The Who - My Generation Japanese CD box set *

Where?

 

One of the local used music stores. I had never seen the box before so had no idea what it was until I got it home. Glad I bought it anyway! The packaging is amazing!!

 

Am I reading this correctly, that the single discs are being reissued in October?

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/list_from_code_banner.html?key=27999

 

Going by the Japanese descriptions, My Generation is a reissue of the Japanese mono CD mastering from 2008, and A Quick One and The Who Sell Out are copies of the 1995 versions with the remixes.

 

I would love to see Universal finally reissue A Quick One as a standard 2CD Deluxe Edition.

 

I would love to see the stereo mix released complete, on one release, without the need to pull from several different sources and/or re-EQ.

 

A Quick One says "Featuers 2002 remixed master (U.K. Polydor)."

I'm a bit lost with all these different versions. The only unique release here is the MG mono cd which is unique to Japan? It's different to the UK DE?

 

You're right, sorry, they do say 2002. The 2002 version has the same track list as the 1995 but remixes much of the album.

Yes, the My Generation disc will have the track list shown for Disc One in this post.

This would have been an opportunity to reissue one of the discs from the Japanese deluxe edition for A Quick One at a more affordable price, but they've passed it by.

 

For the record:

Run Run Run - 2002 stereo remix
Boris The Spider - 2002 stereo remix
I Need You - 2002 stereo remix
Whiskey Man - original stereo mix
Heat Wave - 2002 stereo remix
Cobwebs & Strange - 2002 stereo remix
Don't Look Away - original stereo mix
See My Way - fake stereo
So Sad About Us - 2002 stereo remix
A Quick One While He's Away - original stereo mix
Batman - 1995 stereo remix
Bucket T - 2002 stereo remix
Barbara Ann - 2002 stereo remix
Disguises - original stereo mix
Doctor, Doctor - I don't recall; either mono or fake stereo
I've Been Away - original stereo mix
In The City - 1995 stereo remix
Happy Jack (acoustic) - mono
Man With Money - 1995 stereo remix (plus studio chatter)
My Generation/Land of Hope and Glory - 1995 stereo remix

Aesthetics of the remixes aside, this disc has some of Astley's worst mastering. *Very* loud, and very intrusive NR on fades. My recollection is the EQ is pretty harsh as well.

At the risk of turning this into an AQO thread (not that *I* would mind), here's the version of the album I put together for myself. All original stereo mixes unless otherwise noted:

Run Run Run
Boris The Spider
I Need You
Whiskey Man
Heat Wave
Cobwebs & Strange
Don't Look Away
See My Way (mono)
So Sad About Us
A Quick One While He's Away
Run Run Run (mono)
Substitute (mono)
Circles (mono)
I'm A Boy
In The City
Disguises
Batman (1995 stereo remix)
Bucket T (2002 stereo remix)
Barbara Ann
Happy Jack (mono)
I've Been Away
Man With Money (1995 stereo remix)
My Generation/Land of Hope And Glory (1995 stereo remix)
Substitute (US 45 mix) (mono)
Batman (instrumental) (mono)
Happy Jack (acoustic) (mono)
I'm A Boy (alternate)

Unfortunately, that came from at least 6 different CDs, and most tracks needed to be re-EQ'd.

 

This was pretty strange, since the 2002 remaster seems to have been a response to complaints about the fake stereo (and the mono) on the 1995 mastering.

 

Only Whiskey Man was fake stereo on the '95 disc...the amount of mono was the main concern, I believe. I think it was a "true stereo can't be found so it seemed like a good idea at the time" decision. Note the fake stereo for See My Way is also on the Japanese box, although in that case there's at least the mono on the other disc.

 

Very late to this party. Agreed with many other listeners - that Circles above is a real gem, a Who mini-revelation. On the other hand, I had not listened to the original album version in a long time, and doing so now, that brass does sound really sad, so this alt mix version is a real find! And those mono mixes above, a real joy to hear. To my ears DRS and Leaving Here chief among them, but to me they all sound really good.