And the winner is: 1983 original CD release. The volume increase on the Legacy release is stark, and the audio deficiencies by comparison with the 1983 disc are often significant. The original release has more "punch," much better high end, and sound effects that reach out and enthusiastically smack you instead of thumping along as they do on the reissue with its usage of peak limiting. This difference is most pronounced in the album's opener, "Money Changes Everything," which sounds fuller and brighter on the earlier disc in contrast to the Legacy disc's more dulled and dispirited rendition.* All this is not to say that the reissue has no advantages over the original, as bass levels are definitely improved, most noticeably so on "She Bop." But overall the later disc just doesn't measure up to the earlier one, which is all the more remarkable given that the original was released so early in the CD era. The 30th anniversary remastered edition presents no real improvement over the 2000 disc, though it is very slightly quieter in mastering level. Which of the two versions sounds better is a tossup, as both sound terribly muted by comparison to the original. Unless you're a completist who just has to have the bonus tracks (decent but inessential live cuts on the 2000 disc, and utterly horrendous remixes of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Time After Time" on the anniversary one), there's no reason to buy either of them.

As a side note, the reproductions of the original album art - the cover in particular - included in the packaging of the 2000 Legacy disc are simply fantastic, representing dramatic improvements over the blurry, washed out, zoomed in versions included with the original 1983 CD. The fold out booklet also features a very nice collection of photos and liner notes. It is, however, missing the "wall" graphic with the handwritten lyrics to "Time After Time."

*As to the possibility that pre-emphasis was applied to the earlier offering, based on my listening comparisons I'm not convinced of this. To my ear the difference in the high end frequencies sounds like it's due to compression on the remaster, not to pre-emphasized high frequencies in the original release. And a straight up rip of the original disc doesn't have the thin sibilance I hear in (non de-emphasized) rips of known pre-emphasized discs. Nevertheless, given that the original disc came out so early in the CD era, the possibility of PE is something that needed to be addressed here.