My box is still "Ready for shipment" at Udiscover, with no clue as to what it's waiting for or when it will move.
What's funny is that, when asked about the film during the Press to Play interviews, he's quite upfront about the lack of a proper script. There's some good parts, but there's no whole for them to fit in, is approximately what he says. And he's right: if you look at the book from the film, there's a lot of concept and planning for some performances without any idea really of how to connect them. What irks me is that, according to one of the biographies, there was a lot of jamming and fun playing between takes that didn't get recorded. Knowing how meticulous Paul is about having everything on record, that doesn't sound like him at all. I wonder if some of these jams are sitting in the archive, and may get recognized for an Archive as something worth releasing. It is a lot of fun — though I have to wonder how "The Fool On The Hill" would have fit in. Supposedly, it was to come before "Wanderlust" but was dropped because it made the medley too long… would Ringo have played on that?
And so it begins. All but one of the sealed Deluxe version for sale on Discogs are already priced over $300 USD. Open copies are $230+.
Incredible. The Deluxe Edition is readily available in Danish stores for 1400 DKR, which translates to $216.
I'm not really a lyrics guy, generally speaking (is this typical for McCartney fans? I wonder!), but does anyone else have the sense that maybe Off the Ground was generally a stronger lyrics album --fewer duff lyrics -- than Flaming Pie? Flaming Pie certainly has some real winners, some great lyrics (Calico Skies, Souvenir, Heaven on a Sunday, Flaming Pie in its way, Beautiful Night in its way), but there are some regrettable lapses too. I don't want to get into specific complaints about this or that lyric. Just curious about overall lyric assessment relative to Off the Ground.
I think he made a big effort with the lyrics for Off The Ground but I don’t always appreciate it. ‘I wish they’d take out the machine, and stick it in their own brains....d’yknow what I mean?’ ‘Off the Ground la la la la la la la Off the Ground la la la la la la Fly around la la la la la la Fly around la la la la la la’ Surely not better than ‘12345 let’s go for a drive?’
There's only one recording from the Off the Ground sessions that I actually like, and it wasn't even used for the album.
I'm like that as well, though of course, I appreciate a good lyric. It's just not the most important thing in a song for me, and not my immediate and lasting focus. Some words here and there really annoy me in McCartney's catalog, but I'm cool with practically all of it. I haven't heard Off The Ground in its entirety, but I do know there are two Costello co-writes on it, so that right there ups the lyrical content of that album.
I will say, the standard double vinyl sounds FANTASTIC. What a flawless pressing. Great quality on the packaging, too. Worthwhile for anyone into this album and vinyl.
I just got my shipping and tracking email today. Same message as yours. I wonder how long I'll have to wait before it actually ships......
I have a UPS member so whenever I look up packages to my address, it gives me a date and time frame of arrival
A lot of mistakes on the Tug of war Archive Collection book as well, plus other Archives books, it's a shame, we can't even trust the official products anymore!
If a driver leaves Flaming Pie on a doorstep before ringing the bell, then leaves, that might just qualify as ding dong ditch.
Hey now! Progress! I was beginning to think the next archive collection would be released before this one arrived here. Nice to see shipping out of Nashville instead of West Coast. Much quicker for me in SWFL. arrival 11/13/20 Shipped08/11/2020 6:04 P.M. Nashville, TN, United States Origin Scan Past EventLabel Created08/08/2020 10:25 A.M. United States Order Processed: Ready for UPS
Interesting comparing the 2 covers new one the left original pressing on the right. The new archive is much whiter . Card stock is the same to, new cover has more contrast. Comparing the 2 pressings, the new one is a lot more open and they have dialled in more top end. It makes the original sound muddy in comparison . The dynamics are apparent right from the needle drop on the new pressing. I have to also say the pressing is dead flat and super quiet and clean. Its really excellent. Not that the original is noisy its just not as quiet. The new archive is definitely louder to which comes from the fact its spread over 2 LPS. They can afford more dynamics because of the space. Im very impressed. The album sounds much fresher now and less dated, due to the mastering decisions made. Id say one of the best archive vinyls if not the best I have in my collection.
