SDEtv
Steven Wilson / The Future Bites unboxing video – all formats
Steven Wilson‘s long awaited new album, The Future Bites, is released today. SDE takes a close look at the ‘limited edition deluxe box set’ version along with the other individual formats. Watch the video…
The Future Bites is out now.
Steven Wilson official store The Future Bites:
- Order the limited DELUXE BOX SET of The Future Bites
- Order the limited RED VINYL gatefold edition of The Future Bites
- Order the BLU-RAY edition of The Future Bites
- Order the CD edition of The Future Bites
- Order the cassette TAPE edition of The Future Bites
The Future Bites Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set
CD 1 – The Future Bites
- Unself
- Self
- King Ghost
- 12 Things I Forgot
- Eminent Sleaze
- Personal Shopper
- Man of the People
- Follower
- Count of Unease
CD 2 – The Future Bites – Instrumentals
CD 3 The Future Bites – Bonus Content
- Personal Shopper (Extended Remix)
- Unself (Long Version)
- Ha Bloody Ha
- Move Like A Fever
- King Ghost (Extended Remix)
- I Am Cliché
- Wave The White Flag
- Eminent Sleaze (Extended Remix)
- In Pieces
- Every Kingdom Falls
Disc 4: The Future Bites Blu-ray
Features the album in
- 96/24 Stereo LPCM
- DTS-Master Audio 5.1
- 96/24 5.1 LPCM
- Dolby Atmos
Instrumentals (in stereo)
Videos:
King Ghost
Eminent Sleaze
Personal Shopper
Hello I have bought the blu ray, but I have a compatibility issue reading it on my SONY BDPS 370. ( other bluray like Games Of thrones is OK) (BR can’t be read, not even access to start menu)
on PC playback is ok, but only 2.0 of course.
Does anybody is expereincing compatibility issues too?
Thanks
[…] The Future Bites is out now. Watch the SDEtv unboxing video. […]
Hi, does anybody know if any of the vinyl issues has a download voucher? I bought a limited edition (with litograph in black vinyl) from jpc.de and it didn’t have a voucher which I find quite annoying.
Also does anybody know if a Japanese editon of the CD album (with bonus tracks?) is planned?
None of them have downloads
Thank you for the info, Paul!
just received my deluxe box set today I’m missing this disc is left intentionally blank from the booklet. hopefully it’s just me. I have sent msg hopefully I will get replacement. anyone else had this issue. what does it have on it anyway.
Intentionally left out? :) You’re not missing much…
I wondered that at first but your unboxing video said otherwise. I know opening it devalued it but by not having it complete reduces it by another % I have become a personal shopper ;-) the customer service are sending replacement.
Yes, you should definitely get it replaced… but just don’t get your hopes up re content is all I will say :)
I just received the new edition of the excellent ‘Electronic Sound’ magazine. Focus this month is on Steven Wilson. Cover of the magazine replicates the concept of the album but best is the bonus red vinyl single that accompanies the magazine. It has 2 tracks; extended remixes of King Ghost and Eminent Sleaze. Not sure if that’s still available; maybe the magazine still is.
Hi this looks really interesting I,ve ordered this though delivery delayed through out of stock anyone have an idea when this will be rectified?
Hi, I’m in the same boat. I have messaged the seller who didn’t answer my question of whether the order would be guaranteed to be fulfilled but they didn’t say they expected delivery of stock within “the next couple of weeks”. I’ve heard on the grapevine that the majority of the 5000 copies sold out in pre-order but both retailers were able to secure a few extra copies which had also sold out by yesterday so they are awaiting these extra copies being shipped from the manufacturers warehouse.
A quick update. My copy arrived safely today. The two week actually wait took two days! Great stuff
I have to step in and challenge the notion that Amazon charge ‘ludicrously cheap’ prices for international shipping. I have recently given up ordering anything from Amazon because of their exorbitant shipping costs (UK to Canada). They now charge what seems to be a flat rate of 19.90 GBP for books (even a cheap paperback) and the same for a vinyl record. After shopping around I have found plenty of of other sellers who will ship the same items for considerably less.
if anything the overall style would be more in the “Song of I” from “To The Bone” style than Permanating. “Song of I” is my favorite song from To The Bone, well my favorite from SW in fact.
I’ve had two listens back to back of “The Future Bites” today, and what I can tell, even if this sounds like an obvious comment, is that this record requires several listens. And you should be attentive, as in my car I was a little “mey”, but in Atmos in my living room I was “WHOAAAA”.
Give it time, but give it for real, and I bet you’ll like it.
Paul- Could you possibly reach out and ask Steven or the record company if they can make a download available for those who purchased the box and want to hear the material on the cassette?
I haven’t had a working cassette player for many years.
I can’t imagine that didn’t occur to them. For whatever reason they’ve chosen not to…
The LED Box-set for this is fab, maintaining the creative concept flawlessly – love it. Also: if you want to make it a bit heavier – ! – you can put the 12″ singles for EMINENT SLEAZE and 12 THINGS I FORGOT in there and ensure you have the three excellent b-sides and the Tangerine Dream remix for KING GHOST. I’m really taken by the album – a very enjoyable listen. Well worth the wait after the seven month delay.
After seeing this video, I decided that I had to have this SDL box. It is brilliant in its concept. I do like the kick against obsolete media (especially the cassette) and consumerism. And after hearing this cd, I thought this had a more No-Man feel than this other work. And the extended versions are worth their money. Thank you once more for your hard work, Paul!
Is this the same Steven Wilson who accused McCartney of deeply cynical tactics re the number of versions and gimmicks for McIII ?
Yes, although Wilson has only three coloured vinyl for The Future Bites, whereas McCartney had NINE for his last album. Wilson hasn’t issued six editions of ‘The Future Bites’ on CD with one separate bonus track each on them, either. Finally, his box set costs £75, the ‘cheaper’ of Paul’s two deluxe editions for Flaming Pie was £220. So not seeing any hypocrisy, if I’m honest.
The vinyl and cd editions are fine.even the blu ray looks good.on the other hand the so called s.dlx.edition is awful. Nothing “high concept” but silly quotes.no protection for the actuall discs. it s just sad since i like the album a lot.but when you pay lot of money,you diserve better.
I liked a lot the 10“ sized books of Steven Wilson. They also done with more quality, than this more common and a bit cheap looking box set. Sadly he doesn’t continue this series of books.
Happily he continues with fascinating music.
Guys are we 1000% sure the instrumentals are included on the Blu-ray?
I’m 10,000% sure, that helps?
Thank you Sir! You are always a great help.
I really, really, really want the extra tracks exclusive to the box, but I can’t justify the shipping to the US. I wish there were at least a US storefront or something. SDE got me into Steven Wilson, and I’ve been catching up with his previous work, and I’m really excited about this album. International shipping has reached new levels of insanity, and I don’t understand the reason, other than people are buying more online right now because of the pandemic, and it’s a chance to scam as much money out of people as possible. It can’t seriously be costing this much more to ship things in terms of real cost. I bought one CD from Japan and the shipping was the same amount as the CD itself. I’m all for paying a fair price, but I don’t support getting gouged by DHL or UPS or FedEx or whomever else has their hands in the piggy bank.
I can assure you international shipping isn’t a ‘scam’ on the part of the sellers. If you want to ship heavy box sets around the world it actually costs a lot of money. The SDE shop charges £80 for a 5kg package to go to Hong Kong (Mansun box for example) and I’ve just looked at my Parcelforce invoice and they’ve charged us £98 for that shipping, due to recent increases. So we’ve lost money on a few of these. Great. So those who paid £80 got a ‘bargain’ (it’s now been increased to £100) even though everyone thinks it’s a rip-off!!
I know shipping prices to the US via Parcelforce has been pricey for many years.
Three or four years ago I was hunting down a copy of Kraftwerk’s Catalogue box having missed it when it was released. On Discogs I saw a copy in good shape in the UK, but estimating shipping found the seller couldn’t use Royal Mail because it was too heavy, and the estimate on Parcelforce was something like £73 to ship to the US. So £80 or even £98 or £100 doesn’t seem unreasonable in comparison considering recent changes.
BUT, I think we in the US have all been fooled by Amazon UK. They would ship a single item, including the much heavier 3-D Catalogue set, for £3.08. FYI, I did find a US seller who got the Catalogue box to me via US Media Mail for about $10.
I won’t accuse you or other vendors of scamming when you are using the services available to you and their prices are high. I do blame Amazon for letting customers expect cheap shipping and giving us an almost free ride – taking off VAT, not adding US state sales tax, and only charging £3.08 often made it cheaper for US buyers to get boxed sets from the UK than for UK residents to get them.
But I also blame the Trump Administration for forcing such big changes on Amazon, criticizing their deal with the US Postal Service, and threatening to leave the Universal Postal Union to level the playing field with China.
Amazon UK now adds US state sales taxes on both the item and shipping which is not normally taxed in the US, effectively replacing the VAT, and have increased shipping to the US to £13.44 for a single item. The net result has been an increase in shipping charges within the US and a massive change internationally across the board. As I have stated in a couple of posts, a £12 CD from Amazon UK to the US cost under £13 delivered a year ago; now it is almost £24. That is hard to swallow.
The fact that is is not a scam doesn’t make it any easier to come up with the extra cost now associated with shipping items around the world. For high flyers it may just be a wrinkle, but for others it will impact their ability to purchase physical music products. Because I have a preference for European versions of CDs and many boxed sets are produced in Europe, I can only echo CJ’s plea for artists to have a US store front to sell Limited Edition or heavier items so we won’t have to make decisions based on shipping. Of course, the items have to get to the US store front which may make this moot.
I know I’ll be more cautious with purchasing physical music in the future and I am sure others will be too. The days of whimsical purchases are over.
It’s true that Amazon’s ability to charge ludicrously low shipping prices has given people unrealistic expectations. I’ve said that many times. Hey, everyone likes cheap shipping, but there’s specific reasons why amazon can, or choose to, do that which don’t apply to 99.9 percent of most retailers.
I’ve always liked white vinyl as a coloured vinyl. It strange that as coloured vinyl comes in 2 types – opaque (i.e. not see through) and translucent (i.e. see through(ish)) white vinyl variants are always opaque. I have never seen a translucent white vinyl record (as opposed to red, blue, green, pink etc etc)
by no means suggesting this album/boxset is bad but I suspect I would enjoy a 19 min video about it more than a 19 min version of Personal Shopper.
A shame that the ‘exclusive’ clear vinyl tour edition from the original store that was supposed to be a clear vinyl LP plus black 7″ has been changed to black vinyl LP plus red 7″.
Whilst sh1t happens, it’s beyond crap that customers were not told about this and we’ve effectively been mis-sold to. Apparently – according to distributors – the excuse is due to ‘world wide production issues’. Tosh!
Whilst there are issues with record production at the moment with huge turnaround times, there is no reason why a clear version couldn’t have been produced.
It’s a first-world problem, for sure but it is just a clear disregard of any form of courtesy for the fans.
Yes i’m very annoyed too about the vinyl colour change of the Exclusive Tour Edition LP. It’s not as if they did’nt have enough time to do this or indicate to buyers. It’s not even stickered on the cover either. Why did’nt they number these.
Out of interest my Amazon Exclusive Cover version of the album had to be returned because the pressing was really bad with horrible marks all over the B side of the LP. The replacement was OK.
HMV are also doing a competition as of today (sunday) to win two test pressings if you purchase TFB now. Very annoying if you ordered the album from HMV months ago on preorder.
You say clear + black 7 but actually my original order promises: 1 x Exclusive UK Tour Vinyl Edition (Double Vinyl LP)
So hey Wilson, where’s my second LP?
Pretty annoyed about this one – selling people on a special package and then sending them the most common edition (yes, and a single track 7 inch) is shoddy. Not even warning them and giving them an option not to bother to to order something better… that’s pure contempt.
I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t get the boxes for Raven and Hand.Cannot.Erase as they are two of my favorite albums of all time…just discovered them too late (would be fine with just hearing all the extra audio, but wouldn’t mind the boxes themselves…obviously). I’m now hoping, due to a very tight year (as with most of us), that I get my tax return in time to pick this up before it sells out.
I must admit the main reason I want THIS box set is just to see the surprises he has inside for us.
Have to ask this: Who is Steve Wilson?
I’m an American and had never heard of the guy until I started coming to this website. Is he some Brit/Euro artist? I see a lot of those on here that I’ve never heard of, but this guy is always coming up as having done remixes for other artists, and now he has his own stuff? Who is he? Was in a member of a band I might have heard of? Might I have heard something somewhere and just not known his name? What’s the big deal with this guy?
Would appreciate any responses.
This took me 3 secs > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Wilson
Another 3 seconds of my life I’ll never get back
https://www.youtube.com/user/StevenWilsonHQ
“Lots of minimalism”? You seem to be following the concept, Paul! Another classic unboxing, keep ’em coming.
FYI: There is also a vinyl record with a variant cover exclusive to amazon DE.
https://amzn.to/2MEU8yk
#4908 just arrived in Canada!!!
Wish I’d known the value would drop so much just by opening the box. :(
Update: The boxset is considerably cheaper shipping-wise from Burning Shed.
Great unboxing Paul, as usual.
SUB-TOTAL: $95.99
ESTIMATED POSTAGE:$116.00
(DHL EXPRESS TO CANADA)
TOTAL:$211.99
Seriously??!! Really wanted this, but oh well.
@Bridge:
Does the DHL charges include customs and other fees? I bought a box set from the UK but was shopped from Italy. DHL held it until I payed the additional stuff. After the DHL addons, it barely was cheaper than locally.
Have to say that for a box filled with “tat” on top of the musical content, it was for once something that I didn’t begrudge paying for as the laugh I had when I got the lid off was enough to make my week! Highly entertaining piece of self-ironic “high concept” packaging and the music is great … so one satisfied consumer even if I don’t want to spoil my sticker sheet to let everyone know that ;) Also quite pleased to get number 36 out of 5000 …
Hoping that I audio of the 1 of 1 7″ if that reader of yours shares it :)
Got the cd from my indépendant records store in Nice France . Waiting for the red vinyl from Burning shed . .waiting for the silver 5 pounds David Bowie coin from Royal Mint …waiting for the live and well Bowie Brilliant Live Adventures CD édition… My life is all waiting for music goodies . By the way the Future Bites is excellent lot of great tracks Follower Personnal Shopper ….among others.
Thank you Paul for the precious informations on your site.
The concept for “The Future Bites” reminds me of Public Image Ltd.’s 1986 album, which was also designed to look starkly generic: vinyl record entitled “Album,” CD entitled “Compact Disc,” and cassette entitled “Cassette.” So of course as a completist, I had to collect all formats.
Likewise, I’m a SW fan, and all the formats for “TFB” shown in the SDE video look very desirable. But, I must heed Mr. Wilson’s message (as cheeky as it may be), and be more conscious and questioning of my own consumerism. Thus, I will fight temptation, and try to convince myself to be satisfied with buying just the Blu-ray edition :-(
I agree. I have been getting into Steve’s work in recent years and put the Super Deluxe on my list to get when it was announced but now that shipping to the US is $56, it has pushed it outside of my comfort zone. I can catch up on most if not all of his previous albums I want for the amount that this set would cost.
Shipping costs and import fees are going to be a big disincentive for importing big boxed sets in the post-COVID/Brexit/new UPU Rules world from the UK. Without any direct availability outside of the UK or TM stores (who don’t even remove the VAT), such boxed sets are going to be difficult to justify unless from my most favorite artists. Amazon UK truly spoiled us. It’s going to take a long time to be comfortable with paying such costs on top of the items themselves.
I’ll get the Blu-ray and hope he releases a 1x or 2 x CD + blu-ray in the future collecting all the material together in a smaller, more cost-effective package for those who missed it or who just couldn’t afford it under the new rules.
Derek, as a fellow US resident, I don’t believe that the high shipping cost has anything to do with Brexit. Shipping cost went up after Covid because there are fewer flights and demand went wayyy up. As far as I know there are no additional tariffs or import fees because of Brexit (to the US).
Amazon has the ability to take VAT out when we order from Europe but that is only because they have the resources to do so. It’s probably too complicated for the smaller guy to take VAT out. Not only do they need to take the VAT out, they will have to show the local government the goods went outside the EU, etc. Of course there are large retailers who do have the resources tovtake out VAT but refuse. I avoid those unless their offer is so good, even with VAT it is cheaper.
I don’t think that for US residents anything changes after Brexit. Once Covid is over, shipping fees will lower eventually.
Kauwgompie, I conflated my general statement about the cost increases associated with international shipping with my specific comments about importing to the US, sorry. I agree Brexit has not affected shipping costs to the US but Amazon’s acquiescence to the pressure to charge US state sales taxes and the UPU’s acquiescence to US threats to leave the UPU, I think have caused most of the increases in postage from UK and the rest of Europe to the US. It even seems like internal postage has increases – cost over $70 to ship some homemade cookies and a few lightweight gifts across country via USPS 2-day delivery (and it took took over a week though I give the USPS a break because of COVID).
I do object to Amazon UK charges state sales tax on shipping which is not done in the US.
I truly hope shipping fees moderate after COVID subsides though I won’t hold my breath and will be shopping more carefully. Cheers!
@Michael:
The PIL comparison is certainly well earned but i also felt reminded of the first edition of Spiritualized’s “Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space” that was offered like a pack of tablet medication with Health Risks Notes and the cd sealed inside a tablet tray.
Don’t forget “Single” and “12” Single”!
Steven Wilson has been in touch to say advise that the non polylined sleeve was an error at the factory and this will be corrected for future pressings. He also pointed out that the album is 42 mins, not 38!
Paul, I need to thank/blame you for my purchasing of this box set. Your coverage of To The Bone launch and all those 5.1 mixes has lead this cynic to being a total convert.
Was the completely boring concept and packaging an error at the factory too?
Erm…
The great mystery:
Is the CD in the back of the book actually blank?
I’m not going to spoil that
“One star off due to death of wife”….LOL!!! Thanks for the very informative video.
My box is scheduled to arrive Monday. Copying the disc lay-out from the Pink Floyd boxes was a mistake. Amazon shipped me a total of 3 Dark Side Of The Moon boxes because the discs got loose during shipping and were scratched up. After the 3rd box I gave up and assembled a box with the least scratched discs from all 3 boxes and donated the other two to a charity shop. Hopefully The Future Bites won’t be as bad.
I love the satire, very creative and clever but would like to know how limited this box really is. Why not announce a number like Shakespears Sister did and why not number it? I can’t wait to listen to the album. The songs so far released are absolutely brilliant. Best thing he’s ever done.
As mentioned on these comments the boxes are numbered and appear to be limited to 5000
One little detail that people might want to know that wasn’t shown in the video – the box set is numbered (on the back of the box) and the edition size is 5000.
Yes, sorry… I realised afterwards that I’d forgotten to mention that. Thanks Andrew.
I got mine and saw it was numbered 5000/5000. Thought that it was part of the joke and that the were all individually numbered that way?
No, it seems you have the last in the numbering sequence. Mine is 0665.
Then the joke is on me. Maybe I shouldn’t have ripped the packaging open so quickly!
Great job btw Paul.
How is the music? Pop or Proggy, or some of both???
It’s definitely not proggy. Electronic pop/rock.
I just listened to it for the first time. If you’re familiar with Steven Wilsons work so far, it is definitely more No-Man than Porcupine Tree.
If unfamiliar think pop music of the 70s and 80s or more in the vein of the much discussed “To The Bone”-track “Permanating”.
This will probably lead to discussions among his fans. I won’t offer an opinion after just one spin but i definitely like his approach that you never can be quite sure what you’re gonna get when he records new material.
Hi Paul,
I really enjoy your unboxing videos, even if they are for artists I do not listen to.
This one, however, has made me download the album to give it a listen! I think the deluxe box set is really tongue-in-cheek and made me want to listen to the artist who has such a dry sense of humour!
Though I am more of a silent spectator, your website has given me hours of pleasure over the course of the bad year (and before), so thank you so much!
Thanks for the kind words!
Hi, if I preordered and paid a signed cd in december from UK but it is being shipped in April, will I have to pay taxes?
Yes, is the unfortunate answer.
This is the last time I ordered something music related in the UK, with a value higher than 22 euro.
Really incredible, ffing Brexit, thanks but no thanks Boris
Same here in Belgium. I ordered the Deluxe boxset in march 2020 at Townsend Music and now, due to Brexit, I have to Pay 45 euro extra taxes to the UK. Unbelievable ! Why have you delayed the Release, Steven ?
I was offered the opportunity to order a limited edition tour vinyl when i purchased tickets for the Amsterdam show in the original TFB tour. I decided to order this. When the show was cancelled i was reimbursed for the tickets, but not for the vinyl. I have yet to receive information on what is going to happen with this order. Ticketmaster who sold me the tickets and vinyl can not answer my query. I can’t find any info online. I haven’t ordered TFB because of this. It’s leaving me a bit annoyed. Let’s wait and see if something will arrive and what it will entail.
Yes you will get the Black Vinyl and a single sided white 7″ of Hey Sleeper
I received mine in the UK this morning, but was expecting a clear vinyl LP and black 7″ with bonus audio. What I received was a standard black vinyl and a white 7″ with only one track on it, Hey Sleeper. I guess this is part of the joke!
I thought it will be a silver vinyl:
Details:
Silber 12” Album Vinyl mit regulärem Tracklisting
Schwarze Standard 7’’ Vinyl inklusive Bonus Audio Inhalten
Alternative Hülle / Verpackung
Same here. Nevertheless I ordered the vinyl just so my SW vinyl collection is complete. Will not hold my breath for any refund or delayed delivery by Ticketmaster.
My order (Deluxe Box, red vinyl, cassette) from the offical SW shop is still on it’s way (I’m in Germany) nd will not arrive befor the 3rd of february ….. and I’ll probably have to pay taxes, too.
There’s another edition, though (which arrived today), the “German Tour Edition”, which is a black vinyl LP in slipcase with a red 7″ bonus single that has SW Demo “Hey Sleeper”, recorded in 2006, on it.
Well I’m being asked 38€ of import taxes by ups.. For a 80€ item.. That’s nearly 50% taxes. I am clearly considering leaving the parcel to ups.
VAT in France is 20%, so if you paid €80 then that should be €16 import VAT plus whatever extra charges they decide to add on top.
“The package is delayed due to a BREXIT related disruption.” Almost cancelled this for various reasons and I would be miffed to have to pay extra duty for something ordered a year ago !
Steven Wilson fans should be aware there’s a red vinyl 7″ with two exclusive extended remixes [King Ghost / Eminent Sleaze] as well as a big cover feature in the January edition of Electronic Sound magazine. You only get the 7″ if you buy from the mag’s own website though.
@The Badger
I think Burning Shed has the magazine/7″ combo as well – if still available.
It’s sold out there, but I just ordered a copy at Burning Shed, which has this, too!
Edits, not extended remixes. And it’s sold out already!
https://www.normanrecords.com/records/185483-electronic-sound-issue-73-vinyl-bundle
In stock. Possibly…
Both tracks on the Electronic Sound 7″are extended remixes clocking in at 6 mins long each.
<>
To clarify this, they are both edits and remixes at the same time! Steven created special edits of the extended versions on the bonus CD in the box set for these seven-inch single. Pretty cool.
Just arrived from recordstore.
Very visible and audible pressing fault on track 2 Self.
Signature nothing like the photo, more a lazy squiggle.
Music’s good though as I’ve come to expect
The ‘Steve Diggle’ ??
Nice boxset but someone I know paid an extra 34€ for customs. Thanks Brexit. Can`t they deliver it for Europe from in the EU?
I Also paid 34 euros. I Will never try to Shop in UK. Sorry Burning Shed…
@Fsn
Was debating about ordering the book/7″ combo from burning shed but if the VAT is removed, shipping costs more than the item! [From where I live.]
For me, the amount of duties and/or taxes was €39,39. Brexit really sucks!
_Almost_ all formats?
Which format is missing?
My guess is the £10,000 edition.
Ha! yes, good point.
Any news about the announced unboxing, needle drop and owner interview about that edition?
The interview with him will be posted next week on SDE.