Some thoughts after listening to the entire album. The band is really playing on the edge through much of this, which adds a lot of excitement to songs we have in multiple other settings (A Quick One, Shakin' All Over, My Generation) even if they aren't as tightly structured, they are adventurous and often thrilling. The 33 minute My Generation is a complete sonic mayhem of goodness, better to forget the Leeds version when listening and just go with it. And Relax, wow! Why did they drop that one? Final observation: Pete abandoned the Fender Stratocaster shortly after this, but he makes great use of the whammy bar on many occasions here, which I've never heard him do in studio, or later shows. Of course he compensated somewhat by bending back the lightweight neck of the Gibson SG during the 70's, getting a kind of wavering effect similar, but not the same, as the Fender vibrato. So glad this has come out - it fills a missing, essential gap in the Who discography.
They're a virtual monopoly, and they don't care. I wouldn't trust them to ship vinyl at all, but unless you can walk into a brick-and-mortar shop that has it in stock or order through one, Amazon might be your only option. The vinyl has "Miles Abbey Road Room 30" in the deadwax. Not sure if that means anything to anyone. I really hope this isn't a one-off, and they keep 'em coming.
Sheeze ! Hopefully some recycling is happening afterwards to mitigate this ... I got mine from amazonUK but it was in minimal packaging, all was good ... £12.24 with shipping = $18.11 and I received it in Hawaii faster than I was expecting based on things I've been reading here.
Yeah, mine too except the CD was buried UNDER all the wrapping paper. I had to hunt for it and hope there was something in the box other than the filler!
Didn't realize what a bummer it would really be flipping sides in the middle of MG, but it was! On first listen, have been totally immersed in the musical dynamics and forward momentum. Side 5 was a doozy. Was a little surprised at the musicality of the improvisation and the sustained energy of it. The fade out at the end of Side 5 was fine as was the fade in to begin Side 6 but the break up isn't amicable to the performance. I'm thinking on the surface the fades make a segue of the two sides more difficult than if a clean break between the two may have been. So, I like what I've heard on Side 6 but I kind of lost the continuity of the performance. Still waiting on the cd's from amazon uk. What I heard on Side 5 was also what sounded to me at times like variations of a theme on Shakin' All Over, with a vague hint of Summertime Blues and maybe a hair of Boris etc. however more interesting to me was what resminded me for a minute or two, during one of the secrtions when John took the lead, was something akin to 5:15, or sparks of the bass solo that would become part of it. Don't have the times on that section that briefly made me think of 5:15 even circa 1973, but the whole piece was more musical, explosive, and interesting than I was anticipating. Should have known better! Essential Who as far as I'm concerned fwiw. The vinyl seemed nearly perfect to me, very pleased with it, except for the inevitable and unavoidable interruption.
After listening to this I never realized how much Moon hits the snare. It's not a two/four thing. It's as much as his other hand is hitting the cymbal.
FYI, I contacted uDiscover Music about the missing 12x12 print, and this is what they said: "Unfortunately we have run out of our stock of this product and we are unable to arrange a replacement for you." It's unclear how they could have run out when I had pre-ordered almost 2 months in advance, but regardless, they gave a full refund. So I guess free isn't so bad.
Mine also arrived in the oversized packaging from Amazon.uk. I figure the box could hold around 30 of the sets. I hunted around for the link for packaging feedback but came up empty.
Mine came in the super-sized packaging as well. I order from Amazon.co.uk fairly often but never saw anything like this before. Meanwhile, today I played the second disc with My Generation in the car. Imagine my surprise when the vehicle's media player interpreted what it was playing as this (pardon the dog hair and dust on the screen - the canines had just been dropped off ):
Got my longbox last week too. I thought I ordered windshield wipers and forgot about it or something.
Listened to both discs yesterday while driving. Very enjoyable. The "My Generation" disc is really interesting. Parts of it remind me of the jam section in the "Join Together" medley from '75. Several times I went back to relisten to certain parts. Essential.
I'm hearing a hint of Cream in the jam. Sounded like Pete wanted to break into Sunshine of Your Love at one point.
