“. . with most complaints focusing on the flimsy cardboard sleeves that protect the discs themselves.”
…and the exorbitant price, and the fact that they didn’t make digital copies of the box (much less individual shows) available for purchase, and the fact that it’s a shameless money grab by the remaining members of the band, and the fact that it has the effect of shutting out far too many fans who would love to hear these shows, etc. etc. Shameful.
For what you get with this box, and the work put in to it, the price is great. Also, shameless money grab? Yeah right. Good one. Lastly, nobody is being “shutout”. Ever hear of archive.org?
What do you think would’ve been a fair price, John? Clearly they found people willing to pay it with a quickness.
I LOVE archival releases and want to see as many as possible. I appreciate that The Dead have started a new trend of releasing an entire tour and hope there’s more where that come from for many artists. As such, don’t think it’s any more a “money grab” than charging $100 to see Furthur at MSG or any of the other things the band has done. In this day and age of most people stealing music–and considering the group made the music-only edition available to everyone– I don’t find it as shameful as you clearly do.
I bet we see digital releases/individual shows released in the future. In the meantime, Europe ’72 Volume 2 should hold those of us with budgets over for a while.
Thanks for the comment! Plenty of opinions on this new style of archival release and there’s validity to all of ’em.
Zappa– nice work responding with a baseless insult rather than with an intelligent comment. Also like your witty rejoinders (“yeah right” “good one”). I stand corrected by you, sir! Well played.
As far as archive, Zappa man, soundboards are only available for streaming, not downloads– a decision that was made by the band years ago to allow them to monetize the entire catalogue via individual releases rather than allowing the tapers to share the good (see money grab referenced above). In any event, a low quality stream of a Europe show via archive is not a substitute for a hard copy cd (or mp3) of the show. Yeah right. Good one.
Scott, thanks for chiming in. I can’t help but feel like $499 is a bit steep– particularly since they could have sold them digitally for cheaper (or as individual shows at $10 a pop, as Phish has figured out brilliantly). As to your comment that there were people willing to pay that price, my sense is that a lot of them were the equivalent of scalpers– a quick scan of ebay shows these things going for between $750 and $1000 a pop. (One guy is selling each individual show from the box for $35 a piece). There should have been a lower price point option– pick half a dozen shows for $150? Individual discs? Something? I agree that the compilation will tide some like me over, but still hate that my choices are 1) a double disc compilation for $29.99 or 2) the box set for $499.
Have to feel that Phish would have figured out a way to navigate this a bit better, and allow other pricing options.
I got mine. It’s epic, as was this very special and consistently excellent tour. Dr. Lemieux puts it best up front: the reason for releasing this whole tour was the amazing quality of the recordings. I have listened to a few already and all are excellent. Books are sweet. Yeah, I thought the same thing about the sleeves. But not a deal breaker by any means. I will admit that I have harbored the hope that there would secretly be a high quality DVD of the one TV recording they did. But overall this is a year’s worth of exploring. $450? Yeah …. but I remain unrepentant as the music is HDCD and I have just upgraded tons of old tapes all at once. Dr. Lemieux: many thanks. Now go tackle Spring or Fall 76 for us…
FYI- it was announced that the box set would be a limited run of 7200. it appears that only those box sets that are personalized (the first 3000) are numbered. I received my set (unpersonalized) and no where is a number to be found. does this mean it really is not a limited box set?
If you received the steamer trunk – then it’s part of the limited edition of 7,200 units. It appears if you did not request to have a name/etc personalized/printed on the box upon ordering, then you didn’t receive that sticker – unfortunately, that same sticker also is the only place to show the ‘number’ of the box you received. The overall price of the collection is an absolute bargain – before you even have a box, books, stickers, etc – the discs are ~$6 a piece.
The book, to me, is the real value – excellent essays (Blair Jackson should win some sort of major award for his piece – easily the most thorough document of the Euro ’72 tour – nothing comes close – this is the unsung component of the entire stash)…50 pages of color photos from the tour in chronological order printed on proper paper would probably go for at least $100 retail.
Every DeadHead at some point has said, ‘man, if they released all of Europe ’72, I’d buy it in a second’. It just happened to take almost 40 years to occur. Once again, the Grateful Dead has set a new standard in the box set/limited edition/archive series world. Not even the greatest of composers or jazz masters have had their musical creations framed in the likes of this collection.
> Only 5 Cumberlands and they are all great
> I am enjoying every single Me and My Uncle
> Pig really added some great organ accents to many songs beyond his own
> Keith’s few spotlight turns at the keys are sweet (like You Win Again)
> Bickershaw is killer
> Jerry rocks BT Wind solos…
This thing is not for everyone. No doubt. But for peeps that are nuts it’s spectacular!!! Any guesses on next Road Trips or Steel Cut Oats…
…just got my trunks yesterday -had to order two :)- and it just proves once again the spirituality of the Dead, the Family , et al. As this old man of 60 sat and reminisced about Jerry,Pigpen,Keith, Donna, everyone else, too, and the crew, with cold chills galore, tears of happiness streaming, as I danced my ass off as I haven’t since those days, I must say a huge THANK YOU for the music. This is a great value, a super value….73 discs….22 shows….every note played?…..who are you kidding? As for those of you without numbered box sets, as I recall, it was pretty clear when you ordered, as to what they wanted. I ordered 2 sets, one with my name, the other with a Dead Phrase, and the one with my name added “an original Dead Head” (which I am)and the other box sticker merely states the phrase, as I wanted. I must say, I AM IMPRESSED WITH THE ENTIRE OPERATION! I’m going back now to listen to the music. I suggest we all do so….Rikrocker PS Keep on Truckin’
The versions of The Other One and Dark Star from 1972 in particular are the greatest pieces of music the Grateful Dead ever produced. Europe 72 contains many of these masterpieces and no doubt will be endlessly admired by most fans who enjoy this type of music.Many songs are repeated during the tour that do not vary enough to warrant the release except for the context of the individual show experience itself. But to have the best sound quality possible of 12 or 13 Dark Stars and Other Ones from Europe 72 was reason enough to purchase the box. Frankly I think over all it is a bit over-priced. $20.00 a show is not a bargain. I would have thought the quality of the cases would have been better. Over time they will rip and tear. I like the case it is solid. Plus seeing a DVD of the Beat Club show would have been cool. I expected more surprises as they advertised; really there were no surprises. I boils down to the music and it is all excellent to say the least.
Hey, Dean, have you figured out the fade yet? They tell you a couple of times, even on the back cover of disc 1…it was inexplicable….just stopped recording….and we also lost Casey Jones the same night….bummer….I am now on night 5….fantastic!!!!!!!
The trunk arrived. I freaked. It’s awesome and as was said before it is EPIC! This is beautiful music. I don’t get the complaints, although the positive comments seem to far outweigh the negative. We are fortunate that this enormous project was completed. Kudos to Rhino, David Lemieux, and the entire project crew. Yes it’s expensive but it is so worth it. And by the way, what is wrong with the band making money. They toiled for many years in financial distress. They have given us much and if they get some reward at this stage of their lives, so what. Just relax and enjoy the music! PS As stated earlier Blair’s essay is excellent! Love the book.
14 Responses
“. . with most complaints focusing on the flimsy cardboard sleeves that protect the discs themselves.”
…and the exorbitant price, and the fact that they didn’t make digital copies of the box (much less individual shows) available for purchase, and the fact that it’s a shameless money grab by the remaining members of the band, and the fact that it has the effect of shutting out far too many fans who would love to hear these shows, etc. etc. Shameful.
@John – you sir, have a sandy vag.
For what you get with this box, and the work put in to it, the price is great. Also, shameless money grab? Yeah right. Good one. Lastly, nobody is being “shutout”. Ever hear of archive.org?
What do you think would’ve been a fair price, John? Clearly they found people willing to pay it with a quickness.
I LOVE archival releases and want to see as many as possible. I appreciate that The Dead have started a new trend of releasing an entire tour and hope there’s more where that come from for many artists. As such, don’t think it’s any more a “money grab” than charging $100 to see Furthur at MSG or any of the other things the band has done. In this day and age of most people stealing music–and considering the group made the music-only edition available to everyone– I don’t find it as shameful as you clearly do.
I bet we see digital releases/individual shows released in the future. In the meantime, Europe ’72 Volume 2 should hold those of us with budgets over for a while.
Thanks for the comment! Plenty of opinions on this new style of archival release and there’s validity to all of ’em.
Zappa– nice work responding with a baseless insult rather than with an intelligent comment. Also like your witty rejoinders (“yeah right” “good one”). I stand corrected by you, sir! Well played.
As far as archive, Zappa man, soundboards are only available for streaming, not downloads– a decision that was made by the band years ago to allow them to monetize the entire catalogue via individual releases rather than allowing the tapers to share the good (see money grab referenced above). In any event, a low quality stream of a Europe show via archive is not a substitute for a hard copy cd (or mp3) of the show. Yeah right. Good one.
Scott, thanks for chiming in. I can’t help but feel like $499 is a bit steep– particularly since they could have sold them digitally for cheaper (or as individual shows at $10 a pop, as Phish has figured out brilliantly). As to your comment that there were people willing to pay that price, my sense is that a lot of them were the equivalent of scalpers– a quick scan of ebay shows these things going for between $750 and $1000 a pop. (One guy is selling each individual show from the box for $35 a piece). There should have been a lower price point option– pick half a dozen shows for $150? Individual discs? Something? I agree that the compilation will tide some like me over, but still hate that my choices are 1) a double disc compilation for $29.99 or 2) the box set for $499.
Have to feel that Phish would have figured out a way to navigate this a bit better, and allow other pricing options.
I got mine. It’s epic, as was this very special and consistently excellent tour. Dr. Lemieux puts it best up front: the reason for releasing this whole tour was the amazing quality of the recordings. I have listened to a few already and all are excellent. Books are sweet. Yeah, I thought the same thing about the sleeves. But not a deal breaker by any means. I will admit that I have harbored the hope that there would secretly be a high quality DVD of the one TV recording they did. But overall this is a year’s worth of exploring. $450? Yeah …. but I remain unrepentant as the music is HDCD and I have just upgraded tons of old tapes all at once. Dr. Lemieux: many thanks. Now go tackle Spring or Fall 76 for us…
FYI- it was announced that the box set would be a limited run of 7200. it appears that only those box sets that are personalized (the first 3000) are numbered. I received my set (unpersonalized) and no where is a number to be found. does this mean it really is not a limited box set?
I got my set… and I couldn’t be more pleased… and there’s no shame in my game.
If you received the steamer trunk – then it’s part of the limited edition of 7,200 units. It appears if you did not request to have a name/etc personalized/printed on the box upon ordering, then you didn’t receive that sticker – unfortunately, that same sticker also is the only place to show the ‘number’ of the box you received. The overall price of the collection is an absolute bargain – before you even have a box, books, stickers, etc – the discs are ~$6 a piece.
The book, to me, is the real value – excellent essays (Blair Jackson should win some sort of major award for his piece – easily the most thorough document of the Euro ’72 tour – nothing comes close – this is the unsung component of the entire stash)…50 pages of color photos from the tour in chronological order printed on proper paper would probably go for at least $100 retail.
Every DeadHead at some point has said, ‘man, if they released all of Europe ’72, I’d buy it in a second’. It just happened to take almost 40 years to occur. Once again, the Grateful Dead has set a new standard in the box set/limited edition/archive series world. Not even the greatest of composers or jazz masters have had their musical creations framed in the likes of this collection.
Tru dat, JK. More thoughts on this masterpiece:
> Only 5 Cumberlands and they are all great
> I am enjoying every single Me and My Uncle
> Pig really added some great organ accents to many songs beyond his own
> Keith’s few spotlight turns at the keys are sweet (like You Win Again)
> Bickershaw is killer
> Jerry rocks BT Wind solos…
This thing is not for everyone. No doubt. But for peeps that are nuts it’s spectacular!!! Any guesses on next Road Trips or Steel Cut Oats…
…just got my trunks yesterday -had to order two :)- and it just proves once again the spirituality of the Dead, the Family , et al. As this old man of 60 sat and reminisced about Jerry,Pigpen,Keith, Donna, everyone else, too, and the crew, with cold chills galore, tears of happiness streaming, as I danced my ass off as I haven’t since those days, I must say a huge THANK YOU for the music. This is a great value, a super value….73 discs….22 shows….every note played?…..who are you kidding? As for those of you without numbered box sets, as I recall, it was pretty clear when you ordered, as to what they wanted. I ordered 2 sets, one with my name, the other with a Dead Phrase, and the one with my name added “an original Dead Head” (which I am)and the other box sticker merely states the phrase, as I wanted. I must say, I AM IMPRESSED WITH THE ENTIRE OPERATION! I’m going back now to listen to the music. I suggest we all do so….Rikrocker PS Keep on Truckin’
The versions of The Other One and Dark Star from 1972 in particular are the greatest pieces of music the Grateful Dead ever produced. Europe 72 contains many of these masterpieces and no doubt will be endlessly admired by most fans who enjoy this type of music.Many songs are repeated during the tour that do not vary enough to warrant the release except for the context of the individual show experience itself. But to have the best sound quality possible of 12 or 13 Dark Stars and Other Ones from Europe 72 was reason enough to purchase the box. Frankly I think over all it is a bit over-priced. $20.00 a show is not a bargain. I would have thought the quality of the cases would have been better. Over time they will rip and tear. I like the case it is solid. Plus seeing a DVD of the Beat Club show would have been cool. I expected more surprises as they advertised; really there were no surprises. I boils down to the music and it is all excellent to say the least.
There is a fade out on Big Boss Man on the first disc. anyone know why?
Hey, Dean, have you figured out the fade yet? They tell you a couple of times, even on the back cover of disc 1…it was inexplicable….just stopped recording….and we also lost Casey Jones the same night….bummer….I am now on night 5….fantastic!!!!!!!
The trunk arrived. I freaked. It’s awesome and as was said before it is EPIC! This is beautiful music. I don’t get the complaints, although the positive comments seem to far outweigh the negative. We are fortunate that this enormous project was completed. Kudos to Rhino, David Lemieux, and the entire project crew. Yes it’s expensive but it is so worth it. And by the way, what is wrong with the band making money. They toiled for many years in financial distress. They have given us much and if they get some reward at this stage of their lives, so what. Just relax and enjoy the music! PS As stated earlier Blair’s essay is excellent! Love the book.