NewsPeter Gabriel / “So” box details official
Peter Gabriel‘s So limited edition box set has been confirmed and officially announced via his website. Interestingly, there is no reference to it being an ‘Immersion’ box (as described on amazon.com) with Gabriel’s site referring to it as a ‘Limited Edition Box Set’ or a ‘Deluxe Box Set’.
The specification of the eight disc box is exactly as described by this blog five days ago and the contents are as follows:
- • Newly remastered So CD
- • So DNA CD (Audio evolution of So)
- • Live In Athens 1987 double CD and DVD
- • Classic Albums: So DVD
- • 180g So 12-inch LP
- • 12-inch AA vinyl collectible
- • 60 page case-bound book
The three disc variant is pictured below and contains the newly remastered So CD plus the two disc Live In Athens 1987 CD.
Pre-order the So Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set here
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I wish they would quit mixing vinyl and disc in these sets. Makes no sense to me.
To start off with , although the album So brought Gabriel fame and fortune and helped him realise many of his dreams which until then he didn’t have the financial back up to make come true (among them the Real World studio complex), fans at the time considered the album rather thin and a bit of a commercial sell-out, particularly when it was the first time Gabriel had taken so long to write and record a new album and only ended up with a meagre 8 songs, one of which was a reworking of an outtake from PGIII (We Do What We’re Told).
If an album ever deserved the deluxe or immersion treatment then PGIII or even PGIV would have been it, but So is the one that put Gabriel on the Pop Music World Map thanks to huge sales in the US and the world followed… you can’t re-write ‘history’…
To me the main missing tracks from the So Deluxe box set are Don’t Break This Rhythm (Bside to Sledgehammer and incidentally made from Mercy Street speeded up instrumental track with a new melody and lyrics on top – as per Daniel Lanois’s interview) and the extended version (or special mix) of In your Eyes.
The rest listed by Scott above (or below) doesn’t belong to the So recording era and countless edits, remixes, live versions of songs from the album that were released as singles are rather pointless in a retrospective as they were only marketing ploys for the time of release (a big 80s trend)…
…
GA-GA (I Go Swimming Instrumental) is from PGIII 1979/1980, not So era
No Self Control is the live version from Plays Live (1983)
Across the River is the Bside to the 1982 single I Have the Touch
I Have The Touch (’85 Remix) speaks for itself (irrelevant)
Biko (Twelve Inch Extended Version) is from PGIII 1980
Walk Through The Fire was a single from 1984 (part of the soundtrack from the film Against All Odds), again nothing to do with So
and the live version of Sledgehammer and In your Eyes are made redundant since available from the live from Athens CD/DVD
There’s also “We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s Progress),” which is listed on the back of an old Realworld Records sampler but on the disc it’s actually the album version. So this track remains unreleased, making it a prime candidate for this set.
I was soooo excited about this box set, I just can’t believe what an appalling decision it was to include the Classic Albums DVD (nothing too groundbreaking about this specific episode) and no 5.1 surround mix!! What’s the point!
And 140 bucks!!! That’s crazy. Demos? Well, after buying The Wall immersion box by Pink Floyd I have come to the conclusion that demos are not meant for repeated listens, which devalues the box even further.
So, if I was to buy this box I would get it for the new remaster (which I hope it’s not a loud, terrible remaster like most of them nowadays), the 2 live CDs and the DVD concert of the exact same music as the 2 live CDs.
That’s less like 3 hrs of music for 140 bucks, since I don’t even have a turntable. Yeah, I’m sure the book is nice and all, but I’ll definitely pass this and go for the 3 CD version and pray they release the blu-ray counterpart of the Athens concert someday.
Even if they would’ve thrown in the surround mix and all the b-sides from the album, 140 bucks is still expensive, but I may have re-considered buying it since I love the album.
Looks like I’ll be buying the Velvet Underground & Nico box after all!
i think the dance mix and extended mix of Big Time are the US / UK titles of the same mix and the same for the John Potoker Remix of Sledgehammer (Dance Mix or Dance remix). Two less!
Still a shocking reissue, no need to buy that now.
Yes, I think this is right. I’ve never heard two different 12inch remixes of Big Time…
“So” disappointing… there’s absolutely no way I’ll buy this. Awful.
“So” deluxe box by the numbers:
2-Copies of the original album (1 on CD, 1 on vinyl)
2-Copies of PoV (1 on DVD, 1 on CD)
0-Original b-sides and remixes included
3-Previously unreleased tracks–but on VINYL ONLY :(
That leaves only the “So DNA” CD and the book as the only desirable bonuses in the $150 box. This really, really hurts. :(
By my count, this is what would be missing from the set w/o the B-sides. Please update if you know of others “missing” items from this box set.
FROM SLEDGEHAMMER:
Don’t Break This Rhythm
I Have The Touch (’85 Remix)
Sledgehammer (Dance Mix)
Biko (Twelve Inch Extended Version)
Sledgehammer (Extended Mix)
Sledgehammer (Extended Dance Remix)
Sledgehammer (Live)
Sledgehammer (Edit)
Sledgehammer (Promo Edit)
FROM DON’T GIVE UP:
In Your Eyes (Special Mix)
This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds)
Don’t Give Up (Single Edit – 4:44)
Don’t Give Up (Single Edit – 5:26)
Don’t Give Up (Single Edit – 5:52)
Curtains
FROM BIG TIME:
Big Time (Dance Mix)
Big Time (Seven Inch Version)
Big Time (Extended Version)
No Self Control
Across The River
FROM IN YOUR EYES:
In Your Eyes (Live Version)
FROM RED RAIN:
GA-GA (I Go Swimming Instrumental)
Walk Through The Fire
Red Rain (Edit)
This is truly disappointing. Did they think that fans wouldn’t want to hear these great tracks? Also, as others have said, why master the Athens show for HD and not release it on Blu-Ray?
It’s also missing the Single Mix, Radio Edit, and Special Mix of “In Your Eyes”.
Disappointed there is no 5.1 version of the studio album.
Remastered sets are a tricky business these days. Besides hoping for the material you really want, you have to pray that the remaster is not over-compressed or brick-walled on top of that.
This set is an absolute slap in the face to hardcore fans. Why include vinyl if the set isn’t geared toward true audiophiles? And if it is, why in the world isn’t there a hi-res copy of the album or a blu-ray to be found? Secret World Live gets a blu-ray release and it was shot on 16mm. They went to the trouble of restoring and reassembling PoV from 35mm film and slap it on a DVD? That makes absolutely no sense. And the Classic Albums documentary is DVD-only as well, even though it’s getting a standalone blu-ray release in September. The hardcore fan who’s going to buy this boxed set wants hi-res video and audio quality. The casual fan who doesn’t care about that is probably only interested in one thing: the concert on DVD (nicely tucked away as an exclusive to the set, placing it out of reach for most of us). As a long-time Peter Gabriel fan – one who was saving his pennies to afford this reissue – I really find this release disappointing. Even insulting. At this point, I’ll just wait for the Athens PoV concert to be released on blu-ray as a separate release. Which will happen, I’m sure, only after they’ve sold as many of these sets as possible.
Very disappointing that none of the So editions contain any of the original 12″ versions or b-sides. Like the deluxe edition of Bad this is another dropped ball Hats off to Swing Out Sister whose recent re-release of their debut album really shows how it should be done.