The Who - My Generation Japanese CD box set *

A friend just sent me this. Upcoming late June reissue of the mono My Generation in a box with lots of extra sleeves. At nearly $100, US, this looks like a purely collectors issue. Anybody know anything else? Ox, you out there?

The Who / My Generation Box [Cardboard Sleeve] [SHM-CD] [Limited Release] Release Date: 25-Jun-2008 - Deluxe edition cardboard sleeve box set for The Who's debut album "My Generation Set features two high quality SHM-CDs (compatible with standard CD players) with the first ever release worldwide of the original UK mono recordings of the album plus B-sides, outtakes, demos, and more. All tracks feature re-mastering from Jon Astley. Box set features cardboard sleeve replicas of all seven different designs for the original album artwork (Japan, Europe, and more), plus cardboard sleeve replica covers for all singles and EP's related to "My Generation" in the various designs released worldwide (nearly 20 different sleeves). Box also features explanations, lyrics, Japanese translations, and serial number for the collectors out there.
*Note: complete recordings are housed on two SHM-CDs, with box housing various alternate cardboard sleeve covers." Pre-Order Link. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=UICY-93533

 

More information here (in Japanese). I'll work on a translation when I have some free time if no one wants to have a go.

 

One thing I'll say now -- it looks like there's going to be a single-disc release of the mono album, along with seven mono and four stereo bonus tracks, priced at only 2000 yen. That should be a lot more affordable.

Ta for now.

 

That is not welcome news.

 

what does SHM cd mean?

i was hoping it meant Steve Hoffman Mastered

 

It says on the Japanese language site "Super High Material" CD.

???

 

"Super High Material CD." Regular redbook CD, allegedly higher-quality manufacture.

 

thank you, so its a regular cd in other words....'super high material"...i love that...

so, curious, how many releases has this one album had? I've got four, the SACD, The "stereo" deluxe nightmare dealio cd, the old mca cd and the japanese mini sleeve release from last year?

 

Okay, I took a crack at the Japanese. Everything below this paragraph is Universal Japan, not me. Note that track lists are tentative, and some of the good stuff, e.g. the "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere" French EP mix in mono, is only slated for the two-disc set.

——————————————————————————————————————

World's First CD Issue of The Who's Debut Album, Also in Box Set on SHM-CD with Cardboard Sleeves

There have been ongoing Who reissues in recent years, and now fans will see another release! Following on the Deluxe Edition, and the reissue in its Japanese version with the "Girl's Sleeve," their debut album My Generation is being released for the world's first time on CD in its original UK mono version.

The remastering was done under the sole supervision of Jon Astley, working from the best analogue masters in the band's possession. This marks the first CD appearance of the mono version of "I'm a Man," and of course the unedited mono version of "The Kids Are Alright" is also included. Contemporary singles and studio outtakes, including "Daddy Rolling Stone" in its first mono CD issue, have been added as bonus tracks. The CD (UICY-6988; 1,980 yen) is scheduled for release in Japan on 25 June.

The same day sees the scheduled release of a Japan-only box set, the My Generation Box (UICY-93533/4; 10,000 yen). Besides the mono mix, it also contains the stereo mix of My Generation, along with related singles and outtakes, on two audiophile-quality SHM-CDs. These discs too are mastered by Jon Astley.

The box set will include seven cardboard sleeves reproducing unique cover art from Japan and various European countries at the time of the album's first release. About 20 contemporary single and EP sleeves from many nations will also be reproduced on paper sleeves, sized proportionately to the replica LP covers. The box is a serial-numbered limited edition. This set will go down in history as a masterpiece of compilation, and you should definitely get it if you love the Who!

My Generation, original UK mono version (UICY-6988; 1,980 yen)

01. Out in the Street (mono)
02. I Don't Mind (mono)
03. The Good's Gone (mono)
04. La-La-La-Lies (mono)
05. Much Too Much (mono)
06. My Generation (mono)
07. The Kids Are Alright (mono)
08. Please Please Please (mono)
09. It's Not True (mono)
10. I'm a Man (mono)
11. A Legal Matter (mono)
12. The Ox (mono)

[Bonus tracks]

13. Circles (mono)
14. I Can't Explain (mono)
15. Bald Headed Woman (mono)
16. Anyway Anyhow Anywhere (mono)
17. Daddy Rolling Stone (mono)
18. Anytime You Want Me (mono)
19. Shout and Shimmy (mono)
20. Leaving Here (stereo)
21. Lubie (Come Back Home) (stereo)
22. Heat Wave (stereo)
23. Motoring (stereo)

My Generation Box (UICY-93533/4; 10,000 yen)

Disk 1:

01. Out in the Street (mono)
02. I Don't Mind (mono)
03. The Good's Gone (mono)
04. La-La-La-Lies (mono)
05. Much Too Much (mono)
06. My Generation (mono)
07. The Kids Are Alright (mono)
08. Please Please Please (mono)
09. It's Not True (mono)
10. I'm a Man (mono)
11. A Legal Matter (mono)
12. The Ox (mono)
13. Circles (mono)
14. I Can't Explain (mono)
15. Bald Headed Woman (mono)
16. Anyway Anyhow Anywhere (mono)
17. Daddy Rolling Stone (mono)
18. Anytime You Want Me (mono)
19. Shout and Shimmy (mono)
20. Anyway Anyhow Anywhere (alternate version, mono)
21. Leaving Here (stereo)
22. Lubie (Come Back Home) (stereo)
23. Heat Wave (stereo)
24. Motoring (stereo)
25. I'm a Man (stereo)
26. Daddy Rolling Stone (stereo)

Disk 2 (all stereo):

01. Out in the Street
02. I Don't Mind (full-length version)
03. The Good's Gone (full-length version)
04. La-La-La-Lies
05. Much Too Much
06. My Generation
07. The Kids Are Alright
08. Please Please Please
09. It's Not True
10. I'm a Man
11. A Legal Matter
12. The Ox
13. Circles
14. I Can't Explain
15. Bald Headed Woman
16. Anyway Anyhow Anywhere (alternate version)
17. Daddy Rolling Stone
18. Anytime You Want Me
19. Shout and Shimmy
20. Leaving Here (alternate version)
21. Lubie (Come Back Home)
22. Heat Wave
23. Motoring
24. Instant Party Mixture

(Song selection may be subject to modification.)

 

There were two versions of the old MCA CD with the same catalogue number. The first was fake stereo, the second was mono.

 

This is really quite major news. Hasn't recent Astley mastering work been OK? Thought I read that somewhere here.

 

10,000 yen converts to $96 u.s.... ...add shipping and wow....approx $60 a disc....hopefully this'll be deeply discounted somewhere...

 

Puts the Deluxe-Edition to shame(not trackwise but editionwise,mono/stereo,inserts,etc)!

I have just placed an order!

Amount came to USD$ 105 including express mail to Germany,so the whole package will cost me about EUR 65.-at the current exchange rate!
Quite good I think!

 

So what do we have here? I don't see anything previously unreleased, but there are three mono mixes new to legitimate CD: "I'm a Man," "Daddy Rolling Stone," and (if you shell out for the box) the French EP version of "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere." "Bald Headed Woman" in mono is nice too, since Two's Missing is really hard to find. And of course it's great to have the original album with its original track order on a single piece of plastic. Despite what CDJapan claims I don't see anything listed resembling a demo.

On the box set, a half-dozen songs turn up in stereo twice. Assuming that's not just an error, it looks like we're getting both the original 1960s stereo mixes from Who's Missing and Two's Missing and the modern stereo remixes from the Deluxe Edition. All the other "full-length" and "alternate" versions are probably coming straight from the Deluxe Edition mixes. I'd much rather have more of Shel Talmy's unreleased mixes from back in 1965 and 1966 — maybe the entire My Generation album in 1960s stereo, if such a thing exists.

If you decide just to go for the budget single-disc mono My Generation, you can spend a few more minutes online while you're at it and pick up the Deluxe Edition, Who's, and Two's. All four of those, even with the rarity of Two's, will set you back less than 10,000 yen. The extra value in the box set consists of one rare mono EP mix, some remastering that's probably a step down from the 1980s discs, and a ton of extremely beautiful packaging. I already have the mono French "Anyway" from, um, an alternate source, and the math doesn't look that attractive to me. But weigh the options for yourself.

 

Thanks, Matthew, you're a good man for translating that for us!

 

The "My Generation" album wasn't mixed for stereo in the 1960's, for reasons that become obvious when you hear the recent remix. Even given the fact that certain overdubs were not present on the 3-track tapes, Talmy could have done a better remix. He seems to dislike stereo, so we get almost everything in mono, but with the guitar on the left(and often mixed down too low). Two of Talmy's remixes("Bald Headed Woman" & "Circles") are still in mono. Did Talmy ever think of inviting the members of the group to re-perform the missing overdubs(at least the missing instrumental parts),since John Entwistle was still alive at that point.

It may be just as well that there are no stereo mixes of the 2nd & 3rd Kinks albums, because undoubtedly those productions involved similar live-during-mixdown overdubs on the mono versions, overdubs that would be missing in a stereo remix.

 

Very cool. I've been waiting for "I'm a Man" to show up legitimately on CD in mono for quite some time.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this showed up worldwide eventually. I have a hard time imagining Astley prepared a remastered mono album strictly for this one limited-edition Japanese release. Unless it was something they had prepared awhile ago, before the stereo deluxe edition came out, and have just been sitting on ever since. Who knows...

 

Luke Pacholski has done a lot of work on this and back-and-forth with Talmy (who is sticking to his story) and I think he's pretty much proved his case that Talmy is missing some of the tapes and that's why instruments and some vocals were missing from his remix. I think we can lay the "live to the mono mix" theory to rest. Anybody have any contact with Glyn Johns (the engineer on those sessions) to quiz him?

Also, as the host of this board would tell you, please don't make the mistake of shelling out top dollar for the Two's Missing CD. It sounds like crap. If you're getting it, get the vinyl. It's usually cheaper anyway.

Oh, and I'll be skipping this boxset as well, unless it's released in the U.S. at a much reduced price.

 

The songs on the Missing compilations came from old Talmy mixes that MCA had lying around, and those are in much wider stereo than what he did for the Deluxe Edition. (His stereo mixes on the Kinks debut are also quite wide.) I'd be very surprised if those originally unreleased Who songs were the only ones he ever mixed for stereo back then. There may well be cases where a full stereo mix was never possible, but as Brian has said, the "live overdub" story is dubious.

In the case of those albums, yes. Most of that stuff was recorded to one-track!

 

I will probably end up buying this, even though it says "Astley" on it

 

I have a quick question; "that song "Anytime you want me" is so good it's drving me crazy!
Where was it originally released? Single? B-side? Or is it an outtake that stayed in the vault until My Generation Deluxe came out?

 

Anytime You Want Me was the B-side of the Who's second US single, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere (Daddy Rolling Stone was the UK B-side). The US single was released in June 1965. I distinctly remember the date because I had just received my driver's license and, after reading about it in the NME, drove all the way to the Decca distributor in the alien country of Cleveland's West Side to pick up a copy, since no record store near my house on the East Side saw fit to stock it. Got plenty of extremely hilarious responses from those record stores' clueless clerks when I asked for it ("Who? By Who?"- funny, funny stuff.)

 

'Anytime You Want Me' was only released in the US, too. It didn't show up here til 'Who's Missing' (which itself was originally a US-only album in the mid '80s) got a UK release in the late '80s.
I agree it's great, it was one of the highlights of the album for me.

 

Thanks guys!

 

I just found this explanation on a Japanese site of what that term SHM CD means, FWIW:

The high quality SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) format features enhanced audio quality through the use of a special polycarbonate plastic. Using a process developed by JVC and Universal Music Japan discovered through the joint companies' research into LCD display manufacturing, SHM-CDs feature improved transparency on the data side of the disc, allowing for more accurate reading of CD data by the CD player laser head. SHM-CD format CDs are fully compatible with standard CD players. This release is also part of the 200-album SHM-CD Series Campaign from Universal Music Japan.