Do you mean this one?
And with George holding the original mono album master tape....
Last edited by luckyluckyme; 11-04-2017 at 12:16 AM.
Is that the Holland-Dozier-Holland EXPANDED EDITION or one of the Japanese cardboard sleeve editions?
In the comment section, it is identified as a mock-up.
got my cd and its cracked.....damn......I was so excited to see it here today but I cant listen to it
Ok I have folded and ordered on line, from import CD it was only $19 + $7 shipping which is still cheaper than Amazon UK and they are now saying between one to two months for shipping I hope mine arrives in time for Christmas if not ive got 3 other versions to listen too !!
I got it in the mail today, and mercifully I didn't end up cracking either disc getting them out of the package. First thing I wanted to listen to was the two duets. brilliant! beautifully done! Gonna listen to the 2017 mixes tomorrow on my way to work. Can't wait to hear 'em!
Rec’d my copy yesterday. Thanks to the heads up, I was very careful about removing the discs from the tray and happily managed not to crack them. They were on there pretty tight.
Real Gone has done real great on this set, packaging, photos, annotation, and sound quality all home runs. And you get every known Supremes’ Christmas recording in existence!
Having listened to all three versions of the album on this collection, I find myself going back to the mono version. It was the version I grew up with and “Merry Christmas” was one of the last Supremes albums I replaced with the stereo version. I didn’t like the stereo version as much but eventually got used of it.
Perhaps I’ll appreciate the 2017 mix more after a few listens. Right now I find too many of the alternate takes inferior. The vocal on the alternate “Children’s Christmas Song” is so less charming IMO. The loud and pounding “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” is so much less so on the alternate. The vocal intro and abrupt ending on the alternate “My Favorite Things” take away from what was already a near perfect recording. I did like some of the new mixes, especially “Silver Bells” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Me”. And I love the duets that never were!
And I really love that this is a physical release. Thank You Real Gone.
I really loved the alternate mix on My Favorite Things. I think at this point, though, I'm predisposed to prefer any alternate take just because I've listened to the original tracks so many times that anything different is exciting. As I said in another thread, Mary blew me away in her duet.
Wish this had been released digitally as well. Looks like I'm forced to skip this release. [[Now I see how it feels when you anti-digitals don't get a physical release. I'll forever sympathize with your pain in new understanding.)
Received my copy yesterday and I am listening to disc 2 right now and love it. What a beautiful package. I hope one day they will do the same for Funny Girl. Thank you Andy, George, and Real gone music.
I ordered one last night; I'm happy to have a physical CD that I did not make.
My only disappointment in all of this is that I find I am not playing these CDS as much as I would have years ago - I'm not sure why. I think part of it is that I have Sirius in my truck and so don't listen to CDs in it. I've heard that new vehicles do have CD players in them this year.
I'm glad to have these in whatever form - but CD is my preference.
CDs are great but nearly all of my music listening is done on my laptop music collection, or my ipod. I have a disk driver that stopped working for some reason and so I cant play cds or upload them to my laptop. I have a stereo with cd player but I'm so used to being on my laptop working and having whatever I want at my fingertips. This sucks.
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/LG/P60NS50/
Works on Mac or Winders. Less than the cost of one new Expanded Edition CD set.
You guys are clearly younger! Sad for me!
I tend to rip my CDs onto my computer. I still have an iPod Classic that is my exclusive source of my music collection. Once I rip discs they sit and collect dust. That’s why I don’t mind digital formats. I can buy lossless files that are pretty much CD quality. And that’s good enough for me.
I rip everything onto my iMac and then tend not to touch the CDs again. My iMac is wired straight to my home audio [[with proper interference filters, of course). I do a Time Machine backup regularly. Even SSD drives can crash. iPod Classics have a spinning hard drive and they are failing at phenomenal rates now.
On the duet, the first notes Wilson blurts out are “The turkey....”.
Hahahaha. I thought "Is that an intentional cruel joke?"
Last edited by Circa 1824; 11-07-2017 at 08:26 PM.
I hijacked my sister's Prime account yesterday and ordered my copy, to be delivered tomorrow! I could not be more excited for this release! I remember hearing Diana's half-rendition of "Silent Night" years ago but lost my copy. It'll be nice to hear it in clean form. Mary's track is a REAL treat that I can't wait for...
I really enjoyed disc 2. I really like the Diana and Florence duet. It is really nice and beautiful. I am also so glad to have this released on CD.
I received my replacement copy today and Halleluia!. The discs were tight but not impossible to remove. I used the method Phillies/Motown Gary shared and was extremely careful [[thank you, thank you, thank you, sir) and could finally enjoy the 2nd disc.
First impression of the 2017 mixes of the original album- Diana Ross Sings La'Orchestra or more appropriately LA'orchestra. The now upfront orchestral arrangements were simply fantastic.
I can also appreciate that the Diana/Mary duet was constructed in the manner it was because only some portions of Mary's version were usable [Is this one of those songs on which there were notes that were less than supreme, to paraphrase the Lost & Found booklet] , but I could just/couldn't imagine the Diana & Mary tradeoff "Everybody knows [[was waiting to hear 'take it, Mary" LOL). It still is a bit jarring even after several listens. I also realize that something similar applies to Diana's involvement in the Flo/Diana Silent Night duet.
I miss not having Flo's a-cappella first verse of Silent Night included in the Ultimate Merry Christmas; so I'll treasure the Never Before-Released mix all the more.
All in all a wonderful work. Congratulations to all involved and thank you most kindly.
Did anyone else's digi-pack have white scuffing as well as small green ink stains? Mine also has an obnoxious barcode sticker over top of the original barcode, covering up some of the tracklisting. One of my CD's may also be partially cracked underneath towards the inner spindle. [[Sigh). I had a similar quality issue with the A Go Go release as well and had to wait for an exchange. I guess I will need to do the same again for this one.
No scuffing or green ink stains here, but I did wonder about the oversized barcode replacing the original on my copy as well as yours. I'm not sure about the rationale for that. Perhaps Real Gone's representative may be able to respond here.
I feel your pain with the cracked cd.
These 2017 mixes are incredible. I love the Andantes to the moon and back, but they sounded very muffled on this album for some reason. It didn't quite sound like them. It kinda dragged down the tracks. I like how they scaled them back and used them when needed. It makes the album more enjoyable. The orchestrations sound so fresh too.
just got mine , will be listening all day....looks beautiful. the mixing is great. love how the sound pops. will listen to the duets again. not sure how I feel but was surprised by Marys vocal. nice.
great job and thanks to everyone who brought us this collection
Last edited by daviddh; 11-11-2017 at 04:32 PM.
While I am loving the music, I am disappointed with the lack of quality control. I returned my original set for another one, which arrived last night. One of my CD's arrived with a deep scratch and luckily it plays fine. The back of my new digi-pack still has some wear, I'm assuming due to the last minute UPC sticker that had to be added after the manufacturing process? The photo on the left inside panel is also not the best quality. I get that in many instances, it's a matter of not having a certain photo available in better quality and a choice is made between including it or not at all, but it's kinda surprising that this wouldn't be available in better quality, since it could have been at least scanned in high resolution from the back cover of the original album. The top right corner of that same photo also has a noticeable rectangular shape pasted over top of the original image, likely to obscure whatever original text/graphic was there...but it is something that could have been easily fixed with a good photoshop job. Again, I understand that different choices are made when a project is being pieced together, but some of these things could have certainly been avoided, regardless of whatever budget was available. It just looks plain sloppy. I know some fans on here will disagree and are grateful to have this at any cost, even if it means coming in a stained paper bag. As someone who works hard for their money, I would appreciate some quality in return, especially in light of the fact that the previous releases were handled with the utmost care and quality, for the most part. Just my two cents. Sorry to rain on the parade. I believe consumer input is important. If this is a sign of what is to come, I would rather opt for digital from here on out.
I don't have any complaints about the packaging. My copy was absolutely beautiful. I can not thank Andy, George and Real gone music enough and welcome many more to come.
My copy arrived today only 9 days after a ordering and I am impressed so far thank you Real Gone Music and fantastic service from import CD s let's get festive!!!
The added bar code sticker is really a turn off for whatever reason. And yes as we've seen, the cd's are so tight and that could be corrected. They could have even used a "pocket" type to slide the cd into. It's a beautiful set but as several have mentioned, whoever is inspecting these for final approval need to look a little deeper at details.
We Supremes fans are a particular lot... However, I just slowly peeled the bar code sticker off successfully with a small amount of residue. The sticker on top says: 8 48064 00642 8
The bar code underneath reads:
8 48064 00644 2
Maybe for shipment to another country? Who knows. Very slight difference.
I tried to take my sticker off and it started to rip thedigi-pack underneath…
Okay, I don't want to be a complete downer for this discussion. I gotta say that I love the new duets! I wonder if these extra vocals were recently unearthed and that is why they were not included on the digital release? Either way, they are very nice.
I also like the new cover art using the original photo
Bump: I just unwrapped my copy! I’m pleasantly surprised at the amount of new material/mixes on this set! The packaging and photos are indeed wonderful. Also, no issues with the CDs sticking. My old man did good!
I'm loving my copy and am greatly happy to have been able to purchase an official physical version of this wonderful music. Thanks to all involved.
ok I am ready for Sing HDH
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