Obviously there's a difference b/c the premasters that someone posted a link to sound just like MSOTS tracks...what defines a premaster? And a rough cut?

Oh, wait...does this have something to do with clipping?

rough cut: first mix after the tracks of the song have been recorded. Yes, the tracks need to be cleaned. (you can hear the metronome, and the end of the songs is a mess)

premaster: tracks cleaned, final mix ... but without Howie's evil touch :D

It's a shame that El Sol isn't on there because the clipping on the album version is very bad.