Which boxset was the biggest disappointment to you?

Ugh. Yeah, postage in and out of AUS is always the worst.

 

The Capitol Album Box Sets are the mixes of the original 60's US albums. The US Albums Box features the new 2009 mixes sequenced in the order of the original US albums. Don't confuse MIXES with REMASTERING. Both are remastered... one featured little intricacies found on the original albums. The 2009 mixes are more polished. Most people who grew up owning those 60's albums in the US prefer the Capitol albums..

 

Don't know about "was" a disappointment but "is" a disappointment is my PF Immersion Box where the BluRay disc suddenly wont play (all over the world)!!!

 

It's my fave box set - most of the extra material is fascinating or really good. But I'm a VU nut. That said, if I feel like just listening to the individual albums I don't go for the box.

 

Sadly, the Jimi Hendrix Winterland box set for obvious reasons. Here's hoping Experience Hendrix or Dagger will release the entire three nights in the foreseeable future.

 

Not sure if it can be called a box set, but the Cyndi Lauper deluxe edition of She's So Unusual that Sony released in a near LP sized set that came with stickers etc and a bunch of NEW remixes and nixed really including anything that should have been included from the era such as original remixes and edits. I don't blame Lauper so much I think it was mostly SONY. Cyndi did a youtube video of her opening the set and she really seemed non plussed IMO. I ripped mine and sold it off. All it really contained of interest were a couple early rough cuts and non LP track. otherwise the audio was brickwalled. Sad. I only hope MoFi ends up releasing SACD versions of their LPs of Unusual and True Colors.

 

It's one of the few where the presentation of extra tracks is actually interesting (especially the White Light/White Heat disc, where you hear what I assume are the demos Lou made for the rest of the band before the album itself).

The only thing I've had to seriously pare down is the unedited demo tape on the first CD. I've cut it down to just one complete take of each song, though the tape is interesting to hear Lou, John and Sterling taking the recording very seriously.

 

This way they can put all their stuff up to 1979 in 4 discs instead of 7.

 

Yeah, if the WL/WH demos had been recorded in the studio for the album we'd have a very different album.
The '65 demo tape is valuable documentation, but I agree it's tough to sit through it all. Mind you, if they'd only included highlights, fans would probably have complained and clamoured for the complete tape .

 

You're spreading inaccurate information. The US Albums Box uses many of the same mixes that were found only on the original US album releases.
The Beatles U.S. Albums box set - your impressions ... (continued)

"These appear to be the only US mixes missing (if we disregard for the moment the unfortunate inclusion of the 80's-era Help and Rubber Soul stereo remixes):

Long Tall Sally (however, included on Capitol Albums set)
I Call Your Name (however, included on Capitol Albums set)
I'm Only Sleeping
Doctor Robert
And Your Bird Can Sing

All of the above are stereo mixes. All unique US mono mixes appear to be present on the proper albums."



So yes, a missed opportunity to get everything right, a disappointment for some to be sure. but they did include many unique Capitol mixes.

 

Yes/Yesyears
It severely shortchanged their 80's (Drama) period. Also it only included the single edit of America.

 

I keep listening to mine to see if it still works. Still good as of last week. This would be very disappointing, as it holds some of my favorite surround mixes of all time.

 

Buffalo Springfield Box Set
Though brimming with decent tracks, the omission of BFA in mono was glaring.
There are some killer alternate takes, however, from various sessions.

 

The lossy mixes are on the DVD, but I have rescued my situation by getting a Blu Ray burner and creating replacement discs from the backup rips I made when I bought the box. I now have a 5.1 BD which has Meddle / AHM / DSOTM / WYWH back to back and a quad BD with Echoes / AHM / DSOTM / WYWH.

First thing I will be doing with the Kraftwerk 3D box is ripping it!

 

I have just read all 14 pages of this thread in one sitting (screw you work!)

And the one thing I have realised... is that Neil Young is an a***...

 

The first Doors boxset. The one that included a disc of "band favorites". Only a few redeeming qualities about the entire box (a demo or two that hasn't shown up on other releases).

 

You have to be kidding!
This is the BEST boxset ever!

 

But it has (almost) all the missing tracks from the double album version of "Secret Messages", and most specifically: "Hello My Old Friend" on it...and is therefore:
Brilliant!!!

 

I'm just upset there's been no Immersion box set for Pink Floyd's Animals or Piper.

 

I'm curious, why the disappointment in The Wall: Immersion?

I don't completely share your disappointment and overall I'm really happy with what was released, although I agree there's still more in that vault that could still be mined.

If you've never heard the 1994 Doug Sax remaster of The Wall, the James Guthrie remaster here is pretty nice. I had the 1999 master of Is There Anybody Out There? and Guthrie's new remasters are noticeably better. I retired my old ones.

I would have liked at least another disc of demos, but I'm happy that we got so much on the two. Roger's original Bricks In The Wall demo is pretty horrid. The Wall completist in me wants to hear all of it, including the demos of "Death Disco" and "Anzio, 1944". I would have loved to have heard the leftovers -- the song fragments and concepts that Vernon Fitch referred to a while back. But we did get 14 minutes of material that no one ever expected to see the light of day (more if you factor in the remnants of his original demo which were still used in the later production demos).

The demos are the real value of this box set for me. Basically, it sounds like we got most if not all of the first production demo, nicely mastered. I found it odd the piecemeal approach to what was included from the later demos, but many of those tracks exist on the "Under Construction" bootleg.

I would have loved to have seen the inclusion of the "Spare Bricks" tracks which were never released. Okay, I'm disappointed there.

The books and replica mementos are nice -- I enjoy looking them over from time to time. And, of course, there are marbles that someone can take away....

Yes, The Wall: Immersion is not comprehensive -- there's so much material to mine there that it could have filled several more discs. On the other hand, we got two discs of Wall demos to add to the canon, so to speak, that we didn't have before. That, some of the bonus materials and the remastered live album made it for me.

Glass half full. While I would have liked more, overall I'm pleased with The Wall: Immersion. Only a little disappointed, I guess. Or maybe greedy.

 

I suspect the Early Years box set is regarded as the final official word on the Piper era. I'd love an Animals Immersion box with a 5.1 mix and live material, but the feeling I get from many threads is that there aren't multi tracks of the associated tour, and there has never been any evidence of a quad mix of Animals.

Disappointing box? The Wall Immersion. A 5.1 mix would have been nice or more live video, but the bonus material in that box wasn't worth the price of admission IMHO. Too much rehashed material. At least the DSOTM and WYWH boxes had the long unavailable quad mixes.

 

Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas, Wilhelm Kempff (1991 edition)

This is the first CD release by DG of the (9) disc set, as such the sound quality is thin and tinny. Not something you want in the piano sonatas, you want to hear the deep registers of the piano roar when needed.

 

No Beatles Forever...

 

My guess is that because much of Animals was written at the same time as Wish You Were Here, there wasn't a whole lot left after WYWH: Immersion edition.

There's always The Extraction Tapes....

 

I think James Guthrie has been working on a 5.1 mix of The Wall for years now. I can't find the quote, but I believe he's said that the original The Wall multitrack masters are not in very good shape now.