Poll: Which "Paul McCartney Archive Collection" deluxe boxes did you buy?

From the UK and just a fool who buys anything!

 

If you need them in the WORST way then get the 1993 remasters.

 

OK, thanks!

 

Gotta love the bonus tracks on it though!

 

Really? Wasn't deluxe implied ?

 

Wings Over America
Venus and Mars

 

None of the boxes, just the deluxe/expanded CD editions.

 

Just harmless banter.

 

No

 

Sorry...it went completely over my head ! 'WORST'....

 

Well said... the '93 versions (still circulating on streaming services, in most cases, for the non-Archive albums) are audio trash — shrill EQ and NoNoised to death. Even the generic mass market Capitol 1980s CD issues beat them handily — they should be replaced with THOSE on the market if they can't do satisfactory 24bit unlimited versions from the original tapes

 

Bought the deluxe/expanded CD versions of all but "Wings at the Speed of Sound" & "McCartney II". I also got the mono "Ram" vinyl and vinyl editions of "Tug of War" and "Pipes of Peace".

 

So far:
Ram
Venus And Mars
Tug Of War

Next up:
McCartney
McCartney II

Coming Soon:
Flowers In The Dirt
Pipes Of Peace
Band On The Run

 

All of them.

 

Same.

 

All of them, of course!

 

I have held off on Flowers mostly because of the price. And the downloading just adds to my "not quite as interested as I could be". [I do plan on getting this one eventually. But since it's on Capitol, it will likely be longer before it goes out of print which reduces my purchasing urgency, and hopefully there will be a decent price drop at some point...]

I have held off on Wings Over America because I picked up the Best Buy edition with the bonus audio disc and I don't see the DVD & books as enough of a value-add to justify the price.
I have held off on Speed Of Sound because someone gifted me the 2 CD edition and I don't see the DVD & book as enough of a value-add to justify the price.

 

They are just too expensive for me, though I did break down and buy RAM.

 

So far only McCartney II. But I did replace my beat up vinyl of McCartney, Ram, Venus and Mars, At the Speed of Sound with fresh copies. Also found near mint originals of London Town, Back to the Egg and Tug of War at my local used store for a good price (about $8 apiece). I had never heard them before. I do think Venus and Mars and Ram would look good next to my McCartney II book though. Will probably get them eventually.

 

What does that have to do with this thread??

 

I wasn't interested at all in them since i was very happy with my DCC discs and I had all the 1993 remasters with bonus tracks. I did on a whim pick up the 2 cd Wings over America. Don't know why, I have the original columbia cd and capitol cd versions. I was mainly curious what the sound was like compared to those.

Fast forward to the announcement of Tug of War and Pipes of Peace and I happened to see "Band on the Run" book on sale somewhere and thought, well what the hell I might check out the nice book and hi res versions. Bought it, read it and downloaded and listened to it in 96/24. Nice. very nice. Rather impressed, I picked up the rest on sale here and there leading up to Tug of War and Pipes of Peace. Picked those up a few months later and preorded the Flowers in the Dirt (which is fantastic)

So I ended up first saying pass, and then bought them all with 3 years or so. They are very nice and the unlimited audio in hi res is fantastic (could have been worse). I will continue to buy them. I do wish they were all book format instead of some being box with multiple books. The "book only" ones seem more approachable when passing by the shelf. With the boxes (RAM, WOA, FLOWERS, POP, TOW), you have to pretty much set them down on a table and figure out what you are looking for.

When they announced the colored vinyl, I enthusiastically snatched them all up (8 total) and when they announced NEW, Chaos, Wings Greatest and Thrillington in color vinyl, I got those too. Lots of fun with all the vinyl. I compared sound and they are identical to the hi-res downloads (first 8).

 

Great post.

That echoes my experience with them as well. As a McCartney fan to begin with, I knew I'd at least grab "Band On The Run" and "Wings Over America" in their deluxe versions, and perhaps just buy the deluxe vinyl editions for the rest. But I really fell in love with those first two and ended up buying every one via the book/box. Well, I still need "Pipes Of Peace" and "Flowers In The Dirt" but...

They all are so well done and quality-made, and even though they are by no means cheap, I feel they actually offer much more than I would have expected. Especially the multiple books (in many cases), pictures, and liner notes, etc.

While I've already been on record here as saying that the "Wings Over America" and "RAM" sets are arguably the first two I'd hate to give up, I do agree that there is a streamlined appeal about the book sets that I prefer. As you said, they are easier to pull out on a whim and leaf through.

 

Yes, back from SHF retirement to cast a vote..lol

Love the Archive boxes except for the painstaking wait we tend to have with the release schedule.

 

Agreed...supposedly we only have to wait two months for Those of red Rose Speedway and Wild Life.

 

You should have an option for all of them.