Bill Bruford Box Set: "Seems Like A Lifetime Ago 1977-1980"

Can this be done if you ordered elsewhere or are only backers allowed to comment?

 

Brilliant band, love these albums. But for $120 (currently on Amazon) this is a non-starter for me. I would need a remix of GGT to even consider it. Wonder why only a remaster?

 

Gonzo Multimedia, the same organisation who are currently launching Tangerine Dream at Coventry Cathedral 1975 definitive edition, with for the first time ORIGINAL CONCERT SOUND. Except in reality it's a dub of `Rubycon' which bears no relation to the music performed at the concert. Absolute corner cutting con merchants......and in the case of Tangerine Dream, out and out false representation.

 

I suspect backers only but don’t really know I’m afraid.

 

The problem is, I don't think the 5.1 Dolby is there by mistake. You can't put lossless 5.1 on a DVD unless it is DVD-Audio formatted. But what they could and should have done is put a much better quality DTS 5.1 alongside while still retaining the cheaper DVD-V authoring (like the Jethro Tull remixes). At more than 3 times the bit rate of Dullby, DTS sounds much better and closer to the source.

What is totally inexcusable is the stereo mixes in Dolby Digital. That makes no sense. It even costs less to put Hi-Res lossless PCM versions in there because of no license fees to pay and you don't even have to downsample to Redbook...

 

In the past, that's been how it's worked with other projects I've backed on that site - pay to play, so to speak.

 

For those of you that pre-ordered this from Import CD’s I have some bad news for you.... You will never get it from them!

I pre-ordered the UK Box from Import CD’s last year and they cancelled my order! They claimed they could not get the item at the price that I pre-ordered it at.

This is classic behaviour from IC. They do this all of the time. They were also selling copies of Bruford box on eBay as well.

My advice... Stay far away from Import CD’s! They also go under the name Deep Discount! It’s the same company using two different names. Don’t believe me, check out their address on their contact pages, it’s identical!

I for one will never buy anything from either of these two places, being one in the same, as they simply present items at low-ball pre-order prices only to send you an “sorry” we cancelled your order email.

If you want the Bruford box just go to Burning Shed and order it from them.

Case closed.

 

They've added the following to the description of the set on the Burning Shed site now that they're producing more than 2000 copies:

"This extension of the limited edition set marginally alters the original terms and conditions of sale. Those who wish to can return their original sets for a full refund. "

I wonder if they've added the same to the description on the PledgeMusic site?

 

What was the price of your pre-order? Last I looked they were going for $90 there.

BTW, what's wrong with them selling on eBay? I've gotten a few things from them that way.

 

You are right. I cancelled my order yesterday but they did ship out the Dylan Box which was at a low price. So sometimes they are worth it. That said after reading the various posts here I don't think I will spend the cash on this one unless it drops back under $100.

 

I paid $75 for the Bruford Box from importcds which I thought was too good to be true. I was right!

 

I'm now listening to the blu-ray of Gentle Giant's "Three Piece Suite" — Steven Wilson Mixes.

What I would really love for this release is a single blu-ray with lossless hi-rez stereo and lossless hi-rez 5.1 (for the albums remixed this way).

That this expensive box doesn't have any hi-rez is very sad. But at least I now don't wish that I had a copy.

 

Exactly. I will not be disappointed if my ImportCD preorder fails to materialize. Hopefully a pair of blurays will be on offer in the next year or two.

 

Happy that I pre-ordered with Import CDs - my order still hasn’t shipped! Given the MP3 quality of the albums, I happily cancelled my order and will moved the funds to other purchases. Dodged a bullet with this one: too bad as I was really looking forward to the set.

 

They also did a 're-master' and Soundtrack CD/DVD of Space Movie with soundtrack by Mike Oldfield, the CD one single track dubbed straight from the Video complete with Wow Flutter etc. the remastered movie had the same video artefacts and washed out look as always.

 

Eh, I can't really complain on this front. ImportCDs more often than not actually fulfills their orders at the advertised price. In the case of the UK box and a handful of other items I've ordered that haven't come through (incidentally, they did eventually offer copies at an agreeable price and deliver in a timely fashion), they were either items on the cusp of going OOP or very limited editions. In either case, the worst I can say about ImportCDs is that their site is probably overly optimistic or a little too slow in catching that an item is no longer available to them. It is what it is.

The only real complaint I have about ImportCDs is that their packaging often leaves a lot to be desired and I've had more than a few boxes arrive with dings and dents as a result. Unlike with Amazon, there isn't really a mechanism with ImportCDs for partial refunds or replacements when this happens, but considering that I'm often saving at least 33% over the Amazon price, it kind of comes out in the wash anyway.

Bottom line: you're saving money with them, but you also get what you pay for in some regards. For my part, I appreciate that their pricing allows me to pick up a ton more music and stay within my budget than would be possible if I went through Burning Shed or Amazon for everything.

 

I got mad at Import CDs when my 80s KC box was cancelled after I secured a preorder at a nice price and I said I would not buy from them again. That lasted maybe a month.
They just have too much good stuff at a good price to cut them off completely. I have just stopped using them to pre-order for these box sets. For the new KC box coming soon I pre-ordered via Amazon.UK instead.

 

I've ordered dozens of times from ImportCD and Deep Discount. I think they only canceled one item because it went over that 30 day policy they have. Their prices are too good to pass up. The only downside is the slow shipping.

 

"Feels Good To Me" sounds good in the remix and the 5.1 mix is nicely executed, as well. Cool box. Glad to have it.

 

For those interested....



My review of Bill Bruford's Seems Like a Lifetime Ago 1977-1980 box set, today at All About Jazz.

With the plethora of box sets being issued these days with new masters and, perhaps even more importantly, new mixes of classic recordings, it was inevitable that the small but significant discography of drummer Bill Bruford's first steps into a solo career with his band Bruford should finally get the deluxe treatment. Seems Like a Lifetime Ago 1977-1980 not only covers the three studio and one live recording that this at-the-time completely unexpected and utterly distinctive surprise of a group released between 1978 and 1980, but adds some revealing and previously entirely unreleased music (two CDs worth) to a six-CD/two-DVD-A box set. In addition to a reproduction concert poster, two black and white photo band prints and a signed/numbered certificate of authentication for a set strictly limited to 2,000 copies worldwide, there's a 12"x12" 16-page, full-color booklet that, alongside a complete tour date listing and additional poster, publicity and live shot reproductions, also includes a characteristically extensive, detailed and informative piece penned by well-known scribe Sid Smith.

Bruford, the group, in its relatively short existence, retained a consistent core trio largely responsible for its effortless blend of progressive rock tendencies and jazz inspirations that-like the Canterbury scene from which its keyboardist, Dave Stewart, emerged-somehow managed to make serious music without the gravitas and, despite its profound complexities, possessed a certain self-effacing quality and, quite magically, memorable melodies...even when they were many, many bars long and filled with complicated metric shifts.

While ultimately achieving greater fame with his '80s-onward "pop music for adults" duo with wife/singer Barbara Gaskin, Stewart remains-if for nothing more than his work with Egg, Hatfield and the North, National Health and Bruford from the late '60s through 1980, one of progressive music's most influential and sophisticated composers, performers...and, in more recent times, orchestrators. Jeff Berlin - first emerging on the American jazz scene with artists including Gil Evans, Esther Phillips and Don Pullen - achieved far greater international presence with Bruford's group. Possessed of staggering technical acumen on electric bass, Berlin became a vital presence of his own with a drummer who had, by this time, become a well-established, major name in progressive rock; and, despite the emergence of punk rock having some (but not nearly as much as some ascribe) impact at the time, progressive-leaning music could still sell a significant number of albums...and easily fill venues ranging from sizable clubs and concert halls to larger-scale arenas.

The fourth charter member of Bruford, the recently deceased, outrageously talented Allan Holdsworth, emerged in the early-to-mid-'70s with artists ranging from Soft Machine and Gong to Tony Williams and Jean-Luc Ponty. Seeming to grow in massive leaps and bounds from project to project and album to album, the guitarist was already well on his way to greater recognition for his appearance on trumpeter Ian Carr's Belladonna (Vertigo, 1972). Over the course of his career, Holdsworth truly defined a new language, for his instrument specifically and music in general--as, indeed, can easily be argued about everyone in Bruford, albeit to varying degrees of popular acclaim. But, alas, following Bruford's first two studio albums-1978's Feels Good to Me and 1979's One of a Kind - and a couple of months touring with the band in May and June 1979 - the overly self-critical Holdsworth left to pursue a solo career, largely documented on the Man Who Changed Guitar Forever! (Manifesto, 2016) box set, replaced (at the guitarist's recommendation) by a protégé dryly dubbed by Bruford as the 'Unknown' John Clark.

Continue reading here...

 

@John Kelman : As it has been made clear in this thread and others on the internet that this boxset DOES NOT in fact contain DVD-Audio discs with Hi-Res content, but standard DVD-Video with only lossy-compressed audio, I suggest you correct your article before spreading misinformation to more potential customers.

 

My apologies for the oversight...I’ve now corrected the article, with thanks.

That said, I will say that the new mixes still sound wonderful. Yes, it would have been nice to have them in higher resolution and, ideally, uncompressed on Blu Ray rather than DVD (assuming there wasn’t space on a DVD), but these - and the remastered TBT & GGT - are still a major improvement over both the original CD issues and the 2005 remasters. So this doesn’t change my recommendation that this box set represents the final word and definitive editions of these four marvelous recordings.

Cheers!
John
PS: I am afraid I don’t spend a lot of time scouring the web; suffering, as I do, from CFS, I have to focus what little energy I have on the writing. And right now, as I continue to absorb the mountain of live shows (and previously unreleased other material) in the upcoming King Crimson Sailor’s Tales box (over 20 live shows, many I’ve not before heard), I’m pretty much focused on the "what’s next," as I need to get this written so it will hopefully run next weekend.

All of this to simply say that I’m all the more appreciative of your letting me know about my oversight. Again, many thanks!

 

I just got a shipment confirmation from ImportCDs, so I guess I really am getting the box at the low low price that doesn't seem so low any more. I'm sure I'll like it, but I'm still going to be gun shy about preorders.

 

Got my notice too. Color me surprised. I guess I'll believe it when it shows up at my door.

 

Count me in on the "Wow, didn't expect that email" group. No complaints from me. Saves me the hassle of hemming and hawing about how long to wait on the order when I really wanted to lay hands on this set.