Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Well, before I start my review, allow me to preface it with some self-indulgent observations about myself, just to give you an idea of the level of my disgust. I am no casual fan of Pink Floyd. They are far and away my favorite band of all time. Bought all of their official music THREE TIMES OVER NOW, first on vinyl or cassette, then the first run of CDs, then the remastered CDs. Bought and still own all the very little official audio/visual material available that has anything to do with them, Pompeii, The Wall, the London 66-67 footage, The 14-Hour Technicolor Dream, the Classic Albums Dark Side documentary. I also have well over 200 "unofficial" pieces from them. The only reason I bother mentioning that is to give you an idea of just how much this band means to me as one of those somewhat mentally unbalanced superfans. I'm one of those people so well versed on this band's history that I knew for years they were holding some material that was practically crying out for a proper release, biding my time (see if you get that little joke) until the day they finally put it into our hands. Well, here is what happened to me. 1) Pre-ordered and eagerly awaited my set as soon as my tracking number came through. I could hardly contain my excitement when I peaked out the window to see it waiting on my porch. Imagine my disappointment when I opened it, only to discover that two of the four disks in the bottom of the box were loose, and BADLY scratched. Just to be sure these weren't just cosmetic scratches, I attempted to play them, and (sure enough) they were unplayable. For those of you playing at home, Disk 1 and Disk 3 were scratched. 2) Called Amazon, very upset about this problem, and the CSR was very sympathetic and apologetic (although this was NOT an Amazon packaging issue), arranging for a return form and a replacement. This time, following the advice from fellow fans to hang onto the first set in the hopes of doing a mix-and-match should there be any damage in this second set, I hung onto the first set to do that just in case. Set number two arrives at my door. Once again with great excitement, but this time tempered with wariness, I carefully opened the box, only to discover that THREE of the four disks in the bottom of the box were loose, with two badly scratched. For those of you playing at home, Disk 2 and Disk 3 were scratched, so I couldn't even do a mix-and-match with the first set! 3) Since set number two arrived so badly damaged, I called Amazon once again, this time barely able to contain my fury at the shoddy packaging from the manufacturer. I still have the first two sets, hoping to do a mix-and-match in case of damage with this one. This was yesterday. Once again, the CSR was very sympathetic and courteous, arranging yet ANOTHER replacement. This time, Amazon actually overnighted it to me. I opened it only hours ago...and...ALL FOUR DISKS IN THE BOTTOM WERE LOOSE, two of which are badly scratched. Guess which of the two was scratched this time? Oh yes, Disk 3! I STILL can't even do a mix-and-match! The problem is that the four disks in the bottom of the box are sitting on spindles only, with the only thing restraining them being the booklets and other trinkets they come with. They could have prevented this with a simple piece of form fitting corrugated cardboard over the disks, but (apparently) they thought that would be too much trouble or expense. Looking at the packaging, my observation is that they fell in with the whole "green packaging" fad instead of ensuring there would be no damage to the disks themselves. But at least the cheap marbles were individually bubble wrapped. It's a good thing all the extraneous trinkets - those marbles, the postcards, the booklets, the scarf - are all in flawless condition. Didn't we all buy this for the trinkets, intending to discard the disks immediately? I have now given up entirely. EMI/Capitol blew it. Pink Floyd blew it. And I happen to know a dozen or so who are equally irked. And there are doubtless hundreds or thousands out there who soon will be. If this was the best they could do, they should never have even bothered. Great job, guys. You just majorly infuriated a lifelong hard core fan. Good luck winning me over again after flipping me off like this. ***UPDATE*** Well, not completely surrendering to the problems just yet, I went into a major "brick and mortar" retail outlet, where they had one on the shelf. I asked to open it at the counter, and (sure enough) one disk was dislodged and scratched. Ho hum... Just yesterday (09OCT11), I went into another major retailer, where they said they had one on the shelf. Again, opened it at the counter, and Disk 3 (what is it with that particular disk?) was dislodged and scratched. Shrugging my shoulders in resignation, I prepared to get rung up for a simple refund, when the young lady in sales offered to take me over to the shelf to check and see if another might just be there. At first, we couldn't see one at all, and we were just about to give up, when I spotted one on the floor under the racks there, almost invisible. I picked it up, and back to the counter we went. Knowing that the previous five sets were damaged, I opened it and found that ALL FOUR DISKS were securely fastened down and completely unscathed. Ditto for the two in the slipcases. After all this trouble, I finally found an intact set. I still believe the quality control problems with the packaging are inexcusable, but maybe now I can add another update reviewing the content itself, once I've had a chance to listen to it properly. ***UPDATE 08NOV2011*** Okay, after (finally) having purchased my first Blu-Ray player to enjoy the full content of this set, I can at last comment on the quality of the recordings. Disk 1 is yet another remaster, and I already have the first edition remaster of DSotM, the Mobile Fidelity gold disk remaster, and the 2003 SACD, so it's really tough for me to make a definitive statement on this remaster's merits relative to those three already fantastic disks. Disk 2 is definitely something to enjoy, the complete Dark Side from two nights at Wembley Empire Pool, the beginning through "The Great Gig..." being from 16NOV74, and "Money" through the end being from the 15th. Fantastic performance, better than ever heard before on the widely circulated BBC recording from the 16th exclusively. I gather that this still required considerable edits (dubbed in kick drum because Nick's kit wasn't properly mic'd on the original tape) and various other tricks to make a just okay recording sound fantastic. I especially liked Dave's extra bit of pedal steel on "The Great Gig..." Keep in mind that this is only the Dark Side set, and it lacks "Echoes," "You Gotta Be Crazy," "Raving and Drooling," and "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," which were also performed during the original gigs, however the latter three are included on the WYWH Immersion Set. Disk 3 is a standard DVD consisting of audio only that includes the original quadraphonic (4.0) and 5.1 (2003) mixes in Dolby Digital (lossy), and the LPCM stereo recording in full lossless (16-bit 48KHz) PCM. For some oddball reason, they chose to include two each of the 5.1 and 4.0 mixes, one in 448KBPS and the other in 640KBPS, something I have since learned was done to allow playback for those with older DVD players. This was probably a good idea to allow those with a 5.1 setup and any standard DVD player to enjoy the full surround experience, but we all know that full LPCM surround is a much more attractive option, which is covered beyond all doubt. Disk 4 is a video DVD that contains several of the screen backdrop films (not of the band! just what was projected on "Mr. Screen" during their performances), the 2003 Enhanced Press Kit video explaining the 2003 SACD remix, and the well known and widely circulated in "unnofficial" circles Peter Whitehead footage of "Careful with that Axe, Eugene" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" shot at Brighton Dome. You also get a very nice little Easter egg if you select the 2003 EPK, then wait a moment for a prism to appear, then click on it, which will give you (nearly...they edited out the part where Roger Waters asks Roger the Hat for some of what he was smoking at the time) the complete interview Roger Waters did with Roger the Hat for some of the more memorable spoken word bits intermingled throughout DSotM, such as "Here for today, gone tomorrow, that's me...hahaha!" and "They're gonna kill ya, so you give 'em a short, sharp shock and they don't do it again. Dig it? I mean he got off light, 'cause I could have given 'im a thrashing; I only hit 'im once! I mean good manners don't cost nothing, eh?" Disk 5 is the Blu-Ray, which includes all that is on Disks 3 & 4, except this time the quadraphonic, 5.1, and stereo mixes included on it are in full LPCM (24-bit 96KHZ this time) glory! The sound quality advantage these have over Disk 3 is obvious to even the unpracticed ear, and downright astonishing, as I listened to the swirling footsteps of "On the Run" and the panning roto-toms for "Time." It is also readily apparent that not just the multichannel, but even quite a bit of the instrumentation on the quad is different from the standard stereo version. An incredible quality recording. The Roger the Hat Easter egg is on this, too, if a bit tougher to bring up. Disk 6 is the most intriguing of all to me, since it includes things never before heard, even for this hard core collector of those "rare live recordings." You get an unreleased track from their aborted "Household Objects" project. "Us and Them Demo," which collectors of my sort will immediately recognize as "The Violent Sequence" outtake originally intended for the "Zabriskie Point" soundtrack. "The Travel Sequence" (later became "On the Run") studio demo. "Money" studio demo. "The Travel Sequence," "The Mortality Sequence" (later became "The Great Gig in the Sky"), and "Any Colour You Like" from one of the June 1972 Brighton Dome gigs, all of which only served to whet my appetite for the complete recording of this gig. WOW! You also get a complete early mix of DSotM, with quite a different sound on some parts "Us and Them" (more sax and less echo) and "The Great Gig in the Sky" (no vocals at all), and others not very different at all "Breathe" and "Time." It sure was a lot of trouble to get an undamaged set, but it was still worth it to get this, especially given that the success of these Immersion sets will probably be the motivating factor for whether Pink Floyd and EMI will make similar sets for their earlier albums, especially the likes of "Meddle," "Ummagumma," and "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn." At the very least, we have to hope that they have gotten the message that they need to take much better care in how they package all future sets to prevent the damage so many of us experienced. ***UPDATE (sort of)*** For those of you wondering if EMI has gotten the message about the poor packaging issues, I have since bought the "Wish You Were Here" Immersion set, and they put the ALL the disks inside cardboard sleeves, including the four intended for the spindles in the very bottom of the box. No scratches at all this time, nor could there ever be, although I have long since put them all inside plain jewel cases. Problem solved.