[MacDEF]

I received this box set as a gift. I was initially *very* excited, as the Davis/Coltrane collaborations include some of the best jazz of all time. Before I received the set I read that it includes the four albums "Kind of Blue," "'Round About Midnight," "Milestones," and "Someday My Prince Will Come." In addition, it includes 18 previously unreleased tracks. All tracks have been remastered to Sony's "20-bit" sound (the same as the recent remaster of "Kind of Blue"). It also includes a 116-page booklet with essays, commentary, photos, history, etc.

Unfortunately, I never opened the box. Before I unwrapped it, I discovered that the "complete albums" contained in the set have been dissolved and are no longer complete works. For some reason, the geniuses who put the set together decided to group songs differently, so if you want to listen to "Kind of Blue" as it was originally released, you have to go buy the album separately. All the outtakes and alternative versions are grouped together, so you'll hear a song from KOB, followed by two different versions of it. The other songs from the album are scattered across discs.

I personally am VERY disappointed in this box set, and others that take this approach. If you want to give me extra tracks, put them on a different CD, or group them with the original album but put them at the END so that the album remains intact. To break all the albums up destroys the original intent of the artist.

 

[BenG]

The box set, like many others, is an excuse to put out alternative versions of songs sequenced in a way as to make comparing and analyzing to master takes easy. It's for hardcore collectors.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

The box set, like many others, is an excuse to put out alternative versions of songs sequenced in a way as to make comparing and analyzing to master takes easy. It's for hardcore collectors.

See, that's what I don't get. A "hardcore" collector would want the albums in their *original* form. Besides, these are CDs -- how much more difficult is it to skip from track four (the original) to track nine (the outtake) than having both versions right next to each other?

 

[SEK]

I tend to agree with you about separating the alternate takes from the master takes. There are only rare instances where hearing the various takes of a work in succesion is as satisfying as hearing the original program. Occaisionally, they provide insights into the development of a piece, and sometimes I like an alternate take better than the one that was originally issued, especially with Charlie Parker. Most recently, I found that I prefer the first take of "Nature Boy" better than the one that was originally issued on Coltrane's "Chim Chim Cheree".

My cd recorder and the program buttons on my cd player get a lot of use.

 

[Hardhead]

The problem with most "complete works" compilations are all those outtakes. For example on the Billy Holiday 2 CD collection "The Complete Decca Recordings" there are 10 cuts out of 26 on the first CD that are retakes, however, there are only 3 out of 24 on the second CD. I for one really don't want to sit there and program my CDP to skip outtakes. O.K. some of them are interesting but it's just too much.

 

[BenG]

The re-issue producers putting out boxes in this fashion are also going on the assumption that the buyer already has the original albums. And by putting the alternates right after the originals, they believe they are providing the listener easy study of songs and their alternates.

I'm not the type of person who would enjoy this type of sequencing, but I think this is their reasoning. The box actually won a ah...gasp, grammy.

*As a side note, I just saw in the latest Acoustic Sounds catalouge that APO bought the rights to cherry pick the Fantasy cataloge and release material on SACD & LP. Miles - "Cookin' " is one of the expected releases in March.

 

[Magic77]

MacDeF,

I agree with what you said about this box set. I bought it a few months ago. I also prefer to listen to the individual albums separately. The box sets are good collectors items,but I don't find myself listening to them often. For example; Miles Davis'-"The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions". The box set packaging is really great,but I always listen to the original Bitches Brew 2 CD set instead.

The whole thing with box sets is the packaging,booklet and outakes,which are cool,but are really for the die-hard fans.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Get yourself a CD-burner and burn whatever tracks you want in whatever sequence you want. That's what I do. Except that I'm not familiar with the original album, so I'm not missing anything.

Read the liner notes to Panthalassa. It explains a bit about things. In some cases, the edited down versions aren't necessarily the "intent of the artist" so much as "the capabilities of the media". Also, remember that our attention spans were much shorter then (remember when 50 minute albums were considered long?).