The Who: Maximum A's & B's (5CD Box Set)

Maximum As & Bs: Amazon.co.uk: Music

Wonder what this is?

 

Hmmmm... Wouldn't have thought there enough A. & B sides to fill 5cd's. No detail at Amazon. Just have to wait.

 

I agree. no way they have enough singles to fill 5 cd's. maybe 3 and part of a 4th

 

Label: "Commercial Marketing"; Hmm. I sense piracy.

 

I recently burned a 2 CD set of the UK A's & B's from 1965-1978 & there's a bit of space left over - I can't see them filling 5 CD's up, 3 maybe 4 possibly.
We'll see I guess.

 

Amazon early listings often say Commercial Marketing. Not sure why.

 

My homemade WHO SINGLES comp is 4 roughly 60 minute discs. Maybe there are some additional mix differences or singles configurations from around the world to pad out to 5 discs?

Or maybe Amazon has listed the wrong number of discs?

 

Maybe it's 5 CD-Singles? (I certainly hope not, for that price!)

 

I've been meaning to compile The Who singles myself, but don't have Dogs (Part 2) on anything except the original 45, which is in fab condition. I am also missing some mono mixes on CD, which again, I do have on vinyl in nice condition (the Shel Talmy era, I've Been Away).

I must learn how to do needledrops. I don't know where to start!

 

Curious as well. Would be nice to have all the A and B + alternate takes, etc.

 

My US Singles Collection is 4 discs:

Disc One: I Can't Explain through Magic Bus (60:24)
Disc Two: Pinball Wizard through The Relay (68:51)
Disc Three: Love Reign O'er Me through 5:15 (68:39)
Disc Four: You Better You Bet through It's Not Enough (63:40)

My disc four goes through the It's Hard singles and then adds "Real Good Looking Boy", "Old Red Wine", the "Wire and Glass" Mini Opera (which technically wasn't a US release I believe), and the "It's Not Enough" (remix).

I'm sure that they'll add "Be Lucky" to this new set as well...and maybe it won't be a definitive UK or US collection and just one big set that combines a number of countries and singles...

There's a number of unique single edits that I hope that they get correct....

 

Ours are nearly the same, but I based mine on the UK singles discography. If they get this right, I'll gladly part with my homemade.

The other nice thing they could do is replace the currently available CD remixes with the original album mixes.

 

I would hope that they would use the Japanese SHM remasters, when applicable. Otherwise, I can't see them using any type of remixed audio for this type of set -- which is archival (but leave it to The Who, right?).

Hopefully they can find the single masters for all of the unique audio...and I'll be the first to ask if everyone thinks that "Waltz for a Pig" will be included.

 

@mikeja75

I didn't mean to imply that they would use remixes for the singles box, though we are all aware that The Who have screwed stuff up in the past. I think even the recent 7" box sets had errors, didn't they?

I was just thinking that it would be nice to finally, somewhat, standardize the catalog by making the CDs the original masters/mixes like they did with the current vinyl reissues.

 

Since it's not really a Who recording I hope not

 

IMWAN • [2017-??-??] The Who "Maximum A's And B's" 5-disc box set (Universal)

 

If they use the true single masters I'm in on this.

 

Just to give you a headache, I'll recap the screw-up that was The 1st Singles Box from 2004, where 10 out of the 24 tracks had problems.

1: Wrong version of "Circles". Instead of the original B-side of "Substitute", they used the earlier Talmy-version ("Instant Party") - and a noisy needledrop to boot, recorded onto a STEREO tape (the left channel wobbles).

2: "In The City" is not only not the MONO single mix, but is listed as "Original Stereo Version", which is also wrong. It is actually the narrow 1995 STEREO remix from the 1995 Edition of A Quick One. It was originally released in STEREO in Japan on the 1967 I'm A Boy album, which should be seen as the original STEREO mix. That mix wasn't available on CD until the 2006, when I'm A Boy was released on CD in Japan.

3: "Happy Jack" is not the MONO single mix, but a FAKE STEREO version.

4: "I've Been Away" is not the MONO single mix, but the same STEREO mix that turned up on the 1995 Edition of A Quick One, which some claim is an original 1966 mix previously unissued before then.

5: "I Can See For Miles" is not the MONO single mix, but the STEREO album version.

6: "Someone's Coming" is not the MONO single mix, but the US MONO mix as found on Magic Bus.

7: "Dogs Part Two" is not the MONO single mix, but the STEREO remix from the "secret" 2003 Edition of A Quick One.

8: "I Don't Even Know Myself" is missing the count-in from the original single (OK, that's minor, but still).

9: "5:15" is listed as "Single Edit" on the digital edition, but it is not edited from the actual single version/mix, but rather the 1996 My Generation: The Very Best Of The Who remix (which is also on the 1996 Quadrophenia, but with the train station intro). Not only that, but the channels are reversed (like the Canadian MCA version of My Generation: The Very Best Of The Who), and 1:32 to 2:03 (the first chorus) is simply edited out.

10: "Who Are You" is listed as "Single Edit" on the digital edition, but it is the 2004 edit as featured on Then And Now. This almost mimics the UK single version, but the actual edit comes in a bit later (exactly on the "Aaah" before "Who the f*** are you"), and is edited from the original album mix.

Maybe someone can make a similar list for the recent 7" box sets too?

 

With any luck, maybe we will get some more alternate versions of tracks on this.

 

Why would DOGS Pt 2 be on a 2003 A QUICK ONE (1966)?
DOGS Pt 2 was the b-side of PINBALL WIZARD (1969)

 

Would a collection of every track released as a single worldwide be enough to fill five discs?

 

I was going to inquire about that myself.

 

Let's wait for superdeluxeedition to fill us in.

 

It is hard to imagine The Who getting this right. The concept is intriguing, but with so many different mixes, and with the band's track record of releasing incorrect mixes and versions time and time again, it will be surprising if they can pull this off.

 

Duplicating tracks on CD and DVD and /or Blu Ray in a set (perhaps with a few videos to boot) could easily make 2-3 audio CDs of content into 5 "discs." Pure speculation of course, but look how many sets out there cross formats and do this nowadays.