Regal Zonophone 2
Deep breaths Stuart....;-)
I personally like archive sets like this on CD - to put all this music on a vinyl set would be really bulky and not easy to use. That is why I got the 13th Floor Elevators 3 eyed men set on CD and not vinyl, along with other such sets where you get the choice.
Having said that, I have been a vinyl collector for 40 odd years and was never a fan of CDs when they came out, partly because the music I wanted at the time was still only available if you could find the original vinyl. If I have a fetish for vinyl, it is really about first pressings, only because they are historical artifacts, not because of the sound. So I love my original laminated 1967 mono pressing of Sell Out which I paid £8 for back in 1989 and it is an event for me to play it. Reissues or unreleased archive material I am more than happy to have on CD.
I've got my pre-order in for the 'Sell Out' set. Glad it's the same presntation format as the 'My Genration' super deluxe box set as well.
Yes, agree on vinyl. I have a 1965 Brunswick pressing of The Who's 'My Genration' album. Also The Hollies 'Butterfly and 'Evolution' 1967 pressings and The Small Faces Decca albums for instance, all in mono. They do sound great, though my old knackeed stereo deck is not much longer for this world I fear. On vinyl LPs of contemporray artists, aren't these just the digital Wav files or whatever recordings anyway. For me the vinyl sound is dependant on if something was recorded and produced for vinyl / analogue in the first place, that makes all the difference. Otherwise you may as well listen to the CD anyway.
I find it amusing that contemporary artists issue their albums on vinyl and digital but bypass CD. So, the oldest medium is now 'cool' but the more recent CD isn't? Like Stuart, I prefer CDs only for box sets and don't really like the idea of mixed media sets. However, I will be getting the new Japan 'Quiet Life' vinyl / CD set as the CDs outnumber the vinyl content. I also have large boxes like the Nazareth set, 35 CDs and a couple of LPs and vinyl singles. In those cases I just regard the vinyl as art pieces to look at after playing them once.
If CD has a future (until they are considered 'hip' again) it is in the box set format. Currently, the John Mayall 35 CD set (if you have nearly £300 to spare)looks very nice (and that only goes as far as 1972) for instance. I can't see that coming out on vinyl!
I've posted it before but you should really watch / listen to Jeffrey Lewis & Voltage – ‘LPs’ song and video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3urXygZXb74
Especilly near the end where he ditches vinyl for CDs! Says it all really.
PM:slightly_smiling_face:
Can someone tell me, why in 2021, with this umpteenth release of this album, why their isn't a fucking stereo release of Pictures of Lily for Christ's sake? I'll overlook they still haven't released the Daltrey demo of "Blue Caravan", but the fact that "Substitute" and "Pictures of Lily" still don't have stereo mixes released is ridiculous.
Yeah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA1cd5YDmMA
https://youtu.be/O8SFkSUhvNo
they'll do....
Those are shite, and I should know, I made one of them, lol
well take it down then you clown.
Yes, I've got through the mono and stereo discs of the album + bonuses so far and really enjoying it. I like the way the whole package is done with the discs in their own wallets mounted inside the book that have further spoof adverts behind them. Some people can't be doing with the extra toot but I love the repro posters and trendy night club membership cards. I get all that stuff out to look at when I'm playing the discs, gives the whole thing a very colourful context. I like the essays in the book on different aspects of the album from the sleeve design and photogrpahy to the inclusion and exclusion of different tracks. I think the proportion of detail in this sense is just right. As much as I love the big Beatles super deluxe box sets, there is such a lot of technical detail on the recording side in the books that I just find myself dipping in to and flipping through the text rather than reading from cover to cover. This Who set though gives you enough without making you glaze over.
PM:slightly_smiling_face:
I've always classed this album as The Whos psychedelic album,whetrher anyone else thinks that i don't know!!I got deluxe box set last week,i loved all the niknaks,particularly the copy of the poster given out with so many copies of the original album,its a thing of beauty!
As i know the album so well,i skipped the mono and stereo,and went straight to the stuff i'm not as familiar with,all the extras.still to give the demos a full listen that Pete Townsend did in his home studio.The extras are brilliant,hearing them in alternative forms or takes,or works in progress,makes me even more convinced this was the Who at their most lysergic sounding,i had the double cd set issued quite a few years ago,which had a chunk of extra tracks which wee tremendous,but this box set,is on another level,but of course its much pricier than that old deluxe cd,but theres so much more,i paid £84 for this super deluxe box set,ive seen it going for near a £100 now in some places.So i'm happy i preordered this a while back.In my view,yes its a fair amount to pay,and i always think these type of box sets can price many people out of the market,which is always a shame,this is a major treat to myself,as ive only ever spent this much on one box set and that was the 13th Floor Elevators,which was an immense but at first overwhelming box set to go through!!
I agree with Paul,this does not give you that too much at one time scenario i had with 13th Floor Elevators,the makers,designers have got a good balance,i so enjoyed looking through the book,its not too much,with too much technical info etc,its ceretainly well put together,seemds sturdy enough to withstand years of taking out and playing,which many box sets cant do.The main thing of course,is the music,and WOW!!Theres much excellent music to be found on here,lots of it!!In fabulius sound to,even the home demos.
Ive always preferred Sell Out as an album to Tommy,i find Tommy overblown in parts,and some of the songs just dont do it for me the same as this cracking album!!How the hell did the single I Can See For Miles not be bigger than it was chart wise,an absolute mystery and a real highlight in The Whos history of recordings,and in the history of UK psychedelia.
I found that Roger Daltrey is not lead vocal as often on this album, as he would be with Tommy and onwards!!Which gives a variety in that department,dont get me wrong ,i love Daltreys voice,but it changed with time and develpment,he became a rock singer with Tommy ,if you know what i mean?This is the last time i see him as this UK mod gruff vocalist....he with Tommy sorta turned into a big international rock singer ,to me this is the last album,where they were a great group,but Tommy sent them to the stratosphear,so i love this album as they still seemed accessable as people at this time,before total craziness really took off,as their international stardom shot up like a star!!Still a trully British group with this album Sell Out,before international stardom.......and dare i say it celebritydom....yuk!!!!
BRILLIANT ALBUM,BRILLIANT BOX SET!!!
I agree on the vocals Stuart. It was part of th democratisation process they decided on (according to the book). I think it's all the more interesting for that too. I agree about 'See For Miles'. We forget the enormous over-exposure of stuff like Englebert Humperdink's 'Last Waltz Wiht You' etc. at the timethat crowded out anything more creative! Personally, I still think 'Armenia City In The Sky' is one of the all-time best opening tracks of an album and certainly the most psychedelic.
PM:slightly_smiling_face:
I see also from reading the book notes for CD 3 that there is to be an expanded 'future' edition of The Who at the BBC as well.
PM:slightly_smiling_face: