OH BY THE WAY...

Visiting a friend turned into a drool fest as he pulled out his prized Pink Floyd box set. It is a massive monolith box with every studio Pink Floyd release in existence. Nothing special about that, as I have the lot on Cd so why did my eyes turn into saucers and my drool hit the floor? The packaging is incredible. The disks are of course remastered just like the Discovery set. However, the Discovery set is all new packaging and unrelated material that is anathema to all true PF fans. We didn't ask for it, we don't need it and now we are stuck with it. This earlier box set though is a masterful visual feast.

Each album sleeve is an exact miniature replica of the vinyl album cover and even the CDs have the same labels. It is beautiful to behold, unlike the pyramidical art emblazoned all over and inundating all the recent releases. Why? These CDs look cheap and tacky attempting to package the lot under one boring design; no thanks! The "Oh By The Way" set is simply flawless, when it comes to the album art, it has not been tampered with in any way and it is as if one has miniaturised their vinyl collection. It is the best way to experience PF's extensive discography. It's even got the postcard from DSOTM. Relics is missing but not a drama, and again no live albums as in the Discovery set. These are not the latest remasters either but they are incredible for all of the reasons mentioned. The latest remasters are hardly any different and perhaps spoiled by over mastering at times.

I believe both box sets have merit, but this set is certainly truer to the Floyd legacy, uncorrupted by over designed tinkering. A case in point, in this set the original packaging of WYWH is to die for, including the black plastic over sleeve, with handshake design, and you remove this to reveal the actual cover we all recognise, but how good is that packaging! The coasters are here and little booklet replicas, and none of this is available anymore off the shelf. We have the Experience and Immersion series but it's not the way it was intended to be, designed by Pink Floyd, not some marketing money grabbing company.

As far as the sound, I listened from the set to Animals, AMLOR, WYWH, and DB, and the sound was as gorgeous as the Discovery set. I couldn't tell any difference apart from a few bonus tracks omitted. No complaints at all in every department. There is a poster and it's okay as a bonus. There is no book, but I have plenty of those already, and magazines. The box is very snazzy too, in ultimate cool colours and its great how the whole thing fits together neatly. The real drawcard is the album artwork, front and back reproductions of the original vinyls, down to the sleeve liner notes and original label designs. I want it, but it means getting the whole set again, and that is not viable. All I can say is it's the best way to collect the whole set, and will cost a packet though worth every cent. If you have very little from Pink Floyd, it's a must! See it, snavvle it, love it.

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