The Wall [Import]

The kind of person that buys this will almost certainly already own "The Wall" and "Is there anybody out there" - 4 of the 6 CDs. The 2 CDs of demos are interesting, in a deluxe edition sort of way - but certainly not worth an extra £50 or so over the experience edition (that includes 1 of the demo disks). Indeed the value added content in this box includes a few marbles (!!!!), some pictures and a couple of booklets (very limited compared with the wonderful Gerald Scarfe book - the Making of Pink Floyd The Wall), and, of course, the DVD. This is quite possibly the worst add on I have ever seen in a super deluxe box set: for your money you get 1. The happiest days of our lives from Earl's Court (wonderful - but where is the rest of the concert? - it was filmed - you can get the murky looking bootleg - could they not find more than 1 decent track to show us? - and even then it is a lea- in track. 2. The music video of Another Brick in the Wall (wow! ). 3. A really lame documentary about the Wall. 4. A 30 year old interview with Gerald Scarfe. That is it! What about all of the animations and back drops from the live shows? New interviews? How about a movie about the current staging of "the Wall".
During the Gerald Scarfe interview he states that the Wall was conceived by Roger Waters as an Album, a Stage Show and as a Movie. A super-deluxe box set should include all three of these items. It disappoints. I think the majority of fans would have paid £100 for the video of the show at Earl's Court - murkiness included (- who cares about the quality -but it looks pretty good on the one track featured) just to see what it was like (and compare it with the current staging that many of us have seen). Instead we get 1 lousy song that feels like a teaser for a forthcoming release. If the video does officially emerge, I won't know whether or not to be furious or delighted.
What is obviously missing is a high resolution DVD-A or Blu-Ray disc in 5.1 surround, or, at the very least, a blu-ray version of the movie (with 24bit/192kz LPCM audio). It is truly galling that the best EMI can do with a 30 year old album is reproduce it in 30 year old digital technology (16 bit CD). We previously coughed up a ton for the high resolution version of WYWH on blu-ray to discover that the disc was very poorly mastered. To add insult to injury, an SACD version became available subsequently, retailing for nearly £50 (and not available in retail stores). If there was to be no high resolution disc included in this box, they should have included the next best thing - 180g vinyl. No, that's another £25 (about 4 times what I paid for it originally).
I have always thought of Pink Floyd as a generous band - think of all those stickers and posters that came with the original LP of DSOTM. I have lost a lot of respect for them with these reissues. I am sure that there are lots of suckers out there like me that cannot resist the super deluxe box. I have lots of them. Compared with the Stone Roses, Derek and the Dominoes, Achtung Baby, Screamadelica - and, in particular, Neil Young's archives, this is a complete rip off. Avoid. Buy the experience edition if you don't already have the album.

O.M.G., I have given this, THE most important LP in my life, 2 Stars. The Wall is where I discovered "proper" music for the first time back in 1980. Even got front row on the 21/07/1990 with what could have been a million people behind me.

So what do you get for your money:

CD 1 & 2 The Wall digitally remastered by James Guthrie, 2011
CD 3 & 4 Is There Anybody Out There: The Wall Live (digitally remastered in 2011 by James Guthrie)
CD 5 & 6 The Wall album demos (previously unreleased) approx 2 hours.
DISC 7 - DVD, AUDIO VISUAL
Another Brick In The Wall pt2 promotional video - restored in 2011
Behind The Wall documentary
Gerald Scarfe Interview
Short filmed extract of Earls Court concert featuring animation
44 page 27cm x 27cm booklet designed by Storm Thorgerson
Exclusive photo book
27cm x 27cm Exclusive Storm Thorgerson Art Print
5 x Collectors Cards by Storm Thorgerson
Replica of The Wall Tour Ticket
Replica of The Wall Backstage Pass
Scarf
Prints/Cards of Mark Fisher's stage drawings
3 x white marbles with design of bricks
9 x Coasters (unique to this box) featuring early Storm Thorgerson design sketches
Credits booklet

Okay, that's what you get for your money, all housed in a box. Personally, I think the front cover is awful. I am sure more care could have gone into Gerald Scarfe's wonderful drawings.
Of course, most of us have "The Wall" and have already bought the cd version 1) analog 2)1994 remaster or 1992 Shine On and again in one of several formats of "Is There Anybody Out There?"
Most of the DVD is repeats found elsewhere.
So moving onto THE DEMOS. Excellent quality and interesting. However, that said I will not (I think) be playing these 2 dics a great deal. I have never really cared for the "Demo" tracks on any cd by any artist. Anyway, that's my own view.

An absolute 50 Star album which should have been (in my opinion) seperated into 4 individual releases now only gets 2 Stars for the whole package.

Why oh why could I not have waited a few days and read the scathing reviews first, but no. Lulled by the blatant advertising on a certain DAB rock radio channel of how great this release was going to be, with previously unreleased live versions I went ahead and pre-ordered.

For my £90 I now have a remaster of a brilliant album that I love, granted, but I could have got that for £15 with the "experience" edition. The live album tracks are not "previously unreleased" Nicky Horne, they are the 1980/1 "Is There anybody out there?" live CD which you can get for £12

So what else do I get for the price difference, well I get 3 marbles, ooh whoopee, replacements, I knew I'd lost my marbles when it dawned on me what I'd just bought! 2 extra CDs of dubious work in progress tracks, moderately interesting, but then so is watching paint dry if you are bored. Some nice printed pictures and some repro passes and tickets - wow, I must mount those next to my genuine one from the original show 30years ago and the one from the 30th anniversary event of 2011 at the O2, they will really look convincing. Finally a DVD of clips you could probably find on YouTube. So roughly £60 extra for worthless filler - thanks EMI - I'm uncomfortably numbed by your transformation of a brilliant album into one of ridicule due to price and "extra" content.

Experience edition - what experienced people buy, Immersion edition - what mugs like me bought.