"Quadrophenia: The Director's Cut": Official Press Release for Boxset

They should have had included some of the 73 live tracks if not a full concert. How hard would it have been to get fresh remixes of some of those King Biscuit tracks?

I mean if they couldn't include the full 5.1 of the album, then make up for it with live tracks. There are likely other 73 live recordings in the vault as well, just a guess.

And what is this talk about time constraints for not doing the entire album in 5.1? They could have continued working on it, and had a 2012 holiday release? What is another year?

 

Well, at least Pink Floyd is offering a more affordable option where fans can get some of this previously unavailable live/demo material. In the case of DSOTM, if you already have the SACD and you're looking to save some cash, you could just go for the Experience edition for the live stuff. Who fans have to go all in on the Highway Robbery edition if they want the bonus material. And frankly, Pete's demos are only of moderate interest to me. They don't make up for the complete absence of full band outtakes/live cuts or a complete surround mix.

So let's summarize: DSOTM offers a new 2 channel remaster, 2 distinct hi-rez surround mixes, plentiful live material, outtakes and demos, some video content. Quad offers a remaster of the existing remix, two discs of Pete demos, a partial surround mix. . . and a book. I don't know what the pricing is like overseas, but in the U.S., the Immersion sets are a good $20-$30 cheaper than Quadrophenia at this stage. We'll see how things shake out after the holidays.

 

That is for the Floyd fan who buys the set to decide. They (the films) are included, where the Quadrophenia set includes none. Many of us who saw Pink Floyd in the 70s feel that they are mind blowingly wonderful. So for you to say that they don't stand up is just your slanted opinion. We like them and they are included, the Quad set includes none. You have made no case there.

 

I get the feeling that Universal set a date and that was that.

 

Ding ding ding.

We have a winner.

I can tell you, from experience that Who releases come out of nowhere and come together fast.

 

Not for the price. If it was closer to the Leeds box set price ($70 range), I might agree with you.

 

Indeed it is my slanted opinion. All the views I express are my personal opinion, but equally I understand your view.

 

The Who are also offering a cheaper option, as the 2 CD Quadrophenia deluxe edition reissues also includes some of Pete's demos as bonus tracks, so you can own some of the demos without owning the super deluxe box.

The situation seems to be reversed in our respective countries. For me, the Quadrophenia box is cheaper than the Floyd boxes, and the Floyd boxes are not worth the money. For you, vice versa.

 

I don't think the Floyd or the Quad boxes are worth the money. A couple of years back, the labels saw that there was a market and retail potential for these deluxe boxes -- and now they are producing a fairly significant amount of them and the prices are creeping up. The fans are willing to pay if they are offered a lot of rarities and improved sound options (i.e. SMiLE). The fans ultimately will not endorse high-priced, bloated box sets. It is baffling that labels continue to sit on archival material that still holds some value - particularly when the labels issue deluxe sets. The era of physical product is coming to an end, and when it does, the value and retail potential for that material will not be as high once it becomes part of the download/stream world of retail. For example, the retail for The Who's 1973 Spectrum show is only going to go down with each passing year and each lost opportunity. This Quadrophenia box set was the best option for it -- and you can bet more fans would have ordered and not cancelled orders had there been a live show from the 1973 tour included.

 

Perhaps Pete feels that Philly 73 just sounds too rough, and that the hottest nights on the 73 tour were not recorded. Nothing filmed that is worth a damn either. I personally would have included all the "Tales from the Who" tunes in lovely remixed form and let the fans decide if they like it or not. That would have been the deal maker here.

Maybe there simply is nothing else new to offer up?

 

Q

 

The last of the four 1973 Edmonton shows was recorded and Pete considered those four Who shows the best of their career. If you've heard the Best of the Biscuit CD which includes Won't Get Fooled Again from Philly, you know the sound quality is as good as it gets. KBFH had prepared the complete show for release in this quality and it was cancelled due to Pete's Lifehouse Chronicles.

 

The Philadelphia recordings have always sounded thin to me - whether on the KBFH compilation, View from a Backstage Pass, Tales from the Who, pre-FM reels, &c. Nowhere near the visceral sound captured at Leeds, Hull, or the Young Vic.

A live Who release nixed to make room for one of Pete's vanity releases?

 

I have several of the pre-FM b'cast sourced KBFH discs, and Tales vinyl, listened to the WGV streams, but do not own that one "Best of the Biscuit" with Won't Get Fooled Again on it.

I have always thought the KBFH show was a tad shaky musically (not even considering out of sync tapes), and recording quality to be... thin. But I do like it, as I like my rock & roll to be a dangerous high-wire act with no net and a potential flat face fall.

So you state Edmonton was recorded and well considered by Pete. That's great. You then go on to state Philly is equal in quality due to a mix of "Fooled Again" that we have available. I'm not sure that the two shows should be mentioned in the same high regard. But it looks to me like Pete is planning his vault releases carefully. And since Universal may not be able to claim this Edmonton 73 record as theirs under contract (like they can Quadrophenia), it is understandable why it is not handed over to Uni for a song, and tossed into this new box like it belongs there.

This makes the KBFH live 73 tapes all the more a glaring omission for this box set.

 

Review from allmusic.com

Quadrophenia [The Director's Cut] The Who

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

4 1/2 Stars

Quadrophenia has been reissued before, including a notably remixed version in 1996, but it has never been expanded. The 2011 "Director’s Cut" makes up for lost time by offering two different expanded editions of the album (presented in its 1996 remix): a double-disc edition rounded out with 11 demos -- all performed solo by Pete Townshend, two of which are songs that didn’t make the final cut -- and a Super Deluxe Edition that adds an early version of the album comprised entirely of Townshend demos, a DVD containing 5.1 mixes from selected songs from the album, and a host of extras highlighted by a 100-page hardcover book featuring many photos, memorabilia from Townshend’s archive, lyrics, and a new, lengthy essay from Pete. While the double-disc edition is quite a handsome thing in its own right -- the two discs may be split at an odd point, between “Drowned” and “Bell Boy,” the latter the last song on side three on the original album; the demos more than make up for this quirk -- the Super Deluxe Edition is something special thanks to the alternate version of Quadrophenia, which contains six songs cut from the final album, several containing story lines and characters excised from the narrative. Some of these songs stand on their own merits -- particularly “We Close Tonight,” which popped up in a full Who version on the expanded Odds & Sods, and “Joker James” -- and the overall album is stronger without them, and that’s part of what makes this rough draft so compelling: it provides insight into Townshend’s creative process as he sculpted, edited, and crafted this complex concept album. Also, hearing Quadrophenia as solo recordings from Townshend -- he’s responsible for every sound here, all the guitars, drums, piano, and analog synths -- underlines the autobiography at its core, pushing his vulnerability and passion to the center. Some of these recordings have shown up elsewhere, either on Pete’s Scoop collections or bootlegs, but context counts: having these demos assembled as a full album gives them weight and force that will prove to be undeniable to any hardcore Who fan. It’s such an enveloping experience that they may be able to forgive the occasional oddities and frustrations elsewhere in the Super Deluxe Edition -- most notably that DVD, which puzzlingly contains only eight highlights, not the full album, something that’s bound to frustrate anybody shelling out over 100 dollars for this box -- because what is Quadrophenia, anyway, other than a celebration of our human imperfections?

 

Are those photos from the box set? I've never seen those before. Good stuff.

 

Has anyone been to the London exhibition in Carnaby St? If so, I would be particularly interested to know in what kind of quality the photos from the original LP insert are exhibited.

Tim

 

Got an email from The Who.com today which confirms the box is a limited edition
, and states "if you didn't pre order your copy you'd better be quick, the box set is selling fast and will be sold out very soon".

 

The book is very nice and I would not have noticed any particular quality issues with the Ethan Russell photos. The quality of the paper, binding, and content is above par for most box sets, and I could see the book itself commanding $40 or $50 of the overall price.

 

Yeah I have figured that any of these box sets that include vinyl are usually set to be very limited. So far I have been right. Funny though as I was thinking that it was due to the vinyl but for most if not all of these box sets the vinyl is offered separately. I was thinking that the reason they are limited is due to the quality control on the vinyl but I guess not.

Otherwise I am not so sure as to why they make them limited. Being that all of these are already multimillion sellers (Live At Leeds, Layla, Aqualung) etc you would think they would not be worried about selling out of their stock.

I have this feeling that the Floyd sets will be around awhile. They will sell boatloads for awhile and we are in the Christmas holiday season too.

 

I love the book and look forward to reading it all tonight. When I came home today on my lunch break, the box was sitting on my porch and I opened it up to make sure nothing was missing. The 4 CDs, DVD-A and 7" vinyl will have to wait until tomorrow before I can listen thoroughly.

 

Making them limited puts fear into certain buyers and forces them to spend. It also causes entry of speculators hoping to make a buck on eBay later on. Both help clear out warehouse space for the next product. And by making these limited it allows yet another repackaging (or re-re-re.. ) in another 7-12 years or less.

Although the term is used for 2 different marketing concepts, "hourglass marketing" is an example of what Quad packages are being offered. You make one box that is tricked out and expensive, and then you have a bare bones 2 disc version. Nothing is offered in-between, thus if you want just one of the extra features in the big set, that's what you have to buy. Kudos to those few marketers who offer something in the middle.

 

Don't be worried, the Quad production run is more than the Leeds set from what I can tell. The two Best Buys in my podunk town each had 2-3 copies and one indie story had one copy. By contrast no stores (chain or indie) carried the Leeds set.

 

After seeing that I could get a digital version of the Quad Super Deluxe set minus the surround sound sampler and 5:15 single off but including a PDF of the booklet and Q Cloud access off i-tunes for $25, about the same price as the two disc version would be retail around where I am I had a Pete Townshend-esque quick change of mind and decided to go for it.

I know Pete's demos don't always get a lot of love around here but If you're a Pete fan some of this (the non Peter Huntington overdubbed tracks) is really worth hearing. I've been especially taken with Is it Me?, a very rough early version of what later became Dr. Jimmy with very different lyrics and riffs. The guitar intro to Is it Me? has heavily distorted guitar which is very uncharacteristic for Pete, and once the song kicks in, it becomes very reminiscent of Getting in Tune and The Song is Over.

 

threw on one of Pete's less than stellar demos ("the real me) and I love how you can imagine John and Keith hearing it and just going, "yeah, we're not doing any of that."