Joe_Stax
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Piper 40th Anniversary Editions!Okay, I just found out about this. In September, EMI will release two anniversary sets for the classic first Pink Floyd album.
I checked Amazon, and here's a description:
| Quote: | | To mark the 40th anniversary of the original release of Pink Floyd's first album 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn', a special edition is planned for release via EMI Records on Tues 28th August in North America, and Monday September 3rd in Europe. The packaging, designed by Storm Thorgerson, resembles a cloth-covered book, and holds 3 CD discs, along with a 12-page reproduction Syd Barrett notebook. Discs 1 and 2 will contain the full 'Piper' album, represented in both stereo and mono versions. Both have been newly remastered by James Guthrie. Disc 3 includes bonus tracks, including the following: all the Pink Floyd singles from 1967, ('Arnold Layne', 'See Emily Play', and 'Apples And Oranges'), plus the B sides 'Candy And A Current Bun' and 'Paintbox'. Other tracks are a version of 'Interstellar Overdrive' - Take 2 of the original recording sessions, previously only available on an EP in France - and the 1967 stereo version of 'Apples And Oranges'. EMI. 2007. |
The two disc set is the mono/stereo only.
It's tempting, even if I already own it a couple of times--in stereo and mono. The third disc sounds good, but come on! Why not include Vegetable Man and Scream Thy Last Scream, or some radio sessions?
Maybe for the 50th Anniversary?
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Rockin'_Art_Lewis
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Sheez! EMI is really trying to milk us for all we're worth!
The third disc is a re-hash of the "Pink Floyd/1967 The First 3 Singles" E.P.
from ten years ago, with a couple of added tracks, in the vain hope nobody will realize what a rip-off this 40th anniversary set really is.
If they wanted to make this idea a bit easier for Floyd fans to swallow, how about throwing on some of their 1965 demos. They have nothing to do with "Piper", but who cares! (Better yet, add "Candy" with the original lyrics!)
I'll save a few bucks and get the two disc remaster, minus a disc I've already had for ages and wait until somebody e-mails me the MP3 of the alternate "Interstellar Overdrive" take. 
Peace!
-R.A.L.[/i]
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Joe_Stax
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I'll agree with Rockin' Art. I've got all of this one way or the other, except for the ep edit of Interstellar Overdrive. If only for the spiffy packaging, I'd get the 2 disc version. Maybe.
If somebody would be willing to trade that, I'd share a copy of the Lucy Leave demo! Or the tracks from Tonite Let's All Make Love In London.
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Rockin'_Art_Lewis
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My "copy" of "Lucy Leave" is missing a split second of the intro. 
It's amazing that the song didn't get them signed to a label. Maybe it was just a couple of years ahead of it's time.
Passed up the chance to pick up "London" when it showed up in a local bargain bin.  Yes, the oddness you're hearing in the background is me re-creating the "smashing my head in with the toilet seat" scene from that Jim Carrey film. One of my true moments of collector stupidity!
Peace!
-Clueless Art Lewis
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Astrakhan
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It's with a certain embarrassment that I'll confess I've purchased the 3 disc set. I just couldn't resist hearing those few tracks I don't already have.
I'll post a little more on this once I've had a chance to listen properly to it--it just arrived today.
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Joe_Stax
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Hey, I understand. I've been dancing around about this--I've got at least 3 versions of Piper as it is. Do I really need more?
Still, I've been willing to replace older editions over the years. Cds supplanted a lot of my vinyl, and later were replaced with "upgraded" editions. Y'know, stuff like the Monkees, the Byrds, the Pogues, etc. I still keep telling myself I'm going to go for the expanded Billy Bragg releases from last year.
But no more Elvis Costello! He's on the third upgrade! How much more could there be?
So, I may be in the midst of talking myself into getting Piper. Again. But only the two disc set. I mean it.
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Rockin'_Art_Lewis
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All my Costello stuff is still on vinyl.
But then again, how many copies of "Aim" or "Forces" do I have inthat
format? 
The American pressings actually sound better than the Brit ones. I think Stiff used recycled Vimto bottles for "My Aim Is True". Probably the noisiest plastic in my whole collection!
Peace!
R.A.L.
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Astrakhan
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| Quote: | | Sheez! EMI is really trying to milk us for all we're worth! |
I must consider myself the donor of some Grade-A to EMI, then. I've purchased the triple disc set, and am feeling... 
That would be feeling neither good nor bad about the set. A bit prickly about the cost of the thing, although that could have been worse; at least Amazon discounted it 30%. No, the sticking point is that there's so little that's new for the long-time Pink Floyd listener.
One promise was that the two versions (stereo/mono) had been remastered, and it's true that the stereo version sounds far superior to my scabby old cd (circa late 1980's), I don't really hear a difference between the sound of the mono version in this set and the remastering done for the mono release for the thirtieth anniversary edition. And, as we all know, the mono mix is (still) better than the stereo mix.
As for the bonus disc, as Rockin' Art points out:
| Quote: | The third disc is a re-hash of the "Pink Floyd/1967 The First 3 Singles" E.P.
from ten years ago, with a couple of added tracks, in the vain hope nobody will realize what a rip-off this 40th anniversary set really is.
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There are some exceptions, though, in the bonus material. While the stereo mix of Apples and Oranges isn't necessary, the edited version of Interstellar Overdrive from a French ep is quite good. Remarkably, shortening the song by 4 minutes doesn't really hurt it. It helps that the edit(s) are seamlessly done. Outside of the context of the album, it's fine; like the single version of Light My Fire, it works, but the full version is the way it was meant to be heard.
There is another version of Interstellar Overdrive included, take 6 I think, and this is a nice inclusion. While shorter than the final released take, this one, at about 5 and a half minutes, has an interesting urgency to the playing.
The other bonus track of note is an early take of Matilda Mother with very different lyrics for the first two verses. Sung by Rick Wright, I believe, with Syd chiming in with the "doll's house darkness" lines and the familiar third verse.
Intriguing, and this causes one to wonder, what else is in the vaults (other than Vegetable Man, etc.)? Surely there are early, or alternate takes worth a listen besides these? Perhaps we'll know in another 10 years.
The packaging is quite lovely; it's a nice little hardback book, designed by long-time Floyd cover artist Storm Thorgersen (of Hipgnosis). It also contains a sampling of reproduced Syd Barrett notebook pages. However, due to the dimensions of the thing, it won't fit on your cd shelf at all. Judging from the image on Amazon, the "no frills" two disc version is in a standard jewel box.
Apart from the packaging and some interesting bonus material, I can't say that I would advise you to rush out and purchase this immediately, because, in the main, there's little here you don't already have, but if you've been given a gift card, or someone asks what you'd like to get for your birthday or Christmas, it's certainly worthwhile.
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Rockin'_Art_Lewis
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I knuckled under and got the 2 disc version.
Thought it was Rick doing the lead on "Matilda" in the released version(?!)
Disc 1, in Mono sounds a bit muddy when compared with the CDR I got from Jim E. aeons ago. The stereo platter is just as Astrakhan describes.
It's a standard size jewel case with a flip insert. The booklet reproduces the lyrics, but there aren't any liner notes other than credits for remastering. (remastering??????!!!!!!!!) Topping that off, some of the pages are cut off in the wrong places, obliterating half the song titles and the top half of some of the photos.
I only spent twenty bucks on the whole thing, so it's not the end of the world.
Is it too much to ask, for them to have put a bit more effort into the whole project?
Peace!
R.A.L.
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Astrakhan
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Rockin' Art, you are correct about the Rick Wright vocal on Mathilda Mother. A quick bit of research reveals that the vocals on the track are shared by Rick and Syd.
To my great embarassment, I must admit I didn't realize this before.
Given Syd's dominant role in the creation of the album (Stethoscope excepted), I've always supposed that he sang all of the songs. I knew Wright had written Paintbox, and sang that one. (As a quick aside, perhaps that should have been the a side on the single)
Shall I attempt to shift the blame for my ignorance to incomplete album credits? 
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Astrakhan
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I've been listening to Piper quite a lot this last week; certainly far more than I have in some time, and I'd like to ask:
Is there a more perfect album from this era?
My reasoning:
Piper at the Gates of Dawn combines a number of defining elements of that period into one package.
There is strong pop craft with a mainstream appeal, as evinced by the singles Arnold Layne and See Emily Play, both of which were chart successes;
There is the oft referenced British whimsy, in the form of songs like Scarecrow and Bike;
There are examples of a harder edged psychedelic sound as well, with Astronomy Domine, perhaps Stethoscope, and the end of Bike;
It brings in a taste of the underground scene, with the extended, exploratory track like Interstellar Overdrive.
Of any other landmark album released in 1967, nothing crystallizes the sense of infinite possibility of that moment. Or, as the 3 Mustaphas 3 used to say, "Forward in All Directions!"
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Rockin'_Art_Lewis
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3Mustaphas3! I loved those guys! ("Shall we take it to the fridge?!)
I must confess some shared ignorance about "Piper". I had always assumed "Stethoscope" to be one of Syd's. It just has that implied menace going for it, along with the free association bits.
Oh well. If any of us were perfect, we'd be a boring bunch of musi-geeks!
Peace!
R.A.L.
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JimENight
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Yea, I'm holding out for the (inevitable) 50th anniversary re-issue. In a head shop here in CT, ten years ago, I came across the very nicely packaged mono mix that was re-issued. At first I sorta didn't believe the burt-out chap behind the counter when he told me how superior the mono mix was. Well boy am I glad I purchased that thing - after I heard the mono mix for the first time, I immediately sold off my crappy stereo copy at Cutler's in New Haven!
There's been no looking back.
"...floatingdownthesoundresoundsaroundmeiseewaterundergound"
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Joe_Stax
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I got my copy from iTunes, of all things. Maybe it's me, but I can't really hear a difference in the "new mono remaster" and the 30th anniversary mono version either.
And I agree with Jim E--the mono verson absolutely beats the stereo mix. Try them both, it's a real revelation.
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Rockin'_Art_Lewis
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Hang on to that "head shop" copy, Jim E. It sounds a heckuva lot better than the 40th re-release. Need proof? Compare the "swipe" sounds on "Lucifer Sam" from yours, to the new one. There's a lot more treble there. In general, that whole disc sounds more "lively".
Wonder if there's any info in the booklet from the boxed set about how many generations down from the master copy the anniversary edition is.
Based on my somewhat limited expertise, however, I'd wager about three.
Sometimes that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I actually liked the sound on The Beatles "Capitol Albums" compilations a lot more than the original 1986(?) mastered CDs. Those were taken off something like second gen "safeties" from what I understand. (The Capitol versions, not Parlophone)
Paul's Bass can actually be heard and the overall sound is....I dunno....bigger and more aggressive?
Peace!
R.A.L.
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