Johnny Hiland Band

The Pink Floyd Discovery Box Set contains all 14 of the band’s studio LPs from their 1967 debut through their 1970s masterworks Meddle, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and Animals through their final album 1994’s The Division Bell.

All of these CDs have been digitally remastered by James Guthrie who was a co-producer on 1979’s The Wall.  

Anyone who has heard the significant gains in the quality of sound from the old Beatles discs to the new remastered CDs contained in The Beatles in Stereo Box Set knows that this digital remastering can be much more than just a marketing gimmick. A good remastered CD can allow you to listen to the music like never before.

Along with the CDs themselves, the Discovery Box Set contains a 60 page artwork booklet by the band’s long time art collaborator Storm Thorgerson and each disc comes with a a little booklet which features all of the lyrics lyrics for that album.

In addition to the 16 disc studio album box set (two of the 14 albums are double albums for a total of 16 discs) Pink Floyd is also releasing three “Immersion” multi CD box sets for their three biggest selling LPs.

The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall are singled out with these “Immersion” box sets which are probably the most exciting thing for serious Pink Floyd fans since they include previously unreleased alternate mixes, alternate recordings, and live recordings.

The Dark Side of the Moon Immersion 6 Disc Box Set seems especially interesting to me and not only because it is my favorite Pink Floyd album but because it has the most interesting sounding bonus discs. Disc 2 has a complete performance of the album performed live in London in 1974! Disc 3 is an audio DVD which contains surround sound mixes (5.1 & the Alan Parsons 1970s quad mix!), Disc 4 is a video disc which has concert screen films, live performances, and a 25 minute documentary about the recording of the album, Disc 5 is the material on DVD discs 3 and 4 on a bluray disc, and finally Disc 6 is a CD with additional unreleased demos, alternate takes, and live performances.

These Immersion box sets also contain some fun extra stuff like artwork booklets, ticket replicas, exclusive photo books, coasters, and scarves.

Now that I have been listening to The Beatles In Stereo Box Set for almost a full seven days I think it’s time to do a review of the set as a whole. Now I have heard everything at least once (although some albums I’ve heard multiple times and others just once) and I have no reservations in saying that these remastered CDs are far superior to the old CDs most of us Beatles fans owned previously.

It’s fantastic how much clearer these new CDs sound when comapred to the old CDs. I hear lots of details in these songs that I have never heard before! It’s really like rediscovering The Beatles timeless music all over again as I go through each of the 14 albums in The Beatles Stereo Box Set.

There’s already been a lot of debate among fans of The Beatles over what sounds better; The the mono or the stereo? This debate is raging because along with this stereo box set The Remastered Beatles In Mono CD Box Set was also released this month.

I think the stereo CDs sound much better for the later albums because they allow for greater clarity which is essential considering how much is going on in most of the later mixes. But with the earlier albums it’s a bit of a closer call. I still like the clarity of the stereo mixes even with the earlier albums, but it is true that the really wide panning can be a bit distracting so I think there’s a good case for the more “powerful” sounding mono mixes too!

In short, I’m very glad that I bought both box sets and I really think they are both essential for serious Beatles fans. After all the mono mixes were how the albums were originally intended to be heard so they have great historical value, but the stereo mixes sound really really good, so you have to have those too.

Obviously the main reason I love this box set is how great The Beatles music sounds in remastered stereo but I also should give a “shout out” to the really great packaging. An informative booklet with many pictures and notes on the historical context of the album and the recording process for that album is included with each CD.