Cat Stevens - Mona Bone Jakon & Tea for the Tillerman super deluxe editions coming

In terms of demos/rare, the tracks new to Tea for the Tillerman (not on the previous 2CD deluxe or on On the Way To Find Out box):


Tea for the Tillerman:


But I Might Die Tonight (Deep End Movie Version)
Can This Be Love?
It’s So Good
If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out (Demo)
Don’t Be Shy (Demo)

 

Mona Bone Jakon has always been my favorite Cat Stevens album. Not going for the Super Deluxe version, though, unless the price comes WAY down.

 

About time!

 

Looks like importcds, with their new improved high prices is charging more than what Music Direct is charging for this. That used to be the place for lower prices.

The code LP10 makes the price $161.99 on Music Direct. That's the total price. Free shipping / No tax.

Still too much but I'd pay it for Teaser & The Firecat.

 

It still is for a lot of the stuff I just ordered, must be label pressure on the Universal stuff.
The Back to Earth Super Deluxe was expensive everywhere and never came down to a sane price.

 

Both are great albums....as were the two that followed......but the price to value ratio is pretty questionable. I have the 2008 deluxe versions of both Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the firecat and the sound quality on those are impeccable.

 

for sale under $100 each (use code 30For!Fall for extra 30% off)
Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Mona Bone Jakon Super Deluxe Edition – uDiscover Music
Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman Super Deluxe Edition – uDiscover Music

 

I believe the 30% off is already reflected in the $125.99 price (i.e $179.98 - 30% = $125.99); when I attempted using the code it indicated "Enter a valid discount code or gift card". But still a great price!

 

^ Absolutely this, plus I have a lot of demos from the 1970-71 period. And I don't want TFTT2.

 

I used it for the double discount. Someone just mentioned it no longer works. Tech world.
uDiscover Sale

 

I just noticed something.. the live BBC tracks on the 2020 2CD editions aren't listed as being on the big boxes. Is that correct? At this price point of the big box, are they really going to play that game?? I was just about to cave in and click order on the Tillerman set and noticed this. Forget it.

 

Also, just noticed the Tillerman video segments aren't complete. As much as I'm up for upgrades to the KCET and BBC '71 concerts, I have zero interest in paying a premium for incomplete presentations. I get it- they are only including the Tillerman songs from these shows, but that is seriously flawed thinking. Not to mention that they do include Teaser songs on the Tillerman live CD so it's not even consistent. I'm really glad I didn't pull the trigger on this, even with the coupon. I hate when content is presented purposely incomplete.

 

Enjoy this enchanting and recently rediscovered music video starring Patti D'Arbanville, one of the wonderful rarities featured in the new Mona Bone Jakon super deluxe box set.

 

Grew up on these LP's and always loved them, but no way I was paying $180 each. Saw the udiscover sale but still didn't want to spend $250 for both. Found another 20% off coupon code - UD20OFF - that didn't work because my email is already on file with them. So just had my wife order them using her email and got the extra 20% plus free shipping. So $101 for each set. That's not too bad!

 

Definitely interested in these, thanks!

Those 2 demos — very interesting!

 

I've had a chance to preview the CDs and there are some issues.

The set has active clipping all over the place. Not all mastering here is loud either, but they let them clip in numerous spots (Audacity shows lots of red). The remixes, however, are very loudly mastered. Totally kills it for me. Also, I don't care much for the mixing style. Rather than a nice image spread across the stereo spectrum, it's very defined left, center, right. Some might like the mixing, but man, these are just too loud. Real shame.

The remastered original mixes. Neither beat my favorite masterings. Which is the old Island for Mona and the HDtracks for Tea. The new Tea mastering is just too bright and brittle for my tastes and sounds nothing like how I'm used to hearing this album. Mona isn't bad but I find it uneven. Some songs are brighter than the Island CD, while I Wish is noticeably quite duller and doesn't fit in. There also seems to be some compression making it sound a bit congested vs the open and natural Island CD.

"Katmandu" demo, "Can This Be Love" & "It's So Good" are the same takes as found on the 9 Lives bootleg CD but different mixes. The 2020 deluxe mixes sound quite similar to the 2020 album mix style so I'm thinking these were also new mixes done along with the albums. However, the two Tea demos, Wild World and Miles are not different mixes from previous versions. Wild World is the same as on the 9 Lives boot (Miles not on this boot) and both tracks are the same mixes as on the 2008 2CD Tea Deluxe. In fact, they are the same masterings. "Don't Be Shy" and Sing Out demos are both the same takes as on the 2007 Harold and Maude LP but a different mix and sound like the aforementioned mixes. Overall, these mixes have more detail and clarity than the older releases but also sound less natural.

The tracks in common with the Road To Find Out 4CD set (Joke, Loves Lives in the Sky, Grandson) appear to be right from that release. There is only minor difference of very slightly less limiting. I can't tell if I think a de-clipper was used or if maybe these come from a pre-release mastering which didn't have the final (very slight) extra limiting added. But for all purposes, these are basically the same as the 4CD. I also wonder about Honey Man, Don't Be Shy and Sing Out but haven't yet compared those tracks yet to see if they source from the Road to Find Out 4CD mastering.

Troubadour live tracks... This is a puzzler. The couple songs included on the 2008 Tea 2CD are in nice stereo. They are in mono on this 2020 set. I really don't understand that decision.

Plumpton '70 live tracks... these sound pretty bad. Clearly an audience recording.

One strange thing I discovered when comparing multiple releases is that the "On the Road to Find Out" labelled as KCET-TV on the 2008 2CD Tea is not the same performance as the actual KCET-TV video track or the 2020 CD. Those are both mono and the same performance while the 2008 track is in stereo and a different performance. I wonder what this performance is and if there are more songs.

But I Might Die Tonight movie version seems to be pulled from the actual film soundtrack. It's mono, contains nothing more than the 2 sections heard in the film and pool water from the movie can be heard at one point. I was hoping that the actual session recording was available for sourcing, but apparently not.

The Fillmore '70 Father and Son sounds quite nice. Bad news here is that they seem to have decided to remove the 3 Teaser songs which were initially included in the printed tracklists. This set should've been released in full, which also included I Love My Dog.

The rest is mostly stray TV and BBC performances (seems to be less than what was in the initial tracklist). Audio quality is so-so mono. Nothing really to note.

IMO, the Mona demo disc is by far the best of the bunch. There's really not much else here that interests me that I don't already have on a previous release. The Troubadour show would be nice but I'm really soured on the fact that they made it mono.

 

Just sampling the 2020 mix of Mona, and it does, on first listen, seem undone by curious mastering choices. Which is a real bummer. And I disliked the original Island cd of this album, so I am not exactly a purist. I do like the remix of ‘Lillywhite’, though. That sounds quite cool.

 

How is the pricing of this product consistent with Steve's religious beliefs? He did not have to go along.

 

oh my golly, that is still around? Online only? What's the deal?

 

I decided long ago that I wouldn't be buying the reissues but wanted to thank you for a very informative post.

 

A is for Allah, but C is for Cash

 

You're welcome. I nearly pulled the trigger when they were on a sale for $100 each but just couldn't. I'm glad I didn't. A set this large and expensive should not be re-using 12 and 20 year old CD masterings and presenting incomplete material (while taking up CD space by repeating lo-fi mono audio that's on the video).

 

Listening to the 2020 Mix of Mona Bone Jakon and I'm really enjoying it. It's faithful to the original. The top end is much smoother/less harsh and the bottom end comes through a bit more - just enough to fill it out. Very natural balance. More clarity and separation.

I do hear a db or two of loudness that didn't need to be pushed. But it's nothing criminal.

I don't think I'll get rid of my original mix. Each has its time/mood.

The title track has some slight changes (backing vocal level, maybe?) that are a fun ear tickle. A longer fade out in "I Wish, I Wish" reveals some interesting moments.

 

Despite it's mixed reviews I got the Back to Earth box for about $100 and loved it. The packaging, the Unicef concert footage and the high def master made it a good value for me. Guess time will tell how I feel about these.

 

Here are some waveforms from the remixes. I used a louder song (See the Light) and a song which is softer and then gets loud (But I might Die). They are just too loud for me for Cat Stevens material. However, the real crime is the actual clipping. The pic with all the red is showing where the clipping is.

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