Big Country - Not in Kansas - The Live Bootleg Box Set 1993-1998 5CDs

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by negative1, Nov 1, 2017.

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  1. Maybe I'm not as picky but knowing that these are bootleg performances that th band chose to release (and they don't sound exactly like some of the file sharing ones I've heard of the same performances), there has been an effort to clean these up and make them sound better where possible. For what I paid, I have no regrets. Frankly, I don't think this is an insult at all--they are what thy claim to be so no false advertising in the title. Simon Murphy has done a very good job of prepping these for release. Do they have the limitations of bootlegs? Yep but these don't sound any worse than the King Crimson various live performances from similar type sources and actually sound better than many boots out there.
     
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  2. Ok, well at least one show is a waste with some idiot singing along to the songs, one is in not so good mono and two are worthwhile audience recordings. The Tower show is good for historical reasons but the mono recording sounds like it was done on a small handheld cassette.not so good but I've heard worse.
     
  3. Jerryb

    Jerryb Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    5 discs of the worst sounding cds I've ever heard. When I heard this was coming out I was excited. What a let down this set is.
     
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  4. I guess holding off ordering this set was fortuitous.
     
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  5. Not good sound on all of this set. At least two concerts sound
    I think the first show on disc one and two sounds decent. The one from Tower and where the guy sings along for the entire show is pretty awful but, on the hole, two decent shows out of five I'm OK with but I would suggest that people listen to this on Spotify to judge for themselves.
     
  6. Sandinista

    Sandinista Forum Resident

    If the first show is the best - or one of the best - then.... whew boy, this is a buzzkill - just got mine, ripped it and am listening (granted, listening thru computer but still).

    Box was cheap so, no harm no foul. Too bad though. Probably will not spend much time on this at all. Oh well.
    I guess I can partly blame myself for not taking "bootleg" more at face value.
     
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  7. Jerryb

    Jerryb Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Unlike Dylan's bootleg series this Big Country set is truly bootleg.
     
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  8. negative1

    negative1 80s retro fan Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    my review of the big country bootleg boxset
    -------------------------------------------
    overall, this is a very poor release.
    only one of the concert discs is good quality,
    the rest are ok, to very poor.
    granted, they are useful as historical releases,
    but since people usually want to relisten to
    live shows, the poor quality deters them from
    doing that, and so they will probably only be
    listened to once.

    overall thoughts
    ==========================================================================================
    concert 1 minneapolis - rock based show - very good quality, excellent versions, improvs
    and good song selection
    concert 2 Glasgow Tower Records - rock based show, horrible audience recording sound quality, you really
    can't make out much at all, muffled vocals, and
    lots of crowd banter
    concert 3 Stirling MC Robert Centre - acoustic based show - this concert is decent quality, not that good,
    but ok, the sound quality is subpar, you can make out instruments, but the vocals are muddy. the acoustic
    arrangements are very low on energy
    concert 4 Rotterdam Rotown - acoustic based show - another subpar quality recording, vocals are very high
    in the mix, hard to hear the bass, and instruments. also, its more of an acoustic set again lacking energy
    concert 5 Dunfermaline Tappie Toories - acoustic based show - another poor audience quality
    recording, lots of crowd noise, and not very good dynamics
    Tracklist - track by track reviews
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------------
    Disc One - Minneapolis 1st Ave. 6/11/93
    -------------------------------------------------
    This is by far the best concert of them all,
    lots of energy, great sound, and lots of new
    songs including favorites
    ---------------------------------------------------
    1-1 All Go Together - excellent, lots of energy
    1-2 We're Not In Kansas - excellent, nice harmonies, cool guitar solo
    1-3 Look Away - excellent, nice variation on the single
    1-4 What Are You Working For - very good, midtempo rocker, nice guitar distortion
    1-5 Chester's Farm - very good, upbeat rocker, again great guitar work
    1-6 Wonderland - excellent, nice long extended version, almost better than the remix
    1-7 Pink Marshmallow Moon - good, midtempo rocker
    1-8 Ships - good, slow ballad
    1-9 Long Way Home - very good, upbeat rocker, very anthemic
    1-10 Alone - good, midtempo rocker, picks up at the middle, nice breakdown at end
    1-11 The One I Love - good, midtempo rocker, rather generic
    1-12 In A Big Country - excellent, wild guitar solos and improvs at beginning
    Disc Two - Minneapolis 1st Ave. 6/11/93
    -------------------------------------------------
    2-1 Chance - ok, slow ballad, crowd pleaser
    2-2 Lost Patrol - excellent, epic guitar track
    2-3 Don't Fear The Reaper - ok, decent cover track, seems out of place
    2-4 Hey Hey, My My - ok, decent cover track, seems out of place
    Disc Two - Glasgow Tower Records 23/06/95
    -------------------------------------------------
    horrible audience recording sound quality, you really
    can't make out much at all, muffled vocals, and
    lots of crowd banter
    -------------------------------------------------
    2-5 You Dreamer - ok, midtempo rocker
    2-6 Look Away - good song, but too much singalong, hard to make out vocals
    2-7 I'm Not Ashamed - poor, midtempo rocker, very muddy vocals
    2-8 One In A Million - poor, midtempo rocker, you can make out the guitar solos here at least
    2-9 Send You - poor, upbeat rock, very muddy vocals
    2-10 We're Not In Kansas - ok, midtempo rocker, again you can hear the guitar solo
    2-11 Hey Hey, My My - ok, slow cover song, a little out of place
    2-12 Rockin' In The Free World - ok, midtempo cover song, again out of place
    Disc Three - Stirling MC Robert Centre 29/4/94
    -------------------------------------------------
    this concert is decent quality, not that good,
    but ok, the sound quality is subpar, you can
    make out instruments, but the vocals are muddy
    -------------------------------------------------
    3-1 All Go Together - ok, good quality, vocals are not clear
    3-2 Harvest Home - ok, acoustic version
    3-3 King Of Emotion - ok, slower stripped down version
    3-4 Look Away - average, very slow acoustic version
    3-5 Thirteen Valleys - ok, slow acoustic ballad
    3-6 One Great Thing - poor, slow ballad version
    3-7 Winter Sky - ok, slow ballad version
    3-8 Long Way Home - ok, midtempo song
    3-9 Ships - ok, slow ballad version
    3-10 The Storm - poor, slow acoustic version
    3-11 Everything I Need - ok, very slow acoustic version
    3-12 River Of Hope - ok, slow acoustic version
    3-13 Just A Shadow - poor, slow acoustic version
    3-14 We're Not In Kansas - ok, acoustic version
    3-15 Come Back To Me - poor, slow acoustic ballad
    Disc Four - Stirling MC Robert Centre 29/4/94
    -------------------------------------------------
    4-1 Peace In Our Time - poor, slow acoustic version
    4-2 In A Big Country - poor, acoustic version
    4-3 Chance - poor, acoustic version
    4-4 Rockin' In The Free World - ok, cover song acoustic version
    4-5 Don't Fear The Reaper - poor, cover song acoustic version
    Disc Four - Rotterdam Rotown 28/8/95
    -------------------------------------------------
    another subpar quality recording, vocals are very high
    in the mix, hard to hear the bass, and instruments.
    also, its more of an acoustic set again lacking energy
    -------------------------------------------------
    4-6 Introduction By Mark - vocal
    4-7 All Go Together #1
    4-8 All Go Together #2 - midtempo, acoustic version
    4-9 You Dreamer - slow acoustic version
    4-10 Look Away - poor, slow acoustic version
    4-11 Ships - ok, slow ballad version
    4-12 I'm Not Ashamed - ok, midtempo acoustic version
    4-13 Just A Shadow - slow acoustic version
    4-14 Long Way Home - ok, midtempo acoustic version
    4-15 The Storm - poor, acoustic version
    4-16 Thirteen Valleys - poor, slow acoustic version
    Disc Five - Rotterdam Rotown 28/8/95
    -------------------------------------------------
    5-1 Don't Fear The Reaper - poor, cover acoustic version
    5-2 We're Not In Kansas - ok, midtempo acoustic version
    5-3 In A Big Country - poor, slow acoustic version
    5-4 Peace In Our Time - ok, slow acoustic version
    5-5 Found Out About You - ok, slow acoustic version
    5-6 Rockin' In The Free World - poor, midtempo acoustic version
    5-7 Chance - poor, slow ballad
    5-8 Tracks Of My Tears - poor, slow ballad
    Disc Five - Dunfermaline Tappie Toories 24/5/98
    -------------------------------------------------
    another poor quality audience recording, lots or
    crowd noise, and slow acoustic version with
    little energy.
    -------------------------------------------------
    5-9 You Dreamer - ok, midtempo rock song
    5-10 Look Away - ok, slow acoustic version
    5-11 Chance - poor, slow acoustic version
    5-12 In A Big Country - poor, slow acoustic version
    5-13 Daydream Believer - poor, slow cover acoustic version
    ====================================================================

    my recommendation is NOT to buy it, maybe get the first concert
    in digital format.

    unless you can find it dirt cheap, then maybe get it,
    otherwise this is for collectors only.

    later
    -1
     
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  9. negative1

    negative1 80s retro fan Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    I've seen this discounted to $20 on amazon, which is about my threshold for getting it.

    Again, only 1 concert is really worth listening to.

    later
    -1
     
  10. I accidently kept disc 1 when I returned this to Amazon as "defective". I agree, it's the best disc in the set although one of the acoustic ones (I think it's four) is pretty good as well. One of the rare cases where "bootleg" is truth in advertising.
     
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