grabbed box 1 on cd at my local store the other day been romping through them at work today. I have no other cd copies to compare but they sound good to these ears.
the packaging is adequate I would say, nothing special no liner notes beyond what was originally included not much in the way of bonus pictures either that I can tell. but full lyrics. they could have done more but they also could have done less as I have seen in other album boxes.
BTW, my copy from Amazon should have been here by now, but they were subject to mysterious delays. I THINK the first box will arrive tomorrow...
Last edited by JKL2000; 11-19-2018 at 08:38 PM.
I like the tryptich glossy format of the covers and the lyric quotes inside.
Since my set is still making very slow progress to me (from NJ - what the hell?), I decided to watch this thorough unboxing video from Superdeluxeeditions:
The guy is picky, but I can't really argue with his observations. One thing I knew nothing about, was Rolf Harris's trial, etc., and that has affected the reissue of Aerial. I just read up on it a bit. Not sure his narration should have been removed, but I guess I'd leave that to Kate, and apparently she'd already started to excise his contribution during her tour from a couple years ago. I'd never heard of Rolf Harris aside from his participation on Aerial (and probably didn't notice he played didgeridoo on The Dreaming, which is still intact.
Anyway, for those who can enjoy an unboxing video, there you go!
Here's a piece on the Rolf Harris thing:
http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/ne...-album-aerial/
Last edited by JKL2000; 11-20-2018 at 09:04 AM.
I'm surprised no one has said they've gotten this set, and what they think of it! I would have except my copy from Amazon was delayed, was supposed to be delivered yesterday, but apparently someone at my post office "scanned it incorrectly." So I should get it today.
I'm really looking forward to listening to these. Some I haven't played in quite a while, and I love almost all of them. Would have thought there's be more buzz about this set.
John Wilcox, are you out there? Surely you have some interest in this, right?
This is something I'm interested in, especially the first box. I really didn't care much for The Red Shoes (except for a handful of songs maybe), and I haven't heard 50 Words For Snow yet. Aerial was great though.
Most people aren't big fans of The Red Shoes, but I think it has a few good songs, and probably some I might like better on a few more listens. I'm surprised you were able to resist listening to 50 Words for Snow. It's definitely not for everyone, but I really enjoy almost all of it. It has an oddly almost low-budget quality to it, but that's not entirely a bad thing.
I agree, The Red Shoes does have a few good tracks on it. Just overall, it's not up to the same level for me as what came before or even what she did on Aerial. But "Top Of The City", "Constellation of the Heart" and "Why Do I Love You?" are very good tunes IMO.Originally Posted by JKL2000
You know, I'm also kinda surprised that I never listened to 50 Words For Snow.It came out during a very unpleasant time in my life and something about the cover artwork felt really depressing for some reason, so I just never picked it up. But hey, now's my chance -- and your description definitely piques my interest.
About half of it or a little more is definitely pretty low-key, but it's Kate Bush low-key. The rest has a little bit of a feeling of repeating things from Aerial, but a bit more uptempo than the rest of the album so I like it. I like it all. It goes well on a Winter night with a good single-malt Scotch, in front of a fire.You know, I'm also kinda surprised that I never listened to 50 Words For Snow.
Interesting... I'm okay with Kate Bush low-key. And I was wondering if there would be any similarities to Aerial, so that's pretty cool too.
All right, now you're talkin'! I love music that can accompany a winter night.What's your pick for single-malt Scotch these days, if you had to choose?
I missed this thread originally, but the other night I was watching the new Night Flight (damn stupid 15 minute teasers for their pay website, I guess, but anyway), which had a bit of the Wuthering Heights video and a bit of a Kate interview. Anyhow, I was thinking, "I should really own more Kate Bush than I do" (I only have Hounds Of Love), and then I see this thread, and I guess the boxes are just coming out now, eh? So I'll have to put those on the short list. Who has the best price on the CD sets?
Usually Lagavulin, but I've been wanting to get away from the peat for a bit, just for a change of pace. But I wouldn't kick Kate and Lagavulin out of bed.Interesting... I'm okay with Kate Bush low-key. And I was wondering if there would be any similarities to Aerial, so that's pretty cool too.
All right, now you're talkin'! I love music that can accompany a winter night.
I noticed just yesterday that the superdeluxeedition website has good info on prices. For Kate box #1, Amazon.ca had the lowest price, and for box 2, Amazon.com had the lowest price. Weird! But I know at one point Amazon.co.uk had a discount if you preordered both boxes. So I guess you'll have to hunt around, but click on the link I posted of the unboxing and at the bottom of the page are their price comparisons.
I hear ya.
Lately I've been trying the Lagavulin again -- and actually kinda like it! It's cold outside tonight, so I might pour some and put on 50 Words For Snow for a bit.
Actually, it's the French Amazon site that seems to have the slightly better price, coming in at about 3 US dollars less than the Soviet Cananuckistan site. I have to see if my Amazon Prime membership means anything on the Francophone site.
It probably updates automatically, which makes it pretty useful actually.
Sadly, Prime only applies to the Amazon in the country where you subscribed. I'm a Prime member in Canada, and buy from many other amazons reasonably regularly (but not enough to justify subscribing to Prime everywhere), and I only get the Prime benefits at Amazon.ca. Just FYI.
John Kelman
Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
Freelance writer/photographer
Mine arrived late, just two days ago. Nicely packaged, though for the price it'd have been nice to get a booklet with some informative notes.
That said, what I've heard so far sounds fabulous. And the high res version of the first four albums, which I bought from hdtracks last Friday when it was clear amazon was late, sound even better, so I may end up buying both hard and soft media versions.
John Kelman
Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
Freelance writer/photographer
^ Also, as the guy in that unboxing video says, the artwork on the box is just disappointing, since it has nothing to do with the albums in the box. Also, the whole "Fish People" logo is just too prominent. Somebody might look at the CDs and think it's a Fish People CD, not a Kate Bush CD. Just some weird decisions there, and it leads me to think either Kate isn't a very good designer, or the co-designer is Kate's significant other and she can't reject anything, or both. Or something like that.
But the music is the main thing!
Gotcha. And am I right in believing each country requires a separate account? I very nearly pulled the trigger on the first CD box last night, but couldnt' sign in to either the Canadian or French sites. Well, I might not be able to get free two day shipping, but i believe at least on the Canadian site I can get normal free shipping, I guess because the price is over whatever the threshold for free shipping is these days (it used to be $25 on the Stateside site, then it went up to $35, then I think $45, then I have no idea what it is these days, as I have Prime).
I've always been able to sign into them all with the same account.
OK, I'll have to look into that later, then. Maybe I was just trying to enter the wrong password.
Last night I had some Lagavulin 16 and listened to the entirety of 50 Words For Snow. I found it to be really beautiful, weird, and incredibly sad at times. It's a haunting record. I'm gonna have to pick up an actual physical copy of this one. Thanks for the rec, Jed.
Glad you enjoyed it! Since you don't have a physical copy, did you know that was Elton John doing the male vocals on "Snowed in at Wheeler Street?" I didn't like that song much at first, but after a few listens I grew to like it.
I didn't realize it at first -- it was only after going and reading about the songs online that I saw Elton John was on that one. I wouldn't have guessed it! His voice has changed a bit, and I haven't really heard much of his recent stuff I guess.
That one probably didn't make as much of an impression as some of the other tracks did, but I suspect repeat listenings will make it grow on me. The song "Wild Man" was very odd and took some fascinating turns. And "Misty" was sad and strangely touching, although I don't think I can quite put into words just how it made me feel -- it was the one that hit me the hardest. I wish I hadn't waited so long to hear this album, but better late than never I suppose.
How is the Before The Dawn live set? I wish I could have attended one of those shows, but travel overseas is cost-prohibitive for me (or at least it was at that time).
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