I just listened to this, and was inspired to vote and comment here. I somehow snagged this set back in February for only $36.35 plus shipping & tax, brand new, from Pop Market through Discogs. I think they posted it at that price in error, because later they added it back at a much higher price, but they honored my order. I really like this set but I sure wouldn't pay north of $150 for it, like it seems to be going for currently.
I have long been a big fan of this album. I see from many previous comments that it's not generally held in high regard, compared to the rest of the band's catalog. For me, each of their albums is unique, groundbreaking, and special in its own way. I wouldn't be able to pick a favorite one or rank them, although if really pressed I might just pick Loaded. I listen to it more often than the others. Rather than being a sellout or a blatant attempt at commercial success, I see it as bringing Lou's alternative subject matter and viewpoint to a more mainstream style that really rocks. Isn't that what subversion is all about: challenging the status quo while penetrating it?
Anyway, before I stray further from the poll thread topic, I voted 9 for the surround disc. The discrete mix is very fun and revealing, yet it stays pretty well balanced. It's quite an achievement from the source material, which is not recorded especially well, even for the time. It only increases my appreciation and enjoyment of the music, which for me is the ultimate measure of a good surround mix. I might have voted 10 if it was lossless and didn't place the lead vocals only in the center channel, which in general I find is too isolating without at least a little bit of mirroring in the fronts, but here it does blend fairly well.
As for the rest of the set: packaging is handsome, material and photos/archival materials in the book are nice, and the CDs contain a trove of material, a great deep-dive into the album. However, I suspect due to the slotted folder containers they're housed in within the book, some of my CDs have some apparent visual flaws and/or are a bit warped, and some had ripping errors (I use dBpoweramp), although I don't notice any defects when I listen to the rips. And I wish the CDs weren't mastered so loud / volume-compressed. I much prefer the mastering on the Peel Slowly & See box set, but there's a lot of material here that wasn't in that box. I don't have any of the other Velvet Underground anniversary deluxe editions, but from what I gather, they are all mastered this way, which is a shame. These albums weren't recorded very cleanly in the first place, and the dynamic range limiting just makes them sound that much more rough and distorted. But overall, I'm very glad this set exists, includes a surprisingly good surround mix, and that I somehow got lucky enough to find it at a bargain price.
I have long been a big fan of this album. I see from many previous comments that it's not generally held in high regard, compared to the rest of the band's catalog. For me, each of their albums is unique, groundbreaking, and special in its own way. I wouldn't be able to pick a favorite one or rank them, although if really pressed I might just pick Loaded. I listen to it more often than the others. Rather than being a sellout or a blatant attempt at commercial success, I see it as bringing Lou's alternative subject matter and viewpoint to a more mainstream style that really rocks. Isn't that what subversion is all about: challenging the status quo while penetrating it?
Anyway, before I stray further from the poll thread topic, I voted 9 for the surround disc. The discrete mix is very fun and revealing, yet it stays pretty well balanced. It's quite an achievement from the source material, which is not recorded especially well, even for the time. It only increases my appreciation and enjoyment of the music, which for me is the ultimate measure of a good surround mix. I might have voted 10 if it was lossless and didn't place the lead vocals only in the center channel, which in general I find is too isolating without at least a little bit of mirroring in the fronts, but here it does blend fairly well.
As for the rest of the set: packaging is handsome, material and photos/archival materials in the book are nice, and the CDs contain a trove of material, a great deep-dive into the album. However, I suspect due to the slotted folder containers they're housed in within the book, some of my CDs have some apparent visual flaws and/or are a bit warped, and some had ripping errors (I use dBpoweramp), although I don't notice any defects when I listen to the rips. And I wish the CDs weren't mastered so loud / volume-compressed. I much prefer the mastering on the Peel Slowly & See box set, but there's a lot of material here that wasn't in that box. I don't have any of the other Velvet Underground anniversary deluxe editions, but from what I gather, they are all mastered this way, which is a shame. These albums weren't recorded very cleanly in the first place, and the dynamic range limiting just makes them sound that much more rough and distorted. But overall, I'm very glad this set exists, includes a surprisingly good surround mix, and that I somehow got lucky enough to find it at a bargain price.
