "Don't Stand So Close To Me" and the classic rock mix of "Message In A Bottle" were not on this disc. Now its 2003.... the 25th anniversary of the formation of The Police, and what better way to celebrate it than to give a new remastering to the catalog - and for the first time - a release on Super Audio CD. Super Audio CD, or SACD for short - is a new format from Sony and Phillups which in short gives the listener a much more studio quality sound due to its higher sound capabilities. The nice thing about SACD is its compatability - which in this case "The Classics" shows very well. The disc contains the standard CD plus both a stereo and 5.1 surround sound version of the album all on one disc. At first listening to these new masters seems very odd when you have gotten used to the sound problems from the 1993 mastering. During "Can't Stand Losing You" I kepted preparing myself for the sound drops and the panning error but instead I was hearing a nice smooth sound during the whole song. Many things during the CD stereo side were much improved over the last mastering - the bass has a deeper feel to it. Not a HUGE deeper feel but its got a nice deep feel to it that the 1993 mastering was lacking a little on. Sting's vocals also seem to have a bit more of a powerful presence than before as well. You might not believe that these songs can sound any better than before, but they do. As far as the SACD Stereo end is concerned - just image the CD Stereo version with a higher sound quality than CD is capable of. Its hard to describe what that means but when you hear it you will know exactly what I mean. The SACD 5.1 Surround Sound version in regards of the mix is the same one used as on the DTS CD, but however the higher quality shows here. Again, deeper bass, better vocals, and overall its a nicer presentation. This is one of the best SACD discs to date I've heard. Pure refernce demo quality is written all over this. Oh.. as far as the track listening is concerned, this is the same track listing as on the previous CD release. The SACD Surround Sound finally gets the two tracks that were not on the DTS CD, and the alternate version of "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" is still included on that version. However on both the CD and SACD Stereo end the original "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" is on the disc. Overall this is a great disc. Sure it might not have the Deconstructed versions that Stewart did or any new-new material but the sound quality is much better. If you are very skeptical about if its worth buying the new remastered editions then buy this disc at least. If you ever get a chance to listen to the SACD portion of this disc you will be in for a real treat indeed, even if you have heard the DTS CD. Angel C. Little ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com