OH BY THE WAY...

How to rate a musical career?

Santa was a nice chap this Christmas, leaving this little duesy in my sock (which is now unwearable, after being turned into a huge square sock). What we have here is the latest offering from the money machine that is Pink Floyd, the 40th Aniversary Boxset, which includes every studio albums released by the band. Certainly, a piece of their catalogue likely to be ignored by the age-old Floyd fan, who already hasall those albums and probably more. So, musically, what do we have here? Well, every CD is the latest available version of the record, which includes the 2003 mix of Dark Side of the Moon, the 2004 mix of The Final Cut, and the 2007 remaster of Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. There is nothing new in here, singles, outcuts, unheard tracks, etc... No extra disc with documentary material or whatever. Just the 14 studio albums of the band. Is that enough to get you to spend the 150£/200? it costs? Probably not.

So how does one make this boxset sell? The marketeer answer would probably be put it in a nice package - and so they did. Inside a hard cardboard box, 14 exact replicas of the original UK vynil releases are stored. And I mean EXACT - or almost, since they are now the size of CD's (whose cover is itself a replica of the vynil centre stickers - nice touch). This includes the superb Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here packages. Again, what use is this to someone who already has these CD's or, even better, the original LP's? Absolutely none.

Apart from an aniversary poster and what seems to be two oversized coasters, there is nothing else in here. There was a DVD announced, but the idea was cut. There is no book, like there was on the Shine On boxset 15 years ago. So what good is this boxset for? Basically, it is perfect for new fans who might be interested in getting the band's catalogue all in one shot, and just as they were originally released, only updated to new times of the digital age. It is also a perfect gift. Sure I had some Floyd CD's (nealy all, actually), but I found myself cheerfully getting rid of those ugly plastic boxes, by offering them round as Christmas gifts.

So, how to rate it? This boxset is quite near to useless, and you might hate it for it. But it is visually stunning (and, it is never enough to say it, it's also musicaly stunning), and for that you might simply fall in love with it. In terms of extras, it is miles away from the much-critisized Shine On boxset.

We cannot give multiple stars to one single entry, so how to rate it? It is not a thing for completionists, however it could be so for collectors and avid fans, hence 2 stars would seem fair. But how can one neglect that inside is some 28 years of music produced by Pink Floyd? That alone is worth 5 stars in my book. So I guess I will give several scores:

New to Pink Floyd? -> 5 stars (Just get it)

Avid fan, interest in artwork? -> 4 stars (Get it and sell or give away your old CD's)

Casual fan, have some albums, want the rest? -> 3 stars (Get it and sell or give away your old CD's)

Old git with everything by Floyd? -> 2 stars (Get only if you're a nutter and must have EVERYTHING by Floyd)

Hate Floyd, no money to spend? -> 1 star (Forget it)

Since I fit in the second group, that's the score I'm giving in this review. Did I mention that I love it?

Fellow reviewer Kotro asked a question:How to rate a musical career?Well,when it comes to Pink Floyd,I say-easy,you give it a highest possible rate-5 stars.Santa was good to me too this holiday season,although he asked for 229 bucks(canadian,mind you),which I readily unloaded out of my pocket and in return I got everything I hoped for.This box-set is perfect in every way for several reasons.First,I find it very hard to find PF discography on original LP's,at least in area where I live (Edmonton,AB,Canada).Second,these mini lp replicas are closest you can get to original LP's and EMI really did an awesome job in reprinting them to the tiniest of details.There is no point commenting on musical content here ,these discs are cream of popular music in past four decades and probably will be in a distant future.So,if you can still find it,go get it,only 10 000 printed world wide.And I'm one of the lucky ones.Thanks,Santa.

OK, here I am reviewing the box set itself, instead of the music of each album individually. I'm talking about the packaging, remastering, compared with the fact that I paid 200$ for it.

First, the packaging is wonderful. Each sleeve is a relatively exact miniature reproduction of the LP sleeve. A very nice work has been done on the packaging, so that the set has something more to offer than all the albums individually. I've read comments about it all over the Internet talking about packaging mistakes (some having 2 of the same album, some missing one album, some having been misprinted, etc.), but mine has come up mistake-less. I give four stars to the packaging, considering it's wonderful, but not essential.

Second, the presentation of the music itself, the remastering. Not much work has been done there, each album has nothing more than the last remastering having been done. They just re-pressed things that has already been made.

So finally, what is to remember of this, if it wasn't for the packaging, the set would be worthless, but considering the fact that the packaging is what it is, the set is a nice investment for someone who has no more than 2-3 albums already, or for a collector.

Oh, by the way, the poster in there is not incredible.

So, if I were the record company who d like to sell the same old story again, Id try to give something more, new, different or a LOT for 120 pounds plus postage. Any 10-year-old kid can download any Floyd album for free, so here we dont expect only the pure music, but some new ideas and suprises also. The main problems are:

- not the latest remastered versions

- Relics is missing

- not a live album is presented in the box set (ok, Ummagumma live disc is here)

- the least they could have done is to enclose an at least 100 page booklet about the band, to introduce the first listener to the concept of their music and to tell some not so well-known stories to the advanced ones. This is a 40th anniversary edition, so I would have expected some notes from the band members, their memories or opinion about the old days, why things happened the way they happened etc. Even in the Shine on remastered editions there were long notes of never told stories, at least they could have added those.

- in some cases (eg The Wall) the lyrics is not readable because of the small size, for some records there is no lyrics on the covers at all (Pipe, Saucer, More etc.). I would have enclosed all the lyrics separately in the booklet also. If this edition is to symbolize and summarize the whole carrier of the band, lyrics is definitely part of their works.

Anyway, the idea to republish the disks in their original sleeves is nice, I really cherish them each day, but Im an ultimate fan of printed artworks. I dont think most customers would be happy with the box as it looks now. The artwork is nice, everything that was their in the original versions are here like postcard from Dark Side but I personally dont care about them. Typical collectors/fans edition.

Really? A box set of EVERY album this band put out, from PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN to THE DIVISION BELL. Do I hear a ka-ching? Big money to plop down for a set that includes even stuff like UMUGUMMA and MORE and OBSCURED BY CLOUDS. I want the essential Floyd. Ya know, stuff like ANIMALS, THE WALL, DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, etc... I don't know why this is needed except to make money and satisfy Pink Floyd nuts who must have it all. I just don't think I really need this. I got what I want and I need no more from Floyd.

I walked away from his house totally speechless.

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.