 Essential Item or Dust Gatherer? A look at the Pink Floyd box set, "Shine On"
All disc length and sound quality
comparisons in this article, a version of which was originally
published in Brain Damage magazine, are based on the original UK
release of the albums on CD - long seen as a benchmark of quality
(especially the Japanese pressed, UK releases).
EXTERIOR
Basically, a matt black, stiff
cardboard 14 inch by 11.5 inch by 2 inch box, the base of which is
blank, save for the catalogue number/box code sticker. The lid is
satisfyingly snug - fitting nicely and not leaping off every time
someone walks near it. Embossed in silver colour on the sides are the
pervading symbols of the box set - a complex geometric figure with the
album titles tightly interwoven. If you look closely, you can make out
Nick's preferred title for the collection: "The Big Bong Theory". The
front has the band name, the title of the box, and a full colour 9 inch
by 7 inch sticker of the too-clever-by-half Storm Thorgerson "three
people being sucked out of the water for no apparent reason (apart from
flashing their bums)" artwork.
INTERIOR
Ease off the lid (a) because of
the snug fit, and (b) because of how much it's cost you (look to pay
around £140 or so in the UK and elsewhere) and you are met with the
sight of a black, hessian covered book, again bearing the box set
symbol. The book, 12 inches by 9 inches, is held very snugly indeed in
a black frame, making it difficult to extract. Remove this and you come
across a piece of thick black cardboard, the size of the box, acting as
a spacer. Under this are the reasons why you made your bank manager
weep. Again in a black frame are the eight (one double) remastered and
repackaged albums. Nestling on top of these are:
- a set of
postcards - depicting different albums but extremely similar in picture
and quality to the rash of "unofficial" postcards that seemed to flood
the market a couple of years before "Shine On" came out - in a nice
black envelope;
- a strange piece of origami (matt black with box logo) which is
supposed to fold into some sort of wallet or shelf or something for
your CDs; seen modelled on MTV by David Gilmour who gave up trying to
figure it out!
- and in a gatefold cardboard sleeve, the "Early Singles" CD.
THE BOOK
This is on nice, thick, glossy
paper - obviously quite thoughtfully conceived buta very disappointing
document overall. The book kicks off with a year-by-year look at news
events around the world, with Pink Floyd bits dropped in haphazardly;
and 1992's entries forget to include Roger's solo album, "Amused To
Death". Tut, tut. The book then proceeds to give a breakdown by way of
rare (and not so rare) pictures, text concerning the album's music
and/or sleeve, and reprints of each album included in the box. Lyrics
are also included. Apart from the definite feelings of deja-vu from
some of the text, the book had obviously been hurriedly typeset and not
proofread particularly well. Apart from factual errors (thankfully few)
there are typing and grammatical errors. And most annoyingly of all,
the final article ends in mid-sentence! Who knows how much is
missing...!
THE DISCS
"The Pink Floyd Early Singles" is
in a (typical CD single) card gatefold case, plastered with colour and
black and white pictures and press cuttings of the early Floyd, with a
very soberly presented disc - mainly plain purple with song titles in
small cyan print. The albums themselves are pleasingly packaged. The
jewel cases are pure black all over with "Pink Floyd Shine On" etched
in black on the left hand part of the front. The normally transparent
front has a small (2 inch x 2 inch) sticker of the album cover on it
(WYWH being the burning man picture). The spines, when assembled in the
correct order, have been silk-screened with the prism from one of their
poorer-selling albums (the title escapes me... released in 1973 and
sunk into obscurity). Open up a disc case and you have a double sided
inlay, with the album title and cover on one side, and track and author
details on the other. The discs themselves are (surprisingly enough!)
predominantly black with song titles spanning the edge of the discs,
that box logo, and for each album, a special logo inside a small silver
circle. All except the logo is printed in different bright colours.
Nicely done. Now, to the discs themselves!
THE PINK FLOYD EARLY SINGLES
A fairly nice wrap up of the
early singles, although the bootleg CD guys have the edge on selection.
Why didn't they include "Vegetable Man" or "Scream Thy Last Scream"?
Despite not getting released, an obvious pair of rarities to include on
a major retrospective box! Sound quality is very nice on the whole -
little hiss and very little surface noise crackle in evidence (except
for a nasty crackle 3:28 into "Careful..."). Much more clarity and
detail - bass became clearer as did the lyrics (although it is still
not 100% clear if "Candy..." has the words "Please fuck with me" on
this version).
A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS
Slightly shorter than the
original UK release (by 2 seconds!) this, like all other albums in the
set, includes no extra tracks or rearranged order. This title is a
major improvement sonically to the original CD release; whilst not
perfect, it is much better and as good as I think we're gonna get. Some
parts sound rather muddy, then suddenly it swings to staggering clarity
and presence. "Corporal Clegg" has come off particularly well - much
better than before. There's some uncomfortable headphone listening in
places - especially "Jugband Blues".
MEDDLE
Again slightly shorter than the
original release. And again, this was probably just "dead time" too.
Sound quality on the whole is better but not necessarily much more
detail. The original was done well, but if anything, the cymbals and
other high frequency sounds are better on that one - on "Fearless", for
example, or "Echoes". No real major improvements here - just a nice
polish-up of the sound quality.
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
Longer than the original release
by one whole second! Again, not a staggeringly huge improvement
although it is most noticeable with the cymbals. Smoother sound, less
harsh or "bitter" than the original. Naturally, not from the original
mastertape - allegedly ditched when they copied it onto another tape,
adding Dolby. Sound effects really pack a punch on this new version -
another area where this version really scores. And yes, sad sod that I
am, I thought I'd listen out for the so-called "Beatles on Eclipse"
moment. You can definately hear a stringed, non-Beatles version of
"Ticket To Ride" from 1:33 into the track, until the 2:00 point. Back
in the 80's, this was a huge discussion point... hopefully fairly dead
and buried now!
WISH YOU WERE HERE
This time, nine seconds longer
than the original release. Sound is cleaner than the original, although
I feel sure that it could be a touch better - or is it just me
expecting perfection? Maybe it is just that the original always sounded
pretty good, anyway... Sound effects, such as the elevator/lift segment
at the start of "...Machine", betray a fair amount of hiss and there is
even a touch of distortion present... hmm. As a juxtaposition, the
clarity at the start of the title track is stunning - you can hear the
footsteps/preparation of the strummer, and of course, the
throat-clearing, in perfect quality!
ANIMALS
Both issues being of equal
length, the original CD was frequently berated as an awful sounding
release. Often, it was said to be harsh with little definition or
control. Have matters improved? Well, yes. It's still sometimes an
uncomfortable album to listen to - but that's now just because of the
style and subject matter. Sonically, a good job has been done on the
remastering. Much improved clarity and dynamics.
THE WALL Part 1
Ten seconds longer than the
original issue, and a far better sounding disc now. I always found
previous releases very disappointing. Whilst better than the vinyl, the
original CDs still seemed to lack something - the dynamics in
particular always seemed to be slightly muted. Also, tape hiss was
quite evident on that original CD - now eradicated on the whole. The
sound effects come across really well, and show how well they were
recorded in the first place. Indeed, they are so good that you can hear
the broken sentence at the outset of the album in staggering clarity -
I'm sure I've not heard detailed echo on this before! And the backwards
message (complete with "Roger! Carolyn's on the phone...") is clearer
than ever.
THE WALL Part 2
Seven seconds longer than the
original release. Comments as above on this vastly improved sounding
couple of discs. Clarity is such that, for example, listening to the
delicate guitar work in "Is There Anybody Out There?" you can hear
David's breathing (just about)!
A MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON
No perceptible difference
sonically or time-wise with the original release. Its inclusion was
presumably to show that the boys could still cut it. A sadly neglected
album; hopefully its inclusion will encourage people to lend a fresh
pair of ears to it, and give it a chance. After all, the worst thing
even Roger could (publically) say about it was that it was "a pretty
good forgery"!
TO CONCLUDE:
With past form, all Floyd
realists knew that we would not get extra tracks, live tracks or other
rarities. The singles wrap-up CD is nice and the book well intentioned.
A good job has been done with the albums and the packaging as a whole
is pleasing (apart from the title, which is lacking in some
imagination!). The package as a whole is excellent value and a great
way to swell your Floyd CD collection if you still haven't got these
titles.
In an ideal world, rarities would
obviously appear. A surprising omission from the singles CD was the
aborted third 7" release - "Vegetable Man" and "Scream Thy Last Scream"
- and rather than just festering on the Works compilation (and Picnic
sampler LP) Embryo could have been included as well. The book could
have been better, and how about a rarities video? Would've gone nicely
with the other contents, even if it was sold alongside as a companion
product. A twenty-odd minute video of rare clips was put together for
the 1990 Knebworth concert, and that could've been put onto tape for
the fans... Oh well, maybe one day.
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