Pink Floyd - The Early Years 1965-1972 Box Set - Realiz/ation (Content, tracks, etc. ONLY!)

It's definitely all preference. Just stating mine.

 

Exactly. Sentiment plays a huge role in preference. I was never attached to the boots...

 

Off to the park to play some disc golf, crank some Floyd (on my Bluetooth), and check out how many trees Irma took...

 

The effects they use on the vocals kill it for me. The bright mastering is also a problem. I really wonder what caused them to feel the need for such a treble boost. "Matilda Mother" on Introduction is way less bright than on the new set, so it's not something inherent in the mixes and not something they felt was needed in 2010.

 

I prefer the Jenner mix to the new one of Vegetable Man. I much prefer the new mix of STLS to what we had. Differing opinions of course. At least we have the old mixes in great quality.

 

I think the EQ choices are quite uneven throughout the box set. Some tracks are a bit bright, it's true, but, once again, not enough to prevent me from enjoying them (I left aside the Pompeii cd, which is a sonic tragedy, even for a non-audiophile like me).

 

It's not sentiment for me. I was really looking forward to finally shedding the bootlegs. All I wanted were reasonable mixes and decent mastering and for me, the new ones totally fail at that. Reducing Syd's prominence in VM is a sin. The song is an intimate expression. Having his vocals prominent and not smeared with effects seems much more fitting to me than feeling like I'm listening to him sing it from the basement through furnace vents.

 

I just realized I haven't given the box set criticism yet. So here I go: The only bad thing about this release is that it doesn't exist on vinyl.

 

Yes. One would expect at least the Cre/ation 2cd on vinyl...

 

I totally agree. Well, back to my CD's then. It's not such a bad format after all.

 

You know, I wonder if this is why I don't mind the VM mix so much. To me, it was always an exercise in weirdness. Yes, the lyrics are confessional, but the music doesn't really bear that out to my mind. I almost think of it as a literal "message in a bottle" type setup - all you see floating around is the bottle, but if you'd care to fish it out and open the thing, you find the note.

Moments like this are the meat and potatoes of why these conversations are cool - I honestly never would have thought of this track as an "intimate expression," and it's interesting to consider from that angle. For my money, it's almost a psychedelic primal scream, which is probably why I prefer the Jesus & Mary Chain version as much as I do. They really plug up the "primal" aspect of it and turn it into a noisy freakout.

I suddenly find myself wondering if the song would hold up in a stripped-back, acoustic vein...

 

The new mixes of STLS and VM sound digital and lifeless to me. I would die for an official release of the original Jenner & Jones mixes...

 

Your survival is guaranteed, then.

 

I don't know that it would ~ though the lyrics are very telling (re: the confessional aspect), they were reportedly written very quickly because the band needed another song for Saucerful and Syd just knocked it out. So while some of the lyrics are dark, the overall record is fun, too ~ as echoed by the laughter at the end, and the raw playfulness of the BBC performance.
I don't think the new mix is faux-psychedelic at all, I think it's genuine psychedelic and may very well have been presented that way if released at the time. The choice to not present it more as a proto-punk record was just that, a choice. I wish Syd's lead guitar was louder, but that's my only complaint. It's still my go-to version now.

 

I find it to be an intimate expression both superficially and deeper. He's literally describing what he's wearing. But then, helped quite a bit with hindsight, we realize this is a cry from a man feeling like he's being lost. And that's why I feel like the older mix got it right. Clear, upfront vocals while Syd describes his clothing, then the wacky, echoey "Vegetable man, where ARE YOOOooooooou?" backing vocals burst out. Then at the end of the song, everything goes nuts. That contrast is lost in the new mix and it feels gimmicky to me to have the whole track with Syd sounding distant.

If there was any indication in previous mixes that this was the idea the band had in mind for the sound of the track, I'd still prefer the other way, but I'd understand why they did this. But being that they seemed to have just decided to mix it this way for 2010, it feels gimmicky. Like they are trying to make it sound more "out there". For a song that has never been previously released, I don't care for such extreme modern decisions for the only official mix. This mix sounds like something experimental they might include as a bonus somewhere. Not what should be representing the track in its only official form. Again, all my opinion, of course. I know others feel differently.

Some were very annoyed that they nudged the chipmunk vocal words around on Scream to put it in line with the main vocal. I don't like that either, but it's something I could've accepted (had I otherwise liked the mix). It is something which messes with my brain when listening because I've heard it so many times one way and now it jumps out as different. I also rather like the way it isn't perfectly in-sync on the older mixes. Anyway, my point is that it is claimed the band has made comments that being in sync was the way they originally wanted it but couldn't pull off with 60s technology. Although I am used to and like the original way, I understand the move if this was what they originally had in mind. But I don't recall them saying they always wanted Vegetable Man to sound like we're listening to Syd play/sing from inside the closet.

 

It reminds me of the decision in the 70s to re-dub the 13th Floor Elevators' first two albums and bathe them in reverb. Like they felt the originals didn't sound psychedelic enough for such a pioneering psychedelic band.

 

For me, the new mix works. I can definitely see that perspective, though.

 

Actually, now that you mention it, I wonder if the 2010 mixing was influenced by the sound of the J&MC cover.

 

Makes sense to me. To the fans, it's the music we have known and loved for decades. To the artist, the Early stuff is like their mother digging out their Kindergarten art and putting it on display for all to see. (That analogy courtesy of Neil Peart).

I'm not surprised that they may not have found the absolute best copy of some of this material. They probably don't know/remember where all of it is. Could they have gone to the fans? Probably.....don't know what kind of legal footwork that entails though. The Doors tried taking that tack wit ha couple potential archival live releases and basically got held hostage. It doesn't surprise me that the band would decide to use the best stuff they could reasonably get their hands on, on their own.

Anyway, almost a year on and I still love this box set.

 

Still exploring this box. Vegetable Man, Love it all.

 

Interesting point. I wonder..

 

Nope. I've been a fan for decades and 90% of the material- booted or not - was new to me. I had the VM/STLS tracks on a crummy picture disc boot and played them maybe three times, so had no preconceptions about how they'd sound on the box- besides, why would I want them to sound like third- generation copies?

Since the gort intervention after that nonsense someone wrote about how no one in the band cared about this release, catching up on this thread has really sucked the joy out of what I thought was an incredible, well compiled trove of joy that's still keeping me enthralled a year later.

So I'm gonna leave this thread, and not bother commenting any more. Don't need more pointers as to why I can't be a real fan for actually liking what's in the box.

 

The really punk version of Vegetable Man is the instrumental rehearsal. With chord & tempo changes like that on a "legit" Syd tune, no wonder the band fell for Have You Got It Yet...!

 

This x 1000.

I certainly never expected to see something like this box in my lifetime. Someone way earlier in this thread described it as "an embarrassment of riches" and that's the best description I've yet heard. This box does such a great job of connecting the dots during Floyd's early years. It's almost like a whole new band.

 

I'm sorry to hear that! The real fans are us who spend tons of dollars on box sets like this, to get the beautiful gems that we crave for. I don't care what other people say.

So, now that nearly a year has passed since it came out, I still listen to it a lot, proving that the longevity of the box is as impressing as the music itself! By the way, can someone tell me what's the difference between the version of Embryo in Deviation and the version in Reverberation?