Mainly Beatles related content (or Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr) but also plenty of other rock/pop content.
I was the first RU-vidr in the world to receive the John Lennon Plastic Ono Band 2021 box set for review, direct from Yoko and Sean, but I'm always free to speak my own mind in reviews!
Contact via Twitter/X @ADixonMusic , Facebook at Andrew Dixon Music or email andrew.dixon1971@ntlworld.com
@@jasonl1942 Yes I have them all, they were very easy to find with my disc ripping software: The following 5 songs appear as hidden tracks on both CD & Blu Ray: I'm The Greatest [Ultimate Mix] You Are Here [Out-Take Take 4] Mellotron Magic/Weird Slide Guitar Rock 'n' Roll People [Ultimate Mix] Meat City [Single Version] [Ultimate Mix] (The track listing that shows up via UV on the back of the box set suggests that Rock n Roll People [Ultimate Mix] and Meat City [Single Version] are CD only but this is not true. I ripped both of these from Blu Ray Disc 2). The following 2 songs are hidden tracks on Blu Ray Disc 2 only: I'm The Greatest [The Evolution Documentary] Matchbox / That's Alright Mama / Heartbreak Hotel / Jam
Congratulations on receiving this from the estate Andrew - well deserved and thanks for showing it as I've been dying to see what it looks like in the flesh(so to speak). What a beautiful piece. Glad you managed to get up from the floor😂
Thank you so much for another excellent video and for kindly taking the time to go through all of this Andrew. I’ll never be able to afford this box, but it’s been really enjoyable looking through all of it. It’s certainly a very cool and beautiful package. I’ve seen people complaining about the price, and while it is a lot of money, there’s an incredible amount of stuff included! The Lennon estate have been really generous with this release; it’s been great to see real fans like yourself, BeatleyTone and others who have not only (I presume) spent a lot of your own money on The Beatles plus the various solo releases over the years, but also your reviews have, I assume, resulted in a lot of sales, and it’s so nice to see them recognising that by sending the Mind Games boxes for you to review. It’s not like they’ve been sent to people who couldn’t care less, but people who appreciate the gesture. Also, the Uncut CD - this is essentially giving those of us who buy the 2CD version a 3rd disc of highlights from the big box! (I’d love the Deluxe Edition but I’m now disabled and unable to work (not complaining or looking for sympathy, just stating a fact) so I don’t think I’ll be able to afford it - however as you say, they’re kindly putting it on the streaming platforms and it’s also on preorder for £34.99 on Apple Music, which while you don’t get the lovely book etc is a very good option for those of us on a budget; again, they could have put this behind the paywall of buying the physical box, but instead they’re making this available to pretty much everyone - I think John would approve of that. Especially in a day when record companies are charging more and more for physical media, Yoko and Sean are to be applauded for how they’ve handled this reissue. Thank you again for sharing this and congratulations on having it sent to you - you must be absolutely thrilled! 😊
Why don‘t you compare the excisting ultimate mixed songs to the gimme some truth ultimate mixes anymore like you did with imagine and plastic ono band? We already have Mind Games, Out The Blue and I Know.
I have about 3500 CDs and have converted all of the standard jewel cases to CPP plastic "sleeves" as they're called in Canada/USA. No regrets. They are all displayed in three CD bookcases which are four feet high and three feet wide each, seven shelves high. I keep them in straight alphabetical order regardless of genre. I file compilation CD's separately. I recycle the jewel cases at the recycle depot. I don't convert the digipak cardboard sleeves either. I really like cardboard sleeves as they so often have great artwork. On the shelf, they give me all the visual alphabetical hints I need to find the CDs that are in sleeves. I buy used CDs almost exclusively because they are so inexpensive. The used jewel cases are very often horribly dirty or broken, but they did their job keeping the artwork and booklets in near new condition! For me converting the old CD into a new sleeve is a big upgrade both visually and for saving space. The sleeves are crystal clear and the artwork is much more visually appealing. I use smaller sleeves than you do: mine are 130mm square. I either fold the backing card to fit, or leave it sticking out unfolded to assist in finding it on the shelf. Per sellability after conversion: I have an eBay store where I sell the CDs that I don't wish to keep. This store more than pays for all the CDs I buy (usually at thrift stores / charity shops for a dollar or two). I sell the CDs in the sleeves without a jewel case as the mailing cost is 1/3 the price. I therefore can sell cheaper than most other sellers. I do give the buyer the choice to pay $2 more if they want a jewel case. Only one person has chosen this option in about 300 sales. Obviously jewel cases are easily replaced. What matters is the artwork, the booklet and the CD. I also rip all my CDs to lossless quality on my computer. I do this whilst I'm listening to the newly acquired CD. I have iTunes match which allows me to listen to all my music on any of my devices. This costs me $28 per year. I store all the music on an 8 TB hard drive. I also back up this hard drive to older smaller hard drives. Even with unlimited space I would use the sleeve method. Unless the jewel case is pristinely new they look so much better than jewel cases. in this case for me, less is more.
Hi Andrew and Congratulations on receiving this set. As always, you have provided a comprehensive, detailed overview of the item at hand. While you are certainly most grateful to the Lennon Estate, do I sense a bit of you being a little underwhelmed by this seemingly overwhelming cube. Yes, it’s artsy to be sure, but aside from the book and the musical media (and the flag), isn’t it all a bunch of paper and cardboard ephemera that will ultimately be re-boxed and sit on a shelf? I seem to sense that this is not something you would have bought yourself even if money were not an issue.
Hi thank you, not underwhelmed at all, just aware that this is something that's not going to be for everyone, so I'm really just not trying to project a "everyone needs to get this!" vibe as I don't think that would be appropriate for something so limited and expensive. It's fantastic for those that want this level of deep dive. 👍
Think you’re right about “Walls & Bridges” having an American vibe. There’s kind of a Soul inspiration on it, which I remember as something we Europeans heard as a very US kind of way to play Rock. Although The Stones and others had already been dabbling with it for some time...
All very nice, but where the hell are you going to store it and every time you want to get an LP out to listen to it it’s going to take about 20 minutes to get all the packaging out of the way!!
Hi Andrew just stumbled across this video and I really enjoyed it. You made a Very prophetic statement Andrew. "Don't think the Archive Collection will go beyond Flaming Pie" It appears that you are absolutely correct. RIP Archive Collection 😢.
I expect the passage of time and just that he has so many memories from that era it can't be easy to be on top of all the trivia and facts and figures.
You must be exhausted after this Unboxing! Personally I saw a lot of Cardboard and a lot of Paper. John didn’t think much of this LP back in the day and I agreed with him. Have a rest Andrew, you deserve it. 😂
You failed to mention that if you're changing a flat tire, one can use this to place under the vehicle to hold it up. Thank you, for taking the time to review it.
For this one I'm going to settle on the 2 CD set for this one because the price on Amazon for the 6 disc/2 Blu ray and Hardcover book is almost $300 with shipping and handling...and Baby I'm not a rich man and I do have the Gimme Some Truth box, Imagine Super Deluxe, and POB Super Deluxe but I think Mind Games I think is definitely a weaker album compared to those two
I see your REL woofer in the background, a lot of people would dismiss such a thing for a 2 channel system, I couldn't go without one now, adding that punch in the low end has improved my listening experience greatly. I will stay with my original CD thanks in part to my sub woofer and streaming.
Thanks for the unboxing, Andrew. I quickly realized that this is definitely not the version to buy if you are primarily interested in the music; too much effort in the unpacking/repacking. A hoarder's delight, however!
Very nice and accurate review. However, the difference between the 2 materials are not poly vs aluminum. Both are poly but the SHM has a special formula which makes its injection to the mold more precise. Hence a CD player can read it better
I really appreciate the tutorial, I was able to extract the audio of a live concert from my Sign O' the Times boxset. At the time of this writing, I wanted to do the same with the King Crimson 40th Anniversary DVDs and it puts all the audio tracks in one file. If you know of a solution I would be very grateful! For the time being I will use audacity to trim the tracks I am interested in.
I've pre-ordered this monstrosity, but to be frank I'm experiencing mixed feelings. I had also considered tilting the cube on its side to keep the vinyl lps vertical, but my question then is ---- is there anyway to change the plastic box art so John's face remains upright, and not on its side?
I love The Beatles. I love a lot of the music they recorded as solo artists. But...to spend that kind of money on the box set -or even buy the 2-album set- is crazy, imho. The only 2 songs I know on the album are 'Mind Games' and 'One Day At A Time'. To spend big money in the hopes that the rest of the songs will grow on me is over the top. In any case, congrats on your free deluxe box. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the showing. Pretty huge. Mine will arrive in around ten days. Can you give out the dimensions so I can carve out a storage space for it?
I would agree if there was music exclusive to this box, but as that's not the case, and the music is available via other options at an extremely small % of the cost, then it's a fair game of "Here's what's available if you want to go deeper" without anyone losing out on the music.
The songs and all the different variations of can be bought legitimately for not much more than £40 as a download. There are options at many price points depending how deep people want to go. Thankfully no one is being charged a large amount if they just want the music.
Thanks for doing such a thorough and well shot unboxing. Entirely too rich for my wallet, but the love and care that has been put into this set is all too evident. Despite having got the three previous Ultimate Collection Lennon sets, I was going to sit this one out as it is far from my favourite JL set. Between your vids & discussions elsewhere, I’m in for the 6CD/BR box now, got a feeling this release will win me over as the Wild Life & RRS Archive Deluxe sets did for those albums. Keep up the good work, it’s appreciated! 👍
Finally got round to watching this today & wanted to thank you for showing us the (mostly) fantastic contents of the huge super deluxe box. I normally quite enjoy the non-musical trinkets that these types of packages, and if I was still a single man, I would likely be willing to drop the coin on this set. However, given my current circumstance, I can't justify doing so ... but I'm glad to be able to see such a detailed presentation of the contents and definitely pleased that a true fan like yourself was able to acquire one. Thanks for sharing, Andrew.
Great review of what is really a piece of art. Nice to see inside but the 6cd set is quite enough of these tracks for me. I wonder if boxes like these are things you can invest in like paintings or gold bars and go up in price?
A very comprehensive unboxing - thanks for posting. It’s a bit more than the £2.99 I paid for the MFP release of Mind Games from Woolworth’s back in the day but that’s inflation for you. It didn’t come in its own plastic box back then but it did come in its own plastic bag and I even had a few pennies left for some pick ‘n mix 👍
$1350 for this? No thank you, A lot of goofy trivial stuff (black light pen & maps). It's about the music for me. I will wait it out before purchasing the deluxe boxset. Price usually drops 6 months after release.
I can't get over how much of this box set is somehow devoted to Yoko -- or Yoko's "art" -- when she reportedly had little or no involvement in the making of the Mind Games LP.
The Elemental mixes are designed to perhaps take two or three elements of the song (e.g.could be vocal, bass and keys) and create a new mix that really allows those parts to shine, for example the keys might have been a little buried in the mix so hadn't been appreciated properly before. The raw studio mixes are more like a full band version but sound as though you are in that control room with the band as it's being recorded. The mix won't have the final effects such as reverb and much other EQ applied to it, so it really sounds like you're there with the full band as they're playing.
Man I wish they’d stop designing CD box sets in a vinyl form factor. I get there’s a cool book but there’s no way 5 CDs should take this amount of space to store. My shelves ain’t that deep! The size of the Thin Lizzy Live & Dangerous box set or the Space Ritual box set is far more reasonable, still contains a chunky book, and twice as many discs.
