Grateful but still a wee bit disappointed that in 2 tries of stereo mixes, only some of the haunting, chaotic, mysterious, foreboding, claustrophobic, ominous, abandoned nature - of at least the one mono mix for the UK - of Mr. Hyde is achieved in stereo. I believe and feeling more the mix without the backing vocals D3 T21 comes the very closest of the two stereo mixes to achieving the tone of the song. I can better hear some of the spirit of the song, of the kind of transformative aspect of the subject, character, and paranoia in it, in the lyrics and sonic efffects, mood, that the words and music exude, in that particular mix. Not comparing mono with stereo per se here, just how the performance and song, and sound, come across most effectively. I'm happy I've warmed more to the stereo mix on disc 3! Otherwise I was beginning to think the two stereo mixes were seeming to me purely about sound quality and wide stereo being considered the overriding factor in mixing the performance, as opposed to the nature and spirit of the lyrics and music - the song and sound - and the already effective, distinct guides the two different mono mixes provide. One mono mix that really features more a ghostly or creepy backing and lead vocals and another more drums like punctuation marks adding to the suspense or doom in the song. Thankfully, gratefully, after more listening, and familiarity, the 'underdub' mix on disc 3 has provided me more of that spook, melancholy, and 'drama' I find essential to the song and performance. Nuff said. I'll drink my potion now please.
I don’t know what happened here, but I still love the set. An absolutely beautiful production through and through, from soup to nutz, as they say.
Perhaps this was addressed long ago, and maybe even in another thread - apologies if it’s a redundant question. Why didn’t the jingles and pirate radio concept extend beyond side one?
Well, "Medac" is on Side Two, but it fizzles after that. I don't know the answer as to why, and the book notes in the SDE don't venture to speculate, beyond "either they thought it too unweildy to sustain, or ran out of time/ideas". Interestingly, at one point "Early Morning Cold Taxi" was slated to be on the album with additional Radio London tags at the front ("Here's the latest weather word...") and back ("News Bulletin!") so perhaps some of those DID at one point occupy some of Side Two in an earlier assembly, before "Sunrise" was promoted to the album and bumped them off?
The Call Me Lightning sequence on disc 3 is very interesting to me. I haven't read the notes in the book yet, perhaps that would help me in completely understamding what is what. The 1st part of the sequence is a 2 minute basic band track in mono. It has kind of a Max R&B feel to it with a little Rock Psych Blues in it. Sounds great. Like Run Run Run meets MG. Only better fidelity. The 2nd part in the sequence often sounds much lighter, like early-mid 60's 'Beach Boys' Who, featuring the song's vocals, and seems even more like a cover song to me, and includes what sounds like a ukelele strumming in time along with some percussion? Also very good sound quality. Sounds just like Roger's lead vocal and the backing vocals in the released song? And then the most bizarre part is the last instrumemtal sequence where it's like a typical Who-like musical assault as it continues. Is this the same uninterrupted sequence that begins with the start of the track with vocals around 2 minutes into track 24? Just like to add D3T23 Mrs. Walker aka Glow Girl and D3T20 It's A Girl are a blast to listen too (and maybe even moreso for me with track 20 following track 23.
If memory serves...the 1995 expanded "Sell Out" added a snippet of the "Rotosound Strings" demo between "Relax" and "Silas Stingy." Reportedly, this occurred when Pete was surprised to learn that there had always been a slightly longer silent pause between the two songs on the original album, as his original intention was to insert another ad in there. This kind of makes sense, as Pete seems to either hyperfocus on a particular project (the interactive "Tommy" CD-ROM from 1996) or ignore it completely (the 2013 super deluxe "Tommy".) Anyway, both of the subsequent reissues of "Sell Out" restored the silence between "Relax" and "Silas Stingy." Even if it's not 100% true, it's still the explanation I like the best: Pete forgot.
I will never forgive SDE for this article last May which led to panic spend double this price. Saturday Deluxe / 1 May 2021 – SuperDeluxeEdition Obviously don't regret the purchase, but man oh man...
Exact same with me. I was on the fence about buying it, leaning towards not, when the article made me think it was going fast so I reacted and bought it, only to watch the price halve itself since then. Great for everyone who has yet to buy one, though. And it is a great set.
I’m pretty sure this price drop is due to an extremely large second printing. It “sold out” very quickly upon initial release, and it was 3-4 weeks before they were back in stock at online retailers. They over-pressed the second batch, me thinks…
Finally ordered this box this morning. Applying points, it was $7 out the door. No shaky hand at that price.
I don't think there's ever been a definitive answer to this (have Pete or Roger been asked?), but my feeling has always been that Sell Out reflected the move from hyperactive AM radio to "heavy" and more contemplative FM radio, at least in US radio terms.
