SHINE ON

A brilliant boxset if you can afford it. 9/10 people will buy all the studio albums rather than getting them all in this set. The discs included may be a bit random, missing out some of them but i guess these ones are quite important to their career. This is very difficult to rate musically, you would have to read my reviews for each individual album.

This album is more for the die hard collectors and is one of the only pink floyd releases i have not got, too expensive! The bonus disc of early singles is very good! it has some rarities like apples and oranges, candy and a current bun and point me at the sky, which have not been released elsewhere. This disc is similar to Relics though.

The presentation of this boxset is amazing, a huge box full of great albums, great artwork and a nice booklet about the floyd. One of the best boxsets i have seen. The Floyd collector will not be disapointed at all with this purchase, and it will be worth a lot more in the future if they are kept pristine as these boxsets are quite limited in number methinks. If you are made of money and love Pink Floyd then go and find it!

For those too lazy to buy every FLOYD studio album individually in 1992, "Shine On" was their answer. By purchasing this now out-of-print 9 CD collection, you essentially got half the FLOYDIAN catalogue in one shot. Since a collection like this really only appeals to the hardcore fan and collector, I never did understand why this release didn't contain the entire studio set. The albums missing from this collection are: "PATGOD", "More", "Ummagumma", "Atom Heart Mother", "Obscured By Clouds" and "The Final Cut", as well as "The Division Bell", which hadn't yet been released in 1992.

I recommended that this Box Set be added to the Archives primarily because of "The Early Singles" bonus CD that it comes with. This CD, while similar to the "Relics" or "Works" compilation albums, is entirely unique to this set, and therefore quite a collector's item. It contains four unreleased songs that digitally are almost impossible to find (legally). Two of the songs: 'Apples & Oranges', and 'Candy and A Currant Bun' are typical SYD BARRETT songs in their whimsical nature, comical lyrics and musically would feel right at home on "Piper At The Gates of Dawn" The other two unreleased songs were made just after Syd's departure, and show the reborn FLOYD in its infancy. 'It Would Be So Nice' (written and sung by RICK WRIGHT) and 'Point Me At The Sky' (sung by DAVE GILMOUR, written by GILMOUR/WATERS) are wonderful early FLOYD gems, being very playful, English poppy songs.

The music found on the 'other' 8 CD's is 'Classic FLOYD' (containing the full studio versions of monster albums like DSOTM, WYWH, Animals, The Wall etc), and easily earns a 5-star 'masterpiece' rating. However, the price of this boxset (often surpassing 150 quid/250$ US or more to the right buyer) means "Shine On" is primarily for the rich collector type. The average music listener is just as well off buying the regular, studio releases for a fraction of the price. But for those of you who own a copy of this box set, lock it away. It will be worth a mint one day.

Some people will find weird this "two star" rating, but i actually have some reasons to consider this only a collectors' purchase.

In my opinion, this thing costs too much for not having all the studio albums - where's the amazing Atom Heart Mother, the essential debut Piper and the unique Ummagumma, showing the band at their most experimental side? And where are the very underrated soundtracks Obscured by Clouds and More? The Division Bell is not here because it was released later, but i will never understand the point on getting such a expensive compilation set lacking on some important material like the albums above mentioned.

There's actually a strong point in this box set, though. The amazing "Early Singles" can be only found here (at least on where i live, since it is not sold separatedely here). But paying so much even with this tempting material is quite silly in my opinion. Of course, if you can afford it just get it and enjoy all the amazing artwork for the albums and add this valuable treasure to your collection. But most people can't afford this, hence the two star rating.

No doubt that this is the ultimate Pink Floyd compilation, especially if you have some money to spend. And it is a known secret that the average proghead has a lot of money! The most thrilling part of this box-set is the final CD #9. Here you can enjoy The Pink Floyd psychedelia in all its splendor, what an amazing songs! The two hit singles "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily play" emphasized the extraordinary compositorial skills from Syd Barrett, soon he was hailed by the press as the new Ray Davies. But also the keyboardplay by Rick Wright is very worth listening, he exactly knew when he had to play solo and when he had a supportive role. Although these two tracks turned out to be the most legendary early Pink Floyd songs, I'm more delighted about "Candy and the currant bun" and "The scaregrow", incredible how varied and tasteful these two short tracks are arranged! Another interesting piece is "Julia dream" with its wonderful Mellotron waves and romantic atmosphere. For me this CD is the highlight on this extensive CD-box.

Shine On was Pink Floyd's first (and so far only as of August 2007) box set. Box sets were becoming quite popular in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. Many groups took advantage of making these things so that they could include lost recordings, various outtakes, live recordings for a live album that never happened, goofing off in the studio stuff, etc. In other words, these were primarily designed for collectors and probably were produced in smaller quantities than other releases, particularly because they were more expensive to produce and often had high price tags. At the time Shine On was released it was selling for between US$100-$120. Nowadays (as of Aug. 2007), used copies can start at about US$175-$200 to as much as US$700 for a new copy.

However, Shine On did not contain any surprises or lost recordings. In fact eight of the nine discs were just seven of their studio albums in their entirety. The ninth disc contained early singles from the 1960s, most of which could be found on their Relics compilation. So was it worth $120 just to hear Candy and a Currant Bun, Apples and Oranges, It Would Be So Nice, or Point Me at the Sky?? Definitely not. The only real use Shine On had was for someone who had not converted their old record collection to CD to have the ability of getting the primary Pink Floyd records in one fell swoop. And you got a neat hard back book with all the lyrics to boot. Plus lined up together on the shelf, the image of the Dark Side of the Moon prism was visible. That's about it.

Nice packaging, but a waste of money if all you're interested in is the music. Since I believe this is out of print and all of their studio albums are still available, it isn't worth your time unless you're a collector. The few B-side singles that aren't available elsewhere are not worth the time or money. For the music, maybe four stars. For the product, two stars.

"I...I can't believe it!"

This is from a cartoon included in the book that comes with the boxset. It is the reaction of Floyd's manager when the band decided they'd had enough of Syd's antics and were going to perform without him. This is just one of the gems that you will find in this book, in addition to interesting timelines, reviews, and pictures. It's the only coffee table book I own, and the the only one I will ever need. The other highlight is the early singles disc, which can only be found here, though many of the songs can be found on other compilations and/or albums. As an added bonus, if you order the disks in the holder provided, the spines make a nice DSOTM prism image.

I was a cassette kid, and of course I eventually realized that I would have to upgrade to CD. Thus, the box set makes perfect financial and aesthetic sense. If you are just purchasing for the book and other bonuses, you may find your $100+ probable purchase price better spent elsewhere. As far as boxsets go, this is certainly one of the better I have seen, even if their entire discography is not included. I've been proud to display Shine On proudly wherever I've lived, and it's often a good conversation starter.