Yep.brianj wrote:so nice to find this site again.
did everywhere get the memo and everyone is thus waiting till the 5th for this ?
I saw the 2CD version today however - looks identical to the 2002 Deluxe Ed except for a sticker on the front...
VU&N Boxset reviews
Re: VU&N Boxset reviews
I saw the 2CD version today however - looks identical to the 2002 Deluxe Ed except for a sticker on the front...
Re: VU&N Boxset reviews
Amazon has finally shipped mine. They didn't say that Hurricane Sandy was the reason for the delay, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt on that one. 
It shipped out today via FedEx overnight, so I will have it tomorrow. However, I was so crushed that I wouldn't get it yesterday, I bought it on iTunes at midnight local time on the 30th. So I've been listening to all 6 CD's worth of AACs for the past couple of days, and it's great!
Disc 1: Awesome-sounding stereo remaster. It rivals the MFSL CD, in my opinion. The MFSL is probably more "true" to the original 1967 vinyl pressing, but I really like how I can make out all the instruments on this version, and Cale's bass and Moe's drums really pound in my car stereo. Easily beats the PSAS/1996 CD. And of course, it walks all over the 1986 CD, which I think is a horrible version (it's not just the CD; I also have the 1985 vinyl and it's the same crappy remaster). The "alternate versions" are the single-voice version, and an instrumental version, of "All Tomorrow's Parties", along with some different takes of others that I suppose all come from the Scepter sessions, right? There's an awesome giggle from Nico at the end of "I'll Be Your Mirror". "Heroin" definitely sounds like the same take as the Scepter version that shows up later in this set. I will need to get my physical copy and read the liner notes to know what the provenance of these versions are. They seem to have come from a record (acetate, maybe?) as there's some occasional crackle that has mostly been filtered out.
Disc 2: Mono, and it's freaking awesome. Up-front and raw, kicking ass. More "punch" than the 2002 Deluxe Edition. I prefer this album in mono, and was not disappointed here, even though it's not *that * much different than the CD from 10 years ago. The mono single edits follow, all given similar treatment -- they sound strong and forceful.
Disc 3: Chelsea Girl, sounding nice and clean, but not too much different than previously released versions. It's nice to have the whole thing included, though. I've always looked at this as a "sister" album to VU&N, and having the whole thing is preferable vs. just the 5 tracks that have Cale, Reed or Morrison in the credits.
Disc 4: The Scepter Studio Sessions and The Factory Rehearsals. The Scepter material is much improved over the acetate-sourced bootlegs, though that's to be expected as half of it comes from tape rather than acetate. Even the songs that come from acetate have the crackle noise filtered out to where it's hardly there most of the time, and not annoying when it does appear. This will not be new to most of us here, except for the ability to enjoy it in higher quality. If you are new to it, though, prepare to find a bunch of little differences that will make you smile if you love VU&N. The Factory Rehearsals blow away any and all bootlegs I've heard of this material, and it warms my heart to finally have "Walk Alone" and "Miss Joanie Lee" a part of the officially released Velvets canon. These are imperfect, but good sounding versions of these songs -- great songs, I might add. After the treasure troves of VU and Another View in 1985 and 1986, and the cache of goodies unearthed for PSAS in 1995, this century has brought us "Follow The Leader", "I'm Not a Young Man Anymore", "Walk Alone" and "Miss Joanie Lee" out into the world. Is there possibly anything left that's not been officially released yet?
Disc 5 and 6: Valleydale Ballroom, Columbus Ohio, November 1966. This has been bootlegged to hell over the years, but we all had high hopes that Levenson and the folks at Universal would find a way to magically get some more quality out of these tapes. The edited "Melody Laughter" on PSAS was a teaser as to how good they could make it sound. 17 freaking years later, we've got the whole show and it sounds fantastic...relatively speaking. Yes, it's up to the quality of the PSAS "Melody Laughter" throughout, but we're still talking in the realm of lo-fi here. Once again, it makes me very happy that this has finally seen the light of day officially. The Velvets are the band that keep on giving, long after Lou walked out of Max's Kansas City that summer of 1970.
It shipped out today via FedEx overnight, so I will have it tomorrow. However, I was so crushed that I wouldn't get it yesterday, I bought it on iTunes at midnight local time on the 30th. So I've been listening to all 6 CD's worth of AACs for the past couple of days, and it's great!
Disc 1: Awesome-sounding stereo remaster. It rivals the MFSL CD, in my opinion. The MFSL is probably more "true" to the original 1967 vinyl pressing, but I really like how I can make out all the instruments on this version, and Cale's bass and Moe's drums really pound in my car stereo. Easily beats the PSAS/1996 CD. And of course, it walks all over the 1986 CD, which I think is a horrible version (it's not just the CD; I also have the 1985 vinyl and it's the same crappy remaster). The "alternate versions" are the single-voice version, and an instrumental version, of "All Tomorrow's Parties", along with some different takes of others that I suppose all come from the Scepter sessions, right? There's an awesome giggle from Nico at the end of "I'll Be Your Mirror". "Heroin" definitely sounds like the same take as the Scepter version that shows up later in this set. I will need to get my physical copy and read the liner notes to know what the provenance of these versions are. They seem to have come from a record (acetate, maybe?) as there's some occasional crackle that has mostly been filtered out.
Disc 2: Mono, and it's freaking awesome. Up-front and raw, kicking ass. More "punch" than the 2002 Deluxe Edition. I prefer this album in mono, and was not disappointed here, even though it's not *that * much different than the CD from 10 years ago. The mono single edits follow, all given similar treatment -- they sound strong and forceful.
Disc 3: Chelsea Girl, sounding nice and clean, but not too much different than previously released versions. It's nice to have the whole thing included, though. I've always looked at this as a "sister" album to VU&N, and having the whole thing is preferable vs. just the 5 tracks that have Cale, Reed or Morrison in the credits.
Disc 4: The Scepter Studio Sessions and The Factory Rehearsals. The Scepter material is much improved over the acetate-sourced bootlegs, though that's to be expected as half of it comes from tape rather than acetate. Even the songs that come from acetate have the crackle noise filtered out to where it's hardly there most of the time, and not annoying when it does appear. This will not be new to most of us here, except for the ability to enjoy it in higher quality. If you are new to it, though, prepare to find a bunch of little differences that will make you smile if you love VU&N. The Factory Rehearsals blow away any and all bootlegs I've heard of this material, and it warms my heart to finally have "Walk Alone" and "Miss Joanie Lee" a part of the officially released Velvets canon. These are imperfect, but good sounding versions of these songs -- great songs, I might add. After the treasure troves of VU and Another View in 1985 and 1986, and the cache of goodies unearthed for PSAS in 1995, this century has brought us "Follow The Leader", "I'm Not a Young Man Anymore", "Walk Alone" and "Miss Joanie Lee" out into the world. Is there possibly anything left that's not been officially released yet?
Disc 5 and 6: Valleydale Ballroom, Columbus Ohio, November 1966. This has been bootlegged to hell over the years, but we all had high hopes that Levenson and the folks at Universal would find a way to magically get some more quality out of these tapes. The edited "Melody Laughter" on PSAS was a teaser as to how good they could make it sound. 17 freaking years later, we've got the whole show and it sounds fantastic...relatively speaking. Yes, it's up to the quality of the PSAS "Melody Laughter" throughout, but we're still talking in the realm of lo-fi here. Once again, it makes me very happy that this has finally seen the light of day officially. The Velvets are the band that keep on giving, long after Lou walked out of Max's Kansas City that summer of 1970.
Re: VU&N Boxset reviews
We'll probably be waiting a bit longer in the UK, but it's good to have a proper obsessive review addressing the sound upgrades etc - thanks! I was majorly disappointed in the 2002 mono disc - no "bite" in the sound at all. I've probably listened to it twice in the last 10 yrs.
Re: VU&N Boxset reviews
Glad to help! I hope others here on the forum will post their impressions once they hear it, too. This set is aimed at the die-hard obsessives, and I'm interested to see who else among us loves it as much as I do.simonm wrote:...it's good to have a proper obsessive review addressing the sound upgrades etc - thanks!
I am really excited for the physical product to arrive tomorrow, so that I can check out the package design and the liner notes. The artwork for the digital release is quite cheesy:
SUPER DELUXE!!!
-
iaredatsun
- Now jelly rolls in the street
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Re: VU&N Boxset reviews
leamanc wrote:Glad to help! I hope others here on the forum will post their impressions once they hear it, too. This set is aimed at the die-hard obsessives, and I'm interested to see who else among us loves it as much as I do.
leamanc. Great to read a positive appraisal of the boxset. I cancelled my order for this last week as doubts crept in. I thought I'd wait and make an informed decision once the set had a sound quality appraisal so it's good to hear your thoughts. I'm beginning to feel excited again.
One thing ? there was a some mention in some of the press releases about a special digital download track. Anyone know anything about this?
underground, overground
Re: VU&N Boxset reviews
I do find the sound quality to be excellent. Since these things are very subjective, I hope that a few other folks around here post and give their opinion.iaredatsun wrote:leamanc. Great to read a positive appraisal of the boxset. I cancelled my order for this last week as doubts crept in. I thought I'd wait and make an informed decision once the set had a sound quality appraisal so it's good to hear your thoughts. I'm beginning to feel excited again.
But now that I have the physical copy and I am listening to it on my home stereo, I just have to believe that the diehards are going to love this. If nothing else, there's no denying the 1966 Valleydale Ballroom show sounds WAY better than any bootleg release. I have this full show on two CD bootlegs (Caught Between The Twisted Stars and If It's Too Loud For You, Move Back!), and I also have the 'Velvet Underground 1966' bootleg LP that has the two long songs. The sound quality of this show is just so much better, I think that long-time fans will love it for this alone -- along with the big improvement in sound quality of the "Scepter Studio/Dolph Acetate" material.
Unless I am seriously overlooking something, there seems to be no extra tracks on the iTunes version I purchased. In the physical copy, I've read most of the liner notes, and haven't noticed anything about downloading extra content so far. So I don't know about this, but I'll keep looking.iaredatsun wrote:One thing ? there was a some mention in some of the press releases about a special digital download track. Anyone know anything about this?
Re: VU&N Boxset reviews
OK, now I'm going to take some pictures of the set for you all.
After opening my Amazon package, I was very surprised at how big the thing is! From the picture that was on Amazon and other places around the web, I didn't expect it to be much bigger than a standard "deluxe CD" set with book that could hold 6 CDs.
So the first picture may not be too exciting, but it gives you an idea of the height of the set. It quickly found a nice place on my "box set" shelf. To the right of the set are some 10-inch vinyl records. It is slightly shorter than those records, but wider (which you can't tell from this picture).
More interesting pics to come.
After opening my Amazon package, I was very surprised at how big the thing is! From the picture that was on Amazon and other places around the web, I didn't expect it to be much bigger than a standard "deluxe CD" set with book that could hold 6 CDs.
So the first picture may not be too exciting, but it gives you an idea of the height of the set. It quickly found a nice place on my "box set" shelf. To the right of the set are some 10-inch vinyl records. It is slightly shorter than those records, but wider (which you can't tell from this picture).
More interesting pics to come.
Re: VU&N Boxset reviews
The front cover:
Peel slowly and see:
Peel slowly and see:
