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.

Review Nº 827

"Oh By The Way" is a very special compilation of Pink Floyd and was released in 2007. This is an amazing box set that contains all the studio albums released by the group in their incredible and very extensive musical career. Despite "Oh By The Way" contains remastered versions of the original albums it hasn't anything new to offer on it like bonus tracks, early singles or even some rarities. It hasn't also an extra disc with documentary material, photos from the band or even lives images from their live concerts. What we have here is just their fourteen studio albums digitally remastered.

As I've already reviewed all these albums previously on Progarchives, in a more extensive way, I'm not going to do it again. So, if you are interested to know, in more detail, what I wrote about them before, I invite you to read those my reviews. However, in here I'm going to write something about them in a more short way. So, of course, I'm not going to analyze them track by track, as I made before, but I'm only going to make a global appreciation of all those albums.

"The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" is a unique album in all Pink Floyd's discography. It's the only studio album under the leadership of Syd Barrett that explores the psychedelic music with some touches of blues. "A Saucerful Of Secrets", despite have many psychedelic parts, represents the beginning of their future space rock sound, which only would be firmly consolidated on their sixth studio album "Meddle". It represents also a more mature sound. "More" is the soundtrack of a film with the same name. It's an album with some interesting musical moments but it seems to me more a bunch of experimental and psychedelic songs than a real cohesive musical work. "Ummagumma" is an album divided into two parts, the live and the studio albums. On the live album all the live versions are superior to its studio versions. The studio album isn't a musical collective effort of the band. I never was a great fan of those types of albums. "Atom Heart Mother" is a very important transitional album for the group. It's an album with many progressive features and that would be the turning point of the band's music, and which will culminates in what is their first masterpiece "Meddle". "Meddle" was the album that started the turning point of the band's sound, from the psychedelic to the space sound. "Meddle" launched the roots of what would be the trademark of their music, which would influence so many bands in the future. "Obscured By Clouds" is the soundtrack of another film "La Vallée". It has a very interesting group of songs but its music is more close to the psychedelic period. I always have the feeling that I'm in the presence of an album chronological wrong in the band's musical discography. "Dark Side Of The Moon" is very well known and is simply one of the best albums ever made. With it, Pink Floyd reached the stardom and became in one of the most influential progressive bands and in one of the most famous bands ever. "Wish You Were Here" is also one of the best albums ever made and shows the sentimental side of the group. It was dedicated to their founding member Syd Barrett and represents a farewell tribute to him. It represents also a critic to the musical industry. "Animals" is another great album. It's absolutely brilliant despite the conflicts that were beginning between band's members, with Roger wanting a new direction for the band's music. It closes the trilogy started with "Dark Side Of The Moon". "The Wall" is the most ambitious, complex and powerful album released by Pink Floyd. It's a personal project of Roger Waters that became as the most famous album of the band and that was to culminate in several live presentations, of which the most famous was "The Wall ? Live in Berlin" in 1990. "The Final Cut" is their last album with Roger Waters where all the songs were credited to him. It's a very personal project of him and for me, it can't be considered a Pink Floyd's album and should never have been realized as a Pink Floyd's album. "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason" is also a very different album from Pink Floyd. It suffers from the same problems of "The Final Cut" because it's a Gilmour personal project. It also should never have been realized as a Pink Floyd's album. "The Division Bell" is a great album without a weak track. It's the best album released by Pink Floyd since "The Wall". It's undoubtedly one of the best albums of Pink Floyd and represents a great way to end the musical career of an exceptional band, one of the greatest progressive bands ever.

Conclusion: How to rate a compilation with the entire career of a band when we have individually all their original discography? By the other hand, the entire career of Pink Floyd never was totally uniform and balanced all over the years. It's almost consensual consider the band released five great masterpieces "Meddle", "Dark Side Of The Moon", "Wish You Were Here", "Animals" and "The Wall" and four very good studio albums "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn", "A Saucerful Of Secrets", "Atom Heart Mother" and "The Division Bell". But, we know too that "More", "Ummagumma", "Obscured By Clouds", "The Final Cut" and "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason" are minor studio works from them. So, sincerely, I really think the right thing to do is rating "Oh By The Way" with 4 stars because it has many great things.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)