Thompson Twins - Into The Gap blu ray audio #29 in the SDE series

[DuncanS]

The excessive P&P works the other way as well, I wanted to buy the latest Hannah Wicklund CD from her own store, its £16.......... and £25 P&P!! to the UK from the USA. Its not the fault of the shops, its the Postal Services charging a fortune to the small independent trader who can't do a bulk deal, and if I got stung for 20% tax then I'd pay it on the whole cost so including P&P.

 

[4-earredwonder]

The excessive P&P works the other way as well, I wanted to buy the latest Hannah Wicklund CD from her own store, its £16.......... and £25 P&P!! to the UK from the USA. Its not the fault of the shops, its the Postal Services charging a fortune to the small independent trader who can't do a bulk deal, and if I got stung for 20% tax then I'd pay it on the whole cost so including P&P.

As a 'collector' of UHD4K Films, I still cannot believe the price inequity between Music only discs and complete films restored in 4K with 'copious bonus features!' Sometimes for the price of a single SDE release I can purchase 4 [count 'em] 4K discs when Amazon blows them out for under $10!

I always try to support SDE whenever I can and sometimes their exclusive discs like the recent Thin Lizzy 2~fer ARE great deals and I did comment that with all the bonus features their current Thompson Twins Pure Audio BD~A offers IS a great deal but with the increasing International Postage/Handling fees which sadly are only going UP, paying $45+ for a single BD~A without bonus features is still excessive [even credit card fees are imposed for international transactions].

Let's face it. Our hobby is getting ridiculously expensive and in recent years the cornucopia of SURROUND RELEASES is expanding in ways we never thought imaginable!

If one adds up the money spent each year on MUSIC ONLY discs it's almost equivalent to upgrading to separate components/better speakers...and that is not a frivolous assertion!

 

[Perp]

You wanted it.
You got it.
But, you need to pay for it.

There’s no free lunch and retailers are not going to give merchandise away. I can understand why people hesitate on pricing. Hell, I can’t afford to get everything I want and have to really think hard before I press that ‘buy now’ button. I always end up getting more than I’m originally willing to pay for, but, I JUST CAN’T STOP MYSELF!!!

An addiction for sure.

 

[Perp]

Hold Me Now on AM sounds great. When I went back and listened to the whole album again I did not have the same affection for it that I had in the 80’s. I will wait to buy until a used copy comes along.

I’ve tired of the Thompson Twins too. I purchased the disc in hope that the surround version will change that. Besides, it’s like getting 3 discs worth of music on one Blu-ray. What’s to lose here? If I don’t like it, I’ll just store it along with several other discs I no longer play and sell it in the future for big bucks.

 

[srbjab]

Usually when an album sounds great on CD it's a strong indicator that the original recording was well done. It's been my listening experience that Into The Gap was always one of the best sounding synth-pop releases on CD, in addition to having several very catchy ear-worm songs. From what I've read from David Kosten about the original tapes and his remixing process I think we're in for a real surround treat on this title. Although I'm a die-hard prog head, I've always been a sucker for well recorded 80's synth pop - especially ones with deep bass and a wide soundstage. No regrets on this purchase despite the eye watering price - almost as much as I paid for the similarly overpriced Yes - Fragile Super Deluxe .

 

[JulesRules]

sometimes their exclusive discs like the recent Thin Lizzy 2~fer ARE great deals

For Thin Lizzy, I got the box set instead, which gave me 5 CDs in addition to the BD. No instrumentals but I can live with that.

Hold Me Now on AM sounds great. When I went back and listened to the whole album again I did not have the same affection for it that I had in the 80’s. I will wait to buy until a used copy comes along.

Has anybody ever managed to buy a SDE BD at a lower price than the original one? Look at the prices here... https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?label_id=2852303&ev=lb&sort=price,asc

 

[Uncle Obscure]

IMO, Into The Gap is a quintessential Thompson Twins album. It is definitely not a'one hit wonder' affair in my book. Yes, the original album includes the hit single, "Doctor! Doctor!," but to me that's just the tip of the iceberg. There's also the fantastic, "Hold Me Now" and the brilliant, "Sister Of Mercy," which I think is the best track on the LP and one of the Thompson Twins finest songs, ever. Plus, there's "You Take Me Up" and the title track, "Into The Gap." This album is no slouch and it is certainly deserving of the "deluxe" treatment. I admit the $51 shipped to my door in the U.S. is a big pain point, but with some acts you gotta do what you gotta do. The last copy of this album I bought was the 2-disc edition (with the interview) in 2004. The sound is tremendous and I can only imagine what SDE can do with it some twenty years later, and especially in Dolby Atmos. I've mentioned a couple of times now how I have become way more selective about purchasing these SDE Deluxe Editions, but this one clearly hits the 'sweet spot' for me and was an instant pre-order. Knowing that this edition will likely never get re-released and this is such an important album for me personally, like I say, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. As always, YMMV.

 

[dobyblue]

I love Import CDs!
I’m sure Paul won’t commit to an artist or label at this price point for a single disc again. I love what Paul is doing at SDE. I’m receiving Thin Lizzy “double album” Bluray today!

I order from them regularly to Canada also, great prices, very affordable shipping to Canada and excellent shipping speeds. Just recently picked up Clapton Slowhand 70 4K UHD

 

[atrocity]

As for a "one hit wonder" - Ooph that is a bit rough. Given that their preceding album went platinum, this album having sold over five million copies, and the subsequent album having sold over 750,000+ worldwide

And they had two interesting (if not zillion-selling) albums before that third one took off.

 

[progtodd]

IMO, Into The Gap is a quintessential Thompson Twins album. It is definitely not a'one hit wonder' affair in my book. Yes, the original album includes the hit single, "Doctor! Doctor!," but to me that's just the tip of the iceberg. There's also the fantastic, "Hold Me Now" and the brilliant, "Sister Of Mercy," which I think is the best track on the LP and one of the Thompson Twins finest songs, ever. Plus, there's "You Take Me Up" and the title track, "Into The Gap." This album is no slouch and it is certainly deserving of the "deluxe" treatment. I admit the $51 shipped to my door in the U.S. is a big pain point, but with some acts you gotta do what you gotta do. The last copy of this album I bought was the 2-disc edition (with the interview) in 2004. The sound is tremendous and I can only imagine what SDE can do with it some twenty years later, and especially in Dolby Atmos. I've mentioned a couple of times now how I have become way more selective about purchasing these SDE Deluxe Editions, but this one clearly hits the 'sweet spot' for me and was an instant pre-order. Knowing that this edition will likely never get re-released and this is such an important album for me personally, like I say, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. As always, YMMV.

Yea, I'm going to have to buy the bullet myself on this one. Very well produced and mixed album and thinking the surround is going to be off the chart!

 

[Uncle Obscure]

In case you're not on the SDE mailing list, here is a YouTube video with Paul Sinclair as he shares more details about the upcoming Super Deluxe Into The Gap Blu-ray. From a content standpoint, it looks like SDE is pulling out all of the stops on this one. Wow!

 

[Bobby Martini]

Does SDE ever share a discount code like Rhino or cd imports. Highest shipping costs but never cutting the consumer a break.

I've never had or seen one. I should, by rights, have a Loyalty/Club card with SDE by now

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

I've never had or seen one. I should, by rights, have a Loyalty/Club card with SDE by now

I've never seen a loyalty or any other type of discount code. Perhaps I'm just unlucky...

 

[Rhinojack]

I've never seen a loyalty or any other type of discount code. Perhaps I'm just unlucky...

I actually posed that question in the SDE comments and three weeks later, it’s still being considered for publishing. I posted it because the order form has a slot for a discount code, so I inquired how one gets one.

 

[Monkish]

Yes, I initially blanched a bit at the $52 price tag, but since I had some PayPal fun money, I decided to order for two main reasons: 1) I want to support and encourage David Kosten's work on 80s albums, seeing as he did a bang-up job on Paul Young's No Parlez, and 2) I want to support dedicated 5.1 mixes whenever I can, because I don't envision ever making the Atmos jump, and I don't want dedicated 5.1 mixes to disappear.

 

[PolkSDA]

Currently sold out @ SDE, unless they open up the run to more quantity.

 

[Uncle Obscure]

Currently sold out @ SDE, unless they open up the run to more quantity.

That doesn't surprise me. IMO, this is a classic '80s album by a band operating at their peak and the Super Deluxe disc promises an insane amount of value for the list price (excluding the ridiculous international shipping, VAT and other up-charges.) Fingers crossed it delivers on that promise.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Currently sold out @ SDE, unless they open up the run to more quantity.

Indeed, the 10 day pre-order window closed on Sat 5 October 2024.

Looking at previous SDE releases, the minimum printed 'unit' quantities have been 750 (for Gilbert O'Sullivan, Driven), 1000 (for Ten Years After, A Space in Time), 1500 (for xPropaganda, The Heart Is Strange) and 1750 (for Orbital, Optical Delusion).

I wonder what the absolute minimum print quantity is for Paul to make a decent profit out of these exclusive releases?!

 

[artwwweb]

In case you're not on the SDE mailing list, here is a YouTube video with Paul Sinclair as he shares more details about the upcoming Super Deluxe Into The Gap Blu-ray. From a content standpoint, it looks like SDE is pulling out all of the stops on this one. Wow!

I finally got round to watching this video. I think it's worth mentioning that in it Paul does mention that he's hoping to release an SDE BD of the previous album (Quick Step & Side Kick)! See 6.44 in the video.

Nothing confirmed of course but that does seem likely as long as the numbers on this release are good enough, which I'm pretty sure they would be.

 

[Bobby Martini]

I finally got round to watching this video. I think it's worth mentioning that in it Paul does mention that he's hoping to release an SDE BD of the previous album (Quick Step & Side Kick)! See 6.44 in the video.

Nothing confirmed of course but that does seem likely as long as the numbers on this release are good enough, which I'm pretty sure they would be.

Indeed, the numbers are good....Sold Out...unless I'm very much mistaken