Shakespears Sister / Our History

I just received my box set, and I am so glad that I pre-ordered this! The care that went into making this is so impressive, not to mention that I didn’t realize that the 10″ vynil of “You Made Me Come To This” is a numbered edition (makes up to the gaffuffle of forgetting to number the bonus CD single)….I have and always will be a huge fan of this group, and it shows in this box set that they appreciate their fans and admirers…Love Live The Queens!!!

I can’t say that I’m impressed with how Townsend Records have resolved this problem they’ve had. For me, it beggars belief that they didn’t know until an hour before they shipped that the CD’s weren’t numbered, leaving you no time to cancel if you wished to. Also, to then take your disappointment and turn it into an opportunistic marketing cash grab for 10% off another purchase is beyond the pale. Why not give us 10% off this purchase then, if that’s the way you’re going to go? Or better than that, why not just print up and send us the numbered version of the sleeve at a later date? Or number them by hand or something. I’ve priced the cost of printing and numbering 1,000 cd sleeves at under £200, so hardly a bank-breaker.

OK so earlier today I purchased Shakespears Sister albums 3 & 4 today. The RSD Releases of #3 (Blue & Red Vinyl) & Songs From the Red Room (Gold Vinyl).

I think I’m having to take the plunge here and buy this boxset after all. Damn me & my OCD. You still owe me that “A Christmas Number One” CD though Siobhan!!!

I’ve had a dispatch notice too. Exciting! They’ve also told me that the I Can Drive “numbered” CD single will now not be numbered. No skin off my nose, but I can’t wait to see what’s on that. No tracklist has been announced for that, as far as I know.

It looks like mine shipped on Monday the 7th. No shipping notice, but early is good

Bought it. Took me a good while to actually arrive at that decision though…

Find it abit strange that the Ride Again EP doesn’t have a CD counterpart.

I’ve been revisiting this page numerous times, eyeing up that beautiful ‘Our History’ boxset. I have spent an absolute fortune over the last couple of months and I expect I’m not the only one! There has been an array of wonderfully curated boxsets released recently that I’ve bit the bullet for – U2, Prince, Ultravox (both vinyl and CD boxes), Elton John, Transvision Vamp (Both CD and Vinyl) and John Lennon. I’ve also added past releases including Madness Full House with the 4 x vinyl fold out set and other bits and pieces including a signed copy of Bryan Ferry’s Royal Albert Hall gig on both CD a and vinyl.

Anyhow, I’ve finally taken the plunge and gone for Shakespeare’s Sister! I love the first two albums and not really listened to the later stuff so this suits me. It’s about as comprehensive a boxset can be and I take pleasure in the knowledge that I have both CD AND vinyl in one set. My only regret? It’s a small one – that it’s not signed. For just a thousand pieces I can’t understand why it couldn’t be signed?

Oh well, looking forward to receiving it!

Still can’t decide whether to shell out for this or not.
Do you think they’ll re-release the individual albums on new vinyl or will this be the only way to get them?

Presently showing for $157 (plus S&H) via the US link to their site. Sadly too expensive for me this Christmas, but maybe good news for someone else!

I’ve been a HUGE SS fan since the beginning. I saw them every time they performed in Glasgow – even when they opened up for Prince. I was such a fan I even subscribed to the Official website to get all the exclusive demos, rare downloads and physical format purchases over the years and posted regularly on the forum however I still cannot forgive SS for being conned out of £8 to buy the “A Christmas Number 1” CD back in 2013. Yeah, I know it’s only £8 but I’m now a retired pensioner due to Multiple Sclerosis so every penny counts. I emailed “The Official Shakespears Sister shop ([email protected] which was run by Anthony Mark Hemingway?)” way back in 2016 and never received any response nor the CD or a refund. Sad!

I refused to pay £75 to see them live during their last run of shows – what a cash-cow that was especially as I’d seen SS (minus Marcy years ago) along with the other 40 or 50 fans for about £20 a ticket. I’ve never left a gig actually feeling sorry for the performer in all honesty.

Anyway, this box-set would have been a day 1 purchase for me – especially as I’ve just upgraded my audio set-up to include an excellent record player but nope, SS will never receive another penny from me.

I am so looking forward to this and I am very happy I ordered it. I have a turntable and will enjoy the vinyl as well as the CDs. To have a remix of “The Trouble With Andre” has me so excited. Hope it arrives intact and in a timely manner. Thank you Siobhan and Marcella for being a soundtrack to my young adult life.

I wish I was a bit more principled with this stuff. In one of my earlier comments below I complain about the $43 shipping charge (still ridiculous). Then today I buy the thing. Only a 1000 are made worldwide, which it says on the SS website so I believe it. That pushed me to ignore the shipping cost. Then again Donna Summer’s estate said only 1500 of the Encore boxes were made. They sold out and it is now available again everywhere. Very frustrating & conning.

As far as the bundled vinyl and CD’s, Paul explained it makes the box economically viable for the artist. So it’s that or nothing at all. I rather have a box. I won’t ever touch the vinyl but so be it. I prefer CD only but if that means no box then pls give me both vinyl & CD.

If Mute/ BMG can have their arm twisted into releasing Yazoo’s “Three Pieces” on CD (when they really did not want to), then hopefully a similar pressure can also be successfully applied to London/ UMG, thus encouraging them to develop common sense (against their will) and alter their originally conceived formatting options/ marketing also.

Absolutely ridiculous. I adore Shakespears Sister, and I would have snapped up the 3-CD sets in a heartbeat, but I have no interest in any of the bloated extras. It saddens me that this seems to be the direction that a lot of deluxe editions are headed in. We’ve been treated to some wonderful packages over the years, but this just smacks of the industry trying to grab as much cash as they can before the physical media market collapses, rather than trying to keep it going for a bit longer by offering packages that are actually worth the price tag.

I was excited beyond belief about this Shakespeare Sister box set! When you get right down to it, it is everything all rolled into one. To me, it’s worth it to get the full package since I am such a huge fan. I am no doubt sure that once this runs it’s course, everyone bitching about it will have wished they got a copy. I am particularly excited about the Sacred Heart 3 cd and the concerts, you get an older concert plus the reconciliatory concert. Instead of lamenting why everything isn’t released individually, we should celebrate this release as a monument to Siobhan and Marcella’s brilliance!

It’s only two albums, who even wants the compulsory price point raising vinyl anyway? Plus, why is the Solo/ Marcy free “I Can Drive” single being used as an early purchase inventive when the DVD intentionally omits these highly sought after (yet equally Marcy free music videos)?

https://www.discogs.com/Shakespears-Sister-SFTRR-Videos/release/2918828

This whole set is a limited content, two album era, shameless and blatant over priced cash grab!

Just one more voice adding to the complaints about mixed media sets. If it were just the CDs and DVDs (at a reasonable price) I’d have pre-ordered this straight away and be gleefully awaiting its release – but that unwanted vinyl, and the hefty price tag attached because of that, has meant that I’m just not going to buy this. So the band loses a potential sale of their box set, I lose from not getting all the extra content on the exclusive discs – everyone loses. But if they’d issued 2 separate sets, one on CD and one on vinyl, say £60 each or whatever, everyone would be happy – including those people who want both. As it is, I guess I’ll have to wait for the standalone 2CD sets. Grumble grumble.

Would be nice to have a separate DVD otherwise I’ll just have to make do with CD/DVD set I got some years ago.

I’m surprised the price tag is getting so much bashing. Comparatively, three years back, the Bananarama reunion live box set was £90, and that only included the same show on audio, DVD and Blu-Ray, and the large format book. This set has so much more than that and is a much better value product.

The Zoom element and bonus I Can Dive disc are now sold out, by the way.

Dont care about the cost, this is something i need. I have been especially waiting for the 3 cd set of Sacred Heart for nearly a decade now so im sooo xcited. Flew to the UK last year just to see and meet them during their tour so this is the icing on the cake. Yeah it cost me an extra 40 pounds to get it shipped to Sydney Australia but I know it will be worth it xx

Despite not being interested in vinyl, I’m a fool for anything Siobhán and Shakespears Sister related and the box set *is* beautiful so I had to purchase one even though half the content is useless to me. The extras on the CD’s are brilliant and pretty much everything a fan could want but it’s just a shame the 3 disc sets won’t be released for those without funds for such an expensive set. My only major gripe is the inclusion of DVD – how quaint! In this day and age when 80% of households in both the UK and US have an HDTV and 4k TV’s uptake increasing tenfold, to be releasing video in a dying media that looks terrible on most home’s set-ups is ridiculous IMO. They should have released the live gig as a Blu-ray and kept the DVD for the videos (unless they could be adequately upscaled).

Yeah sorry but never heard anyone singing praises for mixed media sets, don’t anyone try to make that happen. I see no reason for sticking a customer with the vinyl of the album where you give them the expanded CD version. Like who needs that? It’s also such a contradiction, like, here’s a ton of tracks from that album’s project on CD, best quality, and in case you feel like ignoring this plethora of versions, you can also revert to just playing the original album, yes but only on vinyl. Only to raise the price of the set. At least for movies they give you the DVD for free when you buy the BluRay, here it’s clearly an overcharge.
And please, what is this “you can always resell the vinyls”? As if having to (yes, having to, because you know darn well that a fan who wants this content has to buy it, it’s like sticking it in your face like a carrot to a donkey) spend 133 PLUS 35 for shipping isn’t bad enough, you’re supposed to go through the hassle of trying to resell the vinyls, that also probably nobody will want or need and also hope you can recoup the money? Sure, more work. That’s all we want when having to pay so much!
I really hope they cave and release the whole CD sets separately, in the meantime I preordered immediately but I might cancel.

i couldn’t take it…i paid $200 for it to be shipped to the us, than sucked up an additional $35 overdraft fee…i feel i may need professional help…lolol…what can i say, seeds of love and our history hold a very special place for me…ill just eat peanut butter and jelly until the new year

It seems no matter what’s done, people moan. This is a collector’s piece that’s exclusive to the store. It’s a luxury item. It’s limited. Buy it or don’t. I’m broke thanks to The Rona, but you best believe I ordered this. It’s gorgeous, and it has loads of previously unavailable content. Bummed I missed the Zoom party thanks to my crappy iPhone, but ordering this was a no brainer.

I was ready to buy this but $43 shipping to the US? Sorry but that’s a no.

I Can Drive Cd single: does it only include ICD ?

Not a SS fan, but if I were this would be the perfect box set for me. As a purchaser of vinyl, CDs and DVDs (blu-ray’s included) these mixed media sets are great.

Not only do I find myself agreeing with Chris Squire and Stuart Ansell about the merits of mixed media boxes-in some cases I don’t understand why they DON’T do it. For example, the Beatles deluxe sets-I wish they would do an Uber mixed set as there must be a lot of punters want both. Similarly, the Bowie boxes.

Awesome!!! Have been waiting for this for years. Sacred Heart is one of my fav all time albums regularly played on turntable. Would love to upgrade my originals to remastered & expanded editions Plus more.
Though, with current conversion rate to Australia dollar, total cost inc postage is $295 (£165)
You really break my heart :(

The usual US fans moaning it’s a PAL release. But is it?

Why no cassettes?!?!?! (just kidding)

I love SS (no, not THAT one, LOL) so when I saw the email alert about an 11-disc boxset, it was the BEST news after an absolute shit year. But then I saw the dreaded phrase: “mixed media”. (cue scary music)

As a CD lover, I’m not thrilled about the cost-blowing vinyl being lumped in, especially as the vinyl EPs have tracks that aren’t on the CDs. And I’m sure there are just as many vinyl lovers annoyed at the cost-blowing CDs and their exclusive tracks.

Plus I live in Australia, so no doubt the item cost/size blowout will induce a shipping cost blowout – leaving me to carefully consider what should have been a “must buy” for me.

Maybe a daft question, but how many discs in this? 11 or 12?

11 are stated here and on the Shakespears Sister shop, but the official shop says “2LP + EP + 6CD + 10” single + 2 x DVD + photo book + 12” art print + postcard set + patch in outer box.”

I count that as 12 discs.

This is a BRILLIANT collection with a lot of thought put into it and at an extremely good price. It’s just what the fans wanted and I find it absolutely unbelievable that people should moan and pick holes in such a wonderful celebration of one of the most interesting and innovative female duos of all time . For god’s sake, get over yourselves and focus on all the positives here. This is definitely the release of the year for me and beats most of the predictable overpriced RSD releases and all of the cliched colour vinyl rereleases hands down. If only more bands put this much effort into their back catalogue and offered so much value for money!!

This is so amazing. Whilst California burns in the fires, I have something to look forward to!
So glad they are using the same designer. If I had one wish it would be for the vinyls to be coloured.

Although it’s stated that the three-CD sets won’t be released separately, I’m reading this to mean that the two-CD versions might be, particularly as there is a separate wallet specifically for the third CD in each case. Why would this be separate if all three CDs are exclusive to the box?

If I’m right, I’ll wait. If I’m wrong, I can do without this. I already have the Ride Again vinyl separately so presumably they’ve included it in here to use up their unsold supplies. Pet Shop Boys mixing DVD and blu-ray in the same release is one thing (who on earth wants both?) but mixing vinyl and CD in a luxury set like this is a step too far.

No complaints from me – this boxset seems perfect. I collect music on all formats (yes even laserdisc!) so it doesn’t bother me in the slightest when it includes a mixture of vinyl and CDs, plus I love some visual content in the form of a book and the DVD. Price seems very reasonable for so much content. Ordered immediately as don’t want to miss out.

maybe i am the only one here. but i will say that i only like “stay” – song and video.
it touches me when it came out. but others i don’t like from the duo. sorry. for me a “one hit wonder”. so this set is useless for me. for others: the set looks nice – enjoy!

Any word on the 2 LPs getting a standalone release?

I ordered my boxset as soon as i saw it advertised. Happy with the overall set, although my only critique would be the LPs should be coloured vinyl.

For those who are bemoaning the inclusion of records in the set, sell those on ebay and recoup some of the cost of the boxset. I’m sure you could get £20 for each LP and get £40 back in your coffers.

I went ahead and ordered and even got in on the zoom party early buyer deal

Point is this may very well be our only chance
You can bemoan the price and the format mix

But fact is those are limited
And we may never have more if they are gone

These releases have a long history of being discussed and never issued(search the site here for some historical blog entries)
And most releases and re-released Siobahn released independently are long gone and not repressed (including a deluxe “3” edition
So i think anyone hoping got stand-alone releases is taking a chance
These may come or never will
And the box will triple in price

Try for example to find a decently priced copy of the jethru Tull deluxe
Think these will be reissued? Maybe as a single cd
Its very rare that deluxe editions are repressed
And with the cd slowly being put out to pasture
The consumer market is crazy
Cds are losing ground
These will probably pop up on silver and red vinyl
But as much as we complain and cry injustice
I doubt something so lavish will be reproduced

Especially a project With such troublesome history

$150 is a lot
But this is probably a good investment

I bought it first thing this morning, but mainly because I wanted the expanded CD’s. I have no use for the vinyl, but not sure if the CD’s will be released on their own in the future. I am more than happy to sell the vinyl copies to anyone who is willing to purchase them. I live in the USA, but can ship internationally if needed.

Their History a better title?
(but not They’re History!!)

The tracklisting for the CDs is fantastic. It features everything a fan could have asked for + stuff I didn’t even knew existed. Empty vaults now, I guess. and I’m so happy the reunion tour was properly recorded.

However, living in a third world country made me stop collecting physicals completely so I’d kill for these remasters (+ the 2019 concert audio) to be made available for streaming (even if it’s on a later date).

Just read through comments, is there an email address for London records/Warners that all the unhappy punters could contact. I think it is a valid point that has been raised.
Not a really a SS fan but love the title. 31 years in the making.

I like the box, I must say. However, I would normally bemoan the mix of vinyl and CD in the one set, so I completely understand that viewpoint and it’s a fair one. The CD sets appear to be in 2CD Digipaks and the LPs are obviously individual, so I suggest the long term plan is that those will be available on their own next year? The third, bonus discs are in their own card wallets and will no doubt remain exclusive to the box, along with the DVDs (1 promo videos, 1 live show), the 10″, the book, etc. But the die hard fans will want both CD and vinyl formats, and those extras which are pretty interesting. 16 unreleased tracks/mixes, and a further 10 rare/first time on CD selections also. They’ve planned the content quite well, keeping the key material on the 2CD sets, and the more curio-like stuff is kept in the box.

Like many other contributors, I don’t see the point of mixing vinyl records and CDs in a boxset. This makes it uselessly pricey.

And, yes, I’d like to know if the tracks were remastered.

My very favourite track is “Hello (turn your radio on)”. Sadly, ALL THE MIXES available in the boxset:
1 Hello (Turn Your Radio On) (Album Version)
2 Hello (Turn Your Radio On) (7inch Version)
3 Hello (Turn Your Radio On) (Alternative Piano Mix)
were all ALREADY commercially available on this single record, a 1992 digipak: London Records ‎– locdp 330, London Records ‎– 869 923-2 [no, I’m not interested in “live” versions, thank you]
What’s going on? No other existing remix? No early mix? No demo? No instrumental? No nothing?
Were the original multitrack tapes destroyed in the Universal USA fire?
I cannot understand why there are not many more “previously unreleased” remixes from “Hormonally yours”…
It’s not the band’s fault, hence the question: are the multitrack tapes lost or what?

Last but not least, I hope that, this time, the DVD will feature a descent copy of “Hello”, without visible “interlacing”, respecting the original 4:3 ratio, in black & white, with the proper & clean “7inch version” as soundtrack and not the usual copied/pasted version with an audible audio gap at 3:33…

Always makes me laugh when they put things like… Over 13 videos….why not just say 14 videos or however many there are…

I hope this is just a visual project because I wonder why they cropped Siobahn’s face on the “sacred heart” cover ?

i really can’t for $200…no matter how much my mouth waters

Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope. I have waited years for remastered and expanded CD sets of Sacred Heart and Hormonally Yours. It’s finally here, but I would have to buy a bunch of useless stuff I don’t want and have no need for, all for the sake of inflating the price.

I will not be buying this. And I will not be buying some future 2CD set either, knowing that there’s a 3rd CD they could have included, but didn’t because they think they can squeeze more money out of me by making it exclusive to the big bloated box.

Happy to part with my money (and I have many many times for Shakespeare’s Sister releases in the past!), but I’m not doing it for this cynical cash grab. Do better.