Great stuff! Enjoy!

I'm looking forward to mine tomorrow.


Did it come with one of those wraparound 'obi'-style bands?

Hmmm.

Mine from Amazon also says Tuesday. For the box-set and the accompanying 12"s.

Well, that is disappointing.

In France,
FNAC delivers today. I've ordered on Amazon, and will receive it tomorrow (if Amazon do what they say in the mail I received today).

Completely!

I'm still bitter that my PC&L one didn't come with one. Ordered that one from the NO Store too. You'd think they would've definitely had the more 'complete' set.

Somewhere in the world (New Zealand) it is already Friday, so the new Brotherhood audio is officially "out there". Which must be how I have found myself listening to it (ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies).

First thoughts on the audio extras:

Shellshock (AOR version). Oh this is like the Pretty In Pink version! But slightly different here and there.

Well you did tell us!
It's fine, I would probably agree with Perspex's prediction (page 4 here): better than the 12".

As It Is When It Was (Japan demo). Well there are vocals on this demo. A different vocal take I think: no Bernard whoops and also no "oooh" at the very end. The vocal sounds lower in the mix at times. The mix overall is perhaps a bit less polished. Acoustic guitar higher in the mix. It's slightly shorter too: 3:30 instead of 3:45.

Broken Promise (instrumental). It is what it says on the tin. I think it would work quite well soundtracking some muddy car rally footage or "footballs toughest tackles", especially the second half of the track. Bernard's vocals on the original song aren't particularly great, so without the vox...it rocks! Same length as the original.

All Day Long (instrumental). Ever wanted to do Kareoke on this track? Now you can! But it's the ending that surprised me. The track is 5:33 long rather than 5:12. It doesn't fade out, instead it sort of breaks down to the "Wagner" strings and ends on a cold ending. And honestly, this is better! I LOVE this ending. I LOVE IT!! Maybe there were time constraints on the original album but really, THIS is how the track should have ended. Even more imperious than the original, but without the vocals. Now we need someone to splice the two versions together so we can have a longer vocal version.

Every Little Counts (Full length). Maybe a bit disappointing after the above. The discordant ending goes on and on, like a descent into hell - might be useful for a horror movie soundtrack. I can see why they cut this one short. Eventually the discordant stuff tails off and THEN we get the record scratch. It's still there. But I wanted it to come sooner. Hey ho...

Skullcrusher (full length). i listen to this tune so rarely and I care so little for it, that I'm not qualified to comment. Soz!

Edited by user 21 November 2024 10:31:51(UTC)  | Reason: bold bits

For those interested, Junodownload appear to have the cheapest lossless version of the CD content at £19.99 here: https://www.junodownload.com/pro...tive-edition/6875436-02/ (I've ordered)

Personally, this is the first physical Definitive box I'm not pre-ordering, which is a shame. As has been echoed elsewhere, the launch price is too high. Closer to the £100-110 mark seems a bit more reasonable, so I'll wait. Indeed, that is what Amazon US are apparently selling it for, more or less after exchange rate and delivery.

Am sure it is a high quality an item as the previous 3 boxes were plus, absolutely no disrespect to JJ who we're lucky to have advising on each one but the Warner conglomerate or "market forces" determining that launch price in the UK can sod off. Throw in an extra CD with 12" and 7" single edits of the time then yes, the price becomes a bit more palatable. Many, many other bands are issuing Blu-ray editions for far less. The recent and relatively cheap Bowie/Ziggy reissue is amazing, and it cost me £20. The mind boggles at how the £159 figure (before postage) was arrived at.

I may or may not change my mind if a sealed copy somehow appears in front of me in a local record shop. I've been used to compiling a mega box set with rips of the DVD audio content from release day from the previous boxes.

My Academy VHS transfer with it's butchered Dreams Never End/Interview will need to keep me going slightly longer eh.

EDIT: https://www.hdtracks.com/#/album/673d4f80f7bc0b5cf7998b28 may offer an even cheaper price, dependent on your exchange rate.

Edited by user 21 November 2024 16:53:26(UTC)  | Reason: Etc.

Amazon still says arriving Tuesday, despite me pre-ordering weeks ago. If you ordered it there today, you wouldn't get it until 7 - 13 December, and Prime delivery is no longer available.

My guess is Amazon either have limited stock, or Warners have been slow getting their stock to them. I notice the price has dropped to £131.35, so we'll see if that gets reflected in that Price drop guarantee thing (perhaps not if today is officially the release day, and they only dropped the price today.

Damn annoying. Gotta find a more reliable UK record shop to order future boxed sets from.

Ordered it (and live) in France at the FNAC website few days after the announcement. I'm lucky on this one. Unusual for me to receive preorders so early. Usually they are rather late (on Saturday or the week after...)

Oops!

JJ, would you have any more precise informations about Shellshock AOR ? I mean a recording date on the tape box ? in which studio was it recorded ?

Many thanks JJ for all yours interventions (and your work on the boxsets) which are very much appreciated here

When we did Recycle we identified that the instrumental version of Thieves used in the film (and on the U.S. version of the 12") is a completely different mix than appeared on Murder in 1984 - we titled it Instrumental '86. It's 20 seconds shorter than the '84 version, and you can tell from the very first beats. The '84 version has reverb on the kick, and the '86 version starts dry. There are a lot of other differences, too.

There's also a short edit of the '86 mix for the Shellshock 7", so that would be the two mixes you found.

Edited by user 22 November 2024 06:53:02(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I’m out at the moment, so will gather thoughts at a later date.
However, just listened to virtually all of the bonus tracks on my AirPods while out on a walk.

I agree with Fotz that the AIIWIW demo is delightful.
I’m pretty sure this is the same demo that was shared with fans going back to at least the late ‘80s

JJ - any idea if this is the same demo? Are you aware of the demo that was traded back in the day?

Not sure how that demo got leaked 35+ years ago. Curiously, it’s kind of surprising that the SOTN demo didn’t get leaked at the same time, considering it’s presumably from the same session.

Edited by user 22 November 2024 07:51:26(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified