Fabulous review, one I've only just tripped over. My listening to this set hasn't been as forensic as yours, Hans, so I won't second-guess your assessment. I like it for (1) having this material in one place, and (2) there's a page in the book of my original photos. It's cool to have made the slightest contribution to this release.
Being in love with VDG my answer would be "yes" and i actually acquired this box set last september. The new "versions" of four albums are beautiful. I'm waiting for "Interference patterns" coming at the end of the month - a box set covering VDG's recent works. It is a fantastic band anyway - my favourite in this kind of music with King Crimson (all periods) and early Yes and early Genesis. I hope someday something similar is realised for Hammill solo albums. And as usual sorry for my poor english.
Yes, it is very well presented with lots of extra information and tracks. I've had it since it came out, and have enjoyed the remasters and the new stereo remixes (agree with your take on them). Is it worth the money? I guess, if you like VDGG that much, then, yes, but , as you say, not for an occasional listener. I would have liked a box set of the vinyl though, a bit like the King Crimson sets. Great analysis of the differences. You found some that I hadn't spotted! Great work!
Nice breakdown! Since I grew up with the original vinyl I have a soft spot for that particular sound but the new mixes offer an interesting new challenge and are welcome!🎷🎹🎻🎸✌️
Great review! This is easily the most in-depth look at this box I've seen since it's release. Here are some of my thoughts (on everything but surround since I don't have that capability). The new remasters: I think the new remasters are great. Nice EQ to my ears and minimal compression. I think some people were disappointed that they weren't fully dynamic but I don't think that's an issue. The original Virgin CDs may have no compression but sound really thin compared to these. The 2005 Hammill remasters are an abomination to put it plainly - I'd say they are some of the worst remasterings of any artist. Harsh EQ and crazy compression. Same thing goes for the solo albums of his he did...just terrible. The new mixes: Honestly I haven't spent much time with these. I've never had any issues with the original mixes (apart from Hammill's electric guitar being often buried on Godbluff-Vital albums, but he probably insisted that) so I've more or less stuck with those. The new mixes pretty much follow the Steven Wilson model of stick with the original placement and all, and just making small fixed here and there. As you noted in this review, the drums have the biggest change. Personally I love their dry sound on the original mixes so the wetter sound on the new ones doesn't work for me. A couple of things I didn't like - Lemmings sounds odd at the start...the fade-in is different and the reverb doesn't sound quite right. La Rossa has one instrumental change that I don't think I have seen anyone mention- the loud guitar chord at 6:11 on the original mix is gone on the new mix. Not sure why that is because that's an important part to end that section of the track. The live stuff: I'll get the 76 show out of the way nice and quick- it's fantastic and definitely a reason to buy the set. The sound is definitely raw and mixed live at the venue but the fact that it still exists trumps the sound and performance quibbles. The 75 disc for me is a real miss - as far as I know, the 2 Italy shows have only ever surfaced on silver CD boots from the late 80s. I'm guessing these tracks were sourced from that when the 2005 remasters came about, as they sound the same on the Godbluff remaster as they do here. Who knows if the original tapes still exist, but this box would have been the perfect opportunity to seek that out and have both shows complete. The BBC material is great of course, but very restrained compared to the actual live shows. The After the Flood BBC comp is probably a better listening experience for this material, although for budgetary reasons I'm glad they filled up the album disks with these tracks to keep the set affordable.
@@electricbrainelectricshado9490 It's definitely missing...what a head scratcher. I forgot one thing in my comment - You could say one other missing thing in the box is the rejected/recalled Least We Can Do original vinyl mix. Guy Evans was arguing with someone on facebook saying it never came out, but videos online certainly prove otherwise. Regardless though, they most likely still have the tapes.
Personally, I would have preferred to have the complete BBC sessions in this set rather than the 5.1 surround mixes. I think music recorded in stereo should only be listened to in stereo. There's hardly any difference between the new mixes and the original. The only real negative thing though, is the disc packaging - cheap and NASTY.
![Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon (50th Anniversary) [2023 Remaster] {Full Album}](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/k9ynZnEBtvw/mqdefault.jpg)
Fabulous review, one I've only just tripped over. My listening to this set hasn't been as forensic as yours, Hans, so I won't second-guess your assessment. I like it for (1) having this material in one place, and (2) there's a page in the book of my original photos. It's cool to have made the slightest contribution to this release.
Awesome about the photo and I'm glad you liked the review!
Bravo!!!
Being in love with VDG my answer would be "yes" and i actually acquired this box set last september. The new "versions" of four albums are beautiful. I'm waiting for "Interference patterns" coming at the end of the month - a box set covering VDG's recent works. It is a fantastic band anyway - my favourite in this kind of music with King Crimson (all periods) and early Yes and early Genesis. I hope someday something similar is realised for Hammill solo albums.
And as usual sorry for my poor english.
Totally agreed about the new versions. It's amazing to have such a fresh perspective on very familiar music.
Yes, it is very well presented with lots of extra information and tracks. I've had it since it came out, and have enjoyed the remasters and the new stereo remixes (agree with your take on them). Is it worth the money? I guess, if you like VDGG that much, then, yes, but , as you say, not for an occasional listener. I would have liked a box set of the vinyl though, a bit like the King Crimson sets.
Great analysis of the differences. You found some that I hadn't spotted! Great work!
Thanks much for your thoughts!
Nice breakdown! Since I grew up with the original vinyl I have a soft spot for that particular sound but the new mixes offer an interesting new challenge and are welcome!🎷🎹🎻🎸✌️
Great review! This is easily the most in-depth look at this box I've seen since it's release. Here are some of my thoughts (on everything but surround since I don't have that capability).
The new remasters: I think the new remasters are great. Nice EQ to my ears and minimal compression. I think some people were disappointed that they weren't fully dynamic but I don't think that's an issue. The original Virgin CDs may have no compression but sound really thin compared to these. The 2005 Hammill remasters are an abomination to put it plainly - I'd say they are some of the worst remasterings of any artist. Harsh EQ and crazy compression. Same thing goes for the solo albums of his he did...just terrible.
The new mixes: Honestly I haven't spent much time with these. I've never had any issues with the original mixes (apart from Hammill's electric guitar being often buried on Godbluff-Vital albums, but he probably insisted that) so I've more or less stuck with those. The new mixes pretty much follow the Steven Wilson model of stick with the original placement and all, and just making small fixed here and there. As you noted in this review, the drums have the biggest change. Personally I love their dry sound on the original mixes so the wetter sound on the new ones doesn't work for me. A couple of things I didn't like - Lemmings sounds odd at the start...the fade-in is different and the reverb doesn't sound quite right. La Rossa has one instrumental change that I don't think I have seen anyone mention- the loud guitar chord at 6:11 on the original mix is gone on the new mix. Not sure why that is because that's an important part to end that section of the track.
The live stuff: I'll get the 76 show out of the way nice and quick- it's fantastic and definitely a reason to buy the set. The sound is definitely raw and mixed live at the venue but the fact that it still exists trumps the sound and performance quibbles. The 75 disc for me is a real miss - as far as I know, the 2 Italy shows have only ever surfaced on silver CD boots from the late 80s. I'm guessing these tracks were sourced from that when the 2005 remasters came about, as they sound the same on the Godbluff remaster as they do here. Who knows if the original tapes still exist, but this box would have been the perfect opportunity to seek that out and have both shows complete. The BBC material is great of course, but very restrained compared to the actual live shows. The After the Flood BBC comp is probably a better listening experience for this material, although for budgetary reasons I'm glad they filled up the album disks with these tracks to keep the set affordable.
Interesting observation about the guitar chord in La Rossa. I'll have to go do a comparison.
@@electricbrainelectricshado9490 It's definitely missing...what a head scratcher.
I forgot one thing in my comment - You could say one other missing thing in the box is the rejected/recalled Least We Can Do original vinyl mix. Guy Evans was arguing with someone on facebook saying it never came out, but videos online certainly prove otherwise. Regardless though, they most likely still have the tapes.
The slots for the cds are pretty crappy, but otherwise it's great.
I'm supposed to be having the post 2005 set delivered today as well.
Personally, I would have preferred to have the complete BBC sessions in this set rather than the 5.1 surround mixes. I think music recorded in stereo should only be listened to in stereo. There's hardly any difference between the new mixes and the original. The only real negative thing though, is the disc packaging - cheap and NASTY.