If anyone was still on the fence for this, apparently Bullmoose in the US just notified people who preordered it from them that it has been pushed back "indefinitely". So who knows when more are coming. But Amazon US now has them in stock and shipped from the UK for $191 shipped.
I got a shipping notice from the Sade store for my box this week. The tracking number tells me it was delivered in December to an address in Georgia. I live in Indiana. They responded to my email asking me to wait until the first of the month to see if it just shows up before seeing about a replacement or a refund. I really hope it just shows up soon...
Looks like the Amazon Canada has stock now too, at $229 cdn is pretty competitive with exchange rates. ($190 USD is about $240 CDN) https://www.amazon.ca/This-Far-Vinyl-Sade/dp/B07N3RVMXG
I just received mine... this is one of a new batch I think, as the first run had sold out and I think also maybe because of the problems that a lot of people were reporting with the pressings. I also have the Audio Fidelity of Diamond Life, and have just done a shoot out between them... And on my system, the new version is - IMHO - a much nicer mastering job than the Audio Fidelity, which by comparison sounds a bit harsh; KG’s mastering is now sounding a tad too heavy on the top end, which is especially evident on the percussion. Miles Showell’s master seems smoother (pardon the pun) to me, and everything feels more balanced. Both versions of Diamond Life are good, but I prefer this version over the Audio Fidelity, even though AF has done a nicer job with the packaging; whilst the box set version seems to have followed exactly the same artwork design as the original releases - which is ok, even though lyrics would have been nice... I haven’t listened to anything past Diamond Life yet, but this far the pressing quality is immaculate... flat and quiet, and everything is clean as a whistle (so far). Will report more on the other discs once I’ve dug in deeper...
Wish they would release this boxset on CD. Record companies are stupid and thick and have nobody to blame but themselves for the downturn in people paying for physical product.
Well, I’ve now listened closely to every record in the box and I have to say that as far as I’m concerned, Miles Showell has knocked it out of the park completely. The vinyl is all flat and quiet, no surface noise to speak of and the sound is fabulous throughout... definitely worthwhile!
Just as an experiment, I went to Amazon and checked CD prices. You can get all 6 Sade studio albums on CD, brand new with free Amazon Prime shipping, for $38.50 before tax. I believe these are all the original masterings that sound great already. Soooooo.... You're mad that Sony didn't go back and "remaster" these albums to make them more compressed, throw them in a white box, and charge you $150 for $40 worth of product?? Hate to say it.... but I'm gonna side with the "stupid" record companies for NOT taking advantage of customers and, you know, just keeping the original CDs in print.
The Sade CDs that are still available brand-new on Amazon, I would assume, are not the original CDs but instead the 2000 remasters. And those are stupidly compressed. Of course I would assume that bob60's wish is that if this CD box set were released, the remasters would actually be good, not overly compressed like the 2000 remasters. That's not even mentioning that the original CDs weren't necessarily great across the board, depending on where you live, as there were some differences between the UK, US, and Japan CDs masterings of some of the early albums as I recall (maybe even some differences between initial and later US pressings before the 2000 remasters). I don't remember the specifics. But a new CD box set with fresh high-quality remasters of all the albums? If the price was right, I'd be all over that.
Afraid I'm with RichC on this, over here you can pick up used Sade CDs, original issues for under £1, I just can't see anyone wanting to pay a premium for a box set, unless they did it as one of those cheap sets that sell for £15-£20, the big draw for the vinyl is the later albums, I pretty much bought it for "Soldier Of Love" which on vinyl would cost me nearly as much as the complete box did, the CDs have got that going for them.
Both The Police and Dire Straights have released CD box sets of their albums this past year, both with great packaging and for a great price, about £15. The only reason the Sade and second Springsteen albums box sets haven't been released on CD is record company greed. They assume everyone will be stupid enough to start buying an expensive format to purchase the same product just as we did 30+ years ago. They won't. The changeover to streaming is/was inevitable, but record companies are also responsible for this happening. They are just too stupid to know it.
I have all of the albums on vinyl, but am missing one (can’t remember which one). Are these being sold separately?
W.H.A.T.? Record companies are "greedy" because they didn't release something that wasn't planned by the artist anyway? You are aware that this box was specifically created for the vinyl format? To get good sounding available vinyl copies of the albums out? There's virtually no bonus content in this set. What would you have liked? A cd box with needledrops?
I just checked and I only have four - three on Audio Fidelity and the latest, Prisoner of Love on regular vinyl. Decided to pull the trigger, but had to order the set from Amazon France as it was sold out in Japan.
... and I do like the way whoever conceived the box design has made space for the future insertion of the next album, which is currently being recorded...
You don't really think they are doing something like this only to release an album that won't fit later?
Here we go ... Do I think that they already decided on the packaging design for an album that’s still at some stage of being written/recorded and know the thickness of the spine and that it won’t be a gatefold? Yes, I do think it’s feasible that that hasn’t been decided. I also think it’s a pretty tight fit with that bit of padding so I removed it to make it easier to take the records out and avoid ringwear on the covers. Let’s check back on this when the album is finally released...
Sade - Lovers Rock: LP, Album, RE, RP, 180 For Sale | Discogs why do they not have a So Far version at discogs, I wonder.
So In The States We Are Still Waiting First 10/9/20 Then end of Feb 2021 Now I'm seeing This item is now scheduled to ship April 2021 due to manufacturer delays (subject to change)
I took a deep breath and very slowly removed the bubbly label and sure enough there was an immaculate one underneath
It's not that tight. I just took a double LP from the shelf and slide it into the space in my copy of the box set, it goes in and out no problem.
