Yeah -- I think this is the one complaint about this otherwise magnificent box that I can get along with.
I was auditioning some track on Amazon and heard some cases where the song was distorting from peaking out. Is this indeed the case?
I'm blown away by this set. I never bought the TVU Super Deluxe Edition because I had to make some tough economic choices back then, so I never had the chance to preview Matrix tracks in this quality. Wow. Just wow. I've been a Velvet Underground fan for 20+ years and always wanted to hear a high-quality live recording, but I always thought such a thing would never appear. I listened to all the available live recordings, officially released and not. Always loved the official 1974 live album and I'm a big fan of "The Quine Tapes" and love the End of Cole Ave. stuff and so on. But nothing compares to this. Well-mixed multi-track recordings of one of the greatest band ever and great performances as well! The record company may not be completely honest about this being four complete sets, but I don't care as long as they release high-quality stuff like this. And a lot of mystery and unanswered questions always surrounded The Velvet Underground, right?
Quine cites the 27th as well. I saw Lou Reed twice on Thanksgiving as a solo act. It's not an unusual thing.
But Quine also has the same performance of "Sister Ray" as is on the Matrix box as December 3rd. So either Quine was wrong or the new box is wrong.
I know. I was mainly saying that a Thanksgiving show was not a rare occurrence and using Quine citing the 24th, 25th and 27th as dates he recorded might be used as backup. We believe they played the 26th as it was the draft announcement, so that throws a spanner in the works, suggesting they played 24-26 as announced in the newspaper, though one would assume that Quine would know if he missed or skipped a date? As for December 3, who knows?
The 26th/27th limitation also means they played certain songs in both sets both nights, which seems unlikely, unless, perhaps, they were playing to two different "houses" each night. The Amazon listing for "The Complete Matrix Tapes" set helpfully informs us that: In 1969 The Velvet Underground played a residency at The Matrix, a small club in San Francisco and performances from these shows were recorded on a tape deck by guitarist Robert Quine. The band was basically at the height of their powers when they disbanded, and these tapes are further proof of that.
I don't trust Quine. He claimed a performance on the "Quine Tapes" was recorded on a date in early December when The Velvet Underground probably didn't appear at the Matrix at all in early December. But who who knows?
Quick question, on the DVD 2 ch is anyone getting a single pop across a pretty wide spectrum pretty much near the end of Oh Sweet Nuthin? It does not seem to be on the CD. Thanks
I guess some of this belongs on the Loaded 45th thread, but within your prediction you must have read my profile and noticed I can play 2 ch DVD V. I really liked the album proper on CD vs. PSAS, it seems a better transfer and is thicker, wider, more holographic [thankfully very much on par with the other 45th masterings-- man we have come a long way since those early VU CDs]; it has some mastering touches sure but never too loud, or none that mar things anyway. As I was reviewing the box while listening I suddenly realized, even though I knew it weeks ago, that I had the DVD 2 ch to try, and that was great as well; it seemed like the same transfer with minimal mastering; both are very good and I would have no real problem going back and forth between them. To the original question about the Loaded 45th box or the Matrix tapes while having PSAS, I still agree the PSAS will tied you over well as you enjoy the Matrix tapes, the differences for the album proper are not night and day but more dawn and noon; just make sure you get to the Loaded 45th box eventually. Since I listened to Loaded about 2.7 times today I have not had a chance to hear the extra cuts.
As someone who, as an impoverished teenage VU fanatic in the '80s and '90s, came to love Live 1969 on a cassette dubbed from the local public library CD, this is a godsend. I never imagined being able to hear these performances in decent fidelity, and yet loved them all the same. This is like seeing a Jackson Pollack in person after only knowing a tiny black and white photo from a textbook. Also, surprisingly, the real hero now is Mo. Rock'n'Roll!!!!
Someone clarify this for me. I have two version of "Sweet Jane" from the Matrix tapes. One version is longer. It starts with some undeciperable band chatter and then the song starts. A fan gives a "whoop" a couple bars into the song. On the other version, the song fades in... with no chatter or whoop at the beginning. What's the difference between the two versions? Their respective sources? As a purist, I prefer the "unedited" track with chatter and fan noise.
The two versions on the Matrix box are entirely different recordings, the longer version has very different lyrics. I'm not sure which one you mean when you say one fades in - neither of mine do.
This set is now up on UK Spotify, although I should say "visible", rather than playable - as it's shown to me, I think only those tracks on the 3rd album super deluxe (which I have) are available to play, whilst the new material to this set (which I don't have) is greyed-out & not streamable.
I haven't had an opportunity to check if they match your description here, but it occurs to me the Deluxe Live at Max's Kansas City has two versions of "Sweet Jane." Could that be what thinking of here? Otherwise, I'm stumped.
Duh, I got the set and saw Sweet Jane an immediately compared it to another live version I had. Unbeknownst to me, there are two "Sweet Janes" on Matrix, as someone pointed out. I didn't see in the track listings it was also the very last track. That last track is the sample track I had! So all is well. I was worried that the earlier release of the Quine tapes had stuff that this Matrix box didn't have. So I am happy!
I have to say, these cardboard sleeves are annoying the **** out of me. It's like they're half a millimeter too small so the discs are wedged tight in them. They don't have to spring for standard jewel cases, but if they want to save money on packaging these things, they could at least give us the slim cases or the soft plastic clamshell ones, either would be a thousand times better.
I'm wondering if this problem is confined to the U.S. release, as my copy, bought in the U.K., is perfectly fine.
My copy bought in France is same as US , ultra tight and then the box is too small as the sleeves are touching the inside of the box so it's a pain to pull them out The packaging is ultra cheap
Perhaps I got lucky with mine, then. The card sleeves are a tad snug inside the outer clamshell box, but not so much as to be, "A pain." A couple of millimetres here and there can make all the difference, it seems.
