The Contents

This Volume 3 of the Queen 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Box Set contains the albums The Works, A Kind of Magic, The Miracle, Innuendo and Made in Heaven. All albums have been given a double CD release where CD1 contains the remastered album and CD2 contains a ton of extras and rareties which is nice because that way the bonus material won’t distract from the actual albums. CD2 contains rare stuff like alternative takes, b-sides etc. I liked these a lot and couldn’t help but wonder if this all there is, or if there might be more stuff floating out there. Aside from the five remastered albums and bonus materials which make 10 CD’s in total you also get a cool storage box and a great 24 panel poster. That’s not bad for around $75 bucks but only if the sound is significantly better than the original albums. So what do they sound like?

Sound Quality

I was naturally worried that the remastered editions would suffer from what people nowadays call the Loudness War that has plagued so many other re-issues of legendary eighties and nineties music. This is what we call the insane compression that record companies apply to modern albums to make them sound as loud as possible. Bad examples of this include Metallica where the original sound waves seem to have been squashed into one giant stream of noise without any dynamics whatsoever. But.. we are glad to report that this is not the case at all. Yes the result is more “hot” than the original releases as is logical with the application of more modern mastering techniques but fortunately all of the punch and dynamics are still present. Moreover the albums sound cleaner and more alive than ever before. The veil that was present on some of the originals and resulted in a rather dull sound seems to have been lifted and Freddy Mercury’s voice really and I mean really shines in these recordings. In fact it would not surprise me if fans will regard this final installment in the trilogy as the best reissue to date.

Value for Money

So is it worth buying? Well most Queen fans seem to favor the earlier works of Queen more than those that are present in these album series but I have to disagree. There are many awesome songs in this box and in my opinion this simply is a must have for any true fan of Queen. In fact I just persuaded my wife to ask santa to get me the entire trilogy as an xmas present.

The Verdict

- Awesome sound
- A ton of cool extras
- nice poster to complete the collection
- A must have for any true Queen fan
- Might appeal a little less to fans that only appreciate the earlier works

Star Wars: The Blueprints contains the original blueprints that were made and used for the Star Wars Saga. The images are accompanied by a lot of commentary and show the extreme detail that was the foundation for a truly epic movie cycle. The funny thing is that you don’t even need to be a hardcore Star Wars fan to appreciate these drawings. Just from a technical and engineering perspective alone, these wonderful blueprints are true eyecandy. The amount of detail in these drawings is incredible. I wouldn’t what else to call it. This IS the ultimate book on Star Wars and it’s a massive release. How massive you ask? It has it’s own trailer!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwKQ25mzrew

The book has a list price of $500 (an an average online price of around $450). This might look a bit steep but wait until you see the sheer quality of the blueprints. For a full list of all the blueprints click here.

This book will give you the ultimate, rare insight in the foundations of what ultimately became one of the most beloved science fiction stores of all time. Among the never before seen artpieces are views of the Rebel blockade runner hallways, the bridge of the flagship of General Grievous, the interior of the Falcon, and the palace of Jabba.

The book measures 15.5 inches wide by 18.5 inches tall, contains 336 pages and offers more than 250 blueprints and 500 photographs and illustrations. The entire thing weighs a stunning 22 pounds.

Needless to say such an exclusive release doesn’t come in a cheap case either. The book is encased in a custom dyed cloth material enclosure with debossed stamping on the spine and cover and comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by the publishers president. So the entire package has the looks to match the pricetag.

Star Wars: The Blueprints is limited to 5,000 hand numbered copies

Positives

• A lot of never before seen artwork presented in a beautiful high quality book that will entertain both fans as well as engineers
• Not your average behind the scenes book
• Insane amount of stunningly detailed blue prints and photographs

Negatives

Aside from the fact that there are a few of the drawings don’t contain any measurements, which is kind of weird for blueprints, there isn’t much I can complain about with this release. It’s pretty damn magnificent.

Verdict

This is a beautiful limited edition book of very high quality. But its odd that a publication of this sheer size and magnitude and most importantly a hefty price doesn’t come with a little something extra. The price will definitely put some people off and I wonder if aside from the novelty factor for engineers there will be a huge audience for this besides hardcore Star Wars fans. But if you can spare the money and love Star Wars then you’ll want to have this.

The Guitar Collection Flat Top 43 Deluxe Edition is limited to 1500 copies

This is not a big book. It is a HUGE book. And when I say huge I don’t mean slightly above average book size either. It is 23 inches wide and 11 inches tall and weighs 20 pounds! Not the kind of book you will be able to fit on your book shelves. So the publisher came up with an awesome alternative: the book comes with its own hand crafted leather carrying case.

This custom leather case has satin nickel latches and is lined with beautiful fabric just like a real guitar case. The case holds the book itself as well as a companion piece with stories on the guitar collection, a certificate of authenticity and a stunning print signed by photographer John Peden. The sheer size and quality of this publication is very much remniscent of the insanely large original Helmut Newton release from taschen in 1999: You have to see it to believe its real.

Now, if the almost 32 inches wide 10.5 pound stunning case with burgundy fleece lining and the 24×12 inch museum grade print alone weren’t enough to win you over already, then the contents, 670 full color high definition images most certainly will. The photographs are of a truly jaw dropping quality and are bound in well over 500 pages. The companion book contains an additional 180 photographs and stories on the subject.

The Guitar collection contains guitars from the Country Musical, Rock and Hard Rock Halls of Fame and features pictures from Paul McCartney, Jim Page and Keith Richard instruments along with pictures of guitars from over 40 locations in North America and the United Kingdom including the legendary J45 from Buddy Holly.

A stunning Buddy Holly's J45 print that is signed by the photographer is included

The Verdict

This is the mother of all guitar books. Period.

Unfortunately awesome things tend to come with an awesome pricetag. The recommended retail price for this insanely large book is $1500. That is quite steep, but still not bad considering the size and quality and sheer exclusivity of the entire package and the amount of detail and effort that went into this publication. Similar limited editions with signed and numbered prints in other book categories tend to be far more expensive and I cannot think of any other guitar book that even comes close to this one. In fact I was sold the second I first laid eyes on this book. Turns out I was a bit too eager because a few weeks later I found an online retailer that now offers a $400 discount(!) on the list price. Needless to say this upset me a bit after my rather expensive shopping spree. So if you want to buy one of the last remaining in stock I highly suggest shopping here instead.

To honor the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, this special edition of Jim Marshall: Proof, comprised of a copy of this acclaimed book, accompanied by an 8×10 gelatin-silver print of Jerry Garcia, taken on site at Woodstock in 1969, both signed and numbered by Jim Marshall has been released by Chronicle.

I a big fan of Jim Marshall and the man is considered somewhat of a legend in this area so I was glad to see that the publisher has given this release the full high end treatment it deserves.

All the aforementioned awesomeness is packaged in a linen clamshell box stamped with Marshall’s signature. This great piece of musical history is limited to 75 pieces and 5 artist’s proofs. Both book and print are signed and numbered. (8×10 gelatin silver prints). Recommended retail price is $750.00, but the link below will give you a $200 discount! which is not bad for such a collection of legendary photographs along with some unique gelatin silver prints.

Verdict

$550 might sound like a lot of money but just Marshall’s prints usually start at around $1000 so that alone makes this book a worthwhile investment. It features stunning photography of one of the most important times in rock music history and is a must have for fans. Jim Marshall’s proof contains his contact sheets from the concerts and sessions for which he is best known as a photographer. More than sixty sheets are present here, together with the photograph that was the final choice for each series. Highly recommended but if you want one then better buy it now. Stock is extremely limited and last time I checked only a few were left.

Linda McCartney – A life in photographs is a limited “collectors edition” photography book that is released in 750 pieces run by publication powerhouse Taschen. It is a retrospective of Linda McCartney’s life and photography who started her career with her clearly original and highly informal shots of the Rolling Stones on a yacht on the Hudson River. In May 1968 she became the first female photographer to have her work featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. During her career she has photographed some of rock n rolls most influential musicians including including Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Simon and Garfunkel, The Doors, The Who, and the Grateful Dead.

Linda married Paul McCartney in 1969 after they met at a launch event for one of his albums with the Beatles. This book features stunning and very candid photography of many years of touring with the Beatles as well as much of Linda’s family life with Paul. The book really is a must have for rock photography fans. Needless to say hardcore Beetles fans will drool over its contents.
Contributing authors for this book are world renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz and historian and curator Martin Harrison. The book was edited by Alison Castle who also worked on titles on photography, film, and design, such as Some Like it Hot and The Stanley Kubrick Archives.

This edition is released in a truly magnificent clamshell box that gives this edition a very luxurious feel. Lukcily for those with a slightly smaller waller, the book is available in a number of different sizes and options. These range from a very affordable general edition, a limited collectors edition of 750 copies and two very special art editions that include a pigment print on Hahnemuehle paper, numbered and signed by Sir Paul McCartney in a print size of 40 x 30 cm (16 x 12 in.). Needless to say the latter will undoubtably become a highly sought after version that will make an interesting investment to those interested in buying and selling high end art books. We caught up with this book at a bookstore in Berlin and were quite impressed with it’s quality. So much in fact that I seriously considered buying this book and if it hadn’t been for my wife pointing towards another quite expensive yet awesome title it would be sitting on my desk right now.

Positives

• beautiful clamshell box
• avaiable in a wide range of sizes and pricing options
• a must have for any rock photography fan
• interesting investment for art book afficionados
• high quality

Negatives

It’s hard to fault such an impressive publication. Although some will contend that the art editions have a fairly steep pricing it must be said that those will get you limited edition prints of some very fine photography artwork that would likely fetch considerately more when you’d purchase these through an art gallery.

The Verdict

With an average price of around 2 grand (at the time of this publication) the high end versions of this book will likely be out of reach for most general collectors, but avid rock photography fans cannot afford to miss it. If you want one we suggest buying it right now before the limited runs is out of stock. If you want the art edition there’s a pretty good chance it will be sold out by the time you read this.

Weighing 0.576 kilograms and made out of solid titanium this full frame digital camera in a classic timeless design enclosure is a true masterpiece of engineering. It was designed by Walter da Silva, the man also responsible for the current stunning looks of the new Audi car series.The camera comes with the LEICA SUMMILUX-M 1:1,4/35 mm ASPH lense which is also housed in a full solid titanium enclosure. It supports most -- but not all -- Leica M lenses and comes in a stunning red box.

The camera’s monitor screen has been fitted with scratch resistant sapphire crystal glass and the entire enclosure has been treated with a special hardened surface material to make the enclosure itself scratch resistant as well.

The Leica Titan M9 comes with an ultra stylish carrying “holster” for easy transportation and quick availability when shooting pictures. If you are looking for the ultimate retro camera. This is it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WstJ43EjVDI

SEE AVAILABLITY
on Amazon.com

Albums
35(!) classic albums – September Of My Years, Sinatra-Basie, Strangers In The Night, LA Is My Lady, Sinatra & Jobim, My Way, A Man Alone, Watertown as well as definitive collections – Trilogy: Past, Present & Future (2CD) and A Man And His Music (2CD)

Deluxe Box Set
Black linen box with blue velvet flock that contains all standard issues of the studio albums that were released through the ‘Reprise Years’ series. All albums packaged in paper-sleeves.

Special DVD – ‘A Man And His Music – Trilogy’
DVD-9 with a running time of approx. 2 hours and 37 minutes featuring brand new remastered audio. Perfect PCM uncompressed audiophile quality. Never before released on one disc! Contains all of Sinatra’s swingin’ 60’, the “A Man And His Music” TV specials (Part 1, 2 and Ella and Jobim) . Featuring breathtaking performances with Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim. This disc is Region 0 and thus playable on all DVD players worldwide.

I have to say thi sis one of the most impressive artist collection box sets I’ve seen from this publisher to date. The collection is massive with 35 (!) albums, a ton of background info and specials and a nice box to keep everything properly stored and cared for. The audio is pretty much flawless and I was pleased to see they’ve included an uncompressed PCM stream on the DVD9 although I doubt that it will make much of a difference to most listeners. My only minor gripe with this release is the storage format. We’ve seen quite a few large scale releaes of long time favorite artists passing these offices in the past few years and paper sleave thing is just not doing it for me. The copy I received had some flaws in the CD sleaves and I find that unless you truly keep everything neat and tidy inside the box, they tend to damage fairly quickly. I also cannot help but wonder why in this modern day and age we don’t see more simultaneous releases on usb or online media. The Beatles have proven to be quite succesful with this approach and although I understand that many old time fans of Sinatra will likely be clinging to their CD players or vinyl records, I cannot help but wonder why publishers keep underestimating the sheer number of people that exclusively listen to music on ipods or similar media storage. That being said this collection remains a very impressive piece of work. The recent prices I see online (around $300) for this release IMHO are a bit steep but time will tell if this collection will grow to be the sought after collectable it so obviously wants to be.

SEE AVAILABLITY
on Amazon.com

CLICK -> HERE <- TO ORDER The A-Team: The Complete Series (Limited Edition Box Set) NOW AND SAVE ALMOST $60!!

“Ten years ago, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire The A-Team.”

Be a part of The A-Team like never before as the complete series arrives on DVD in this action-packed, 25-disc set. The iconic Mr. T stars as B.A., who joins forces with Hannibal, Murdock and Face to take down the bad guys in five explosive seasons. Groundbreaking, exciting and always fun, The A-Team remains an indelible part of television history and is the adventure that The New York Times proclaimed “a sensational hit.”

Release date June 8th 2010

“GET YER YA-YA’S OUT!” – recorded in 1969 over two nights at Madison Square Garden – is the last official live document of the Rolling Stones in their swaggering Sixties prime; it’s also one of the greatest live albums of all time. This 40TH ANNIVERSARY SUPER DELUXE BOX SET features three 180 gram audiophile quality vinyl LPs (one side of which features an etched replica of the album’s key art, with signatures from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor), 3 CDs that mirror the exact content on the LPs, 1 DVD, a 12 X 12/56-page Collector’s Book and a 12 X 12 replica of the original 1969 poster by Grammy Award© winning artist David Edward Byrd, whose works include the commemorative poster from the original Woodstock Festival and the historic Fillmore East posters from 1968 to 1971.

The first LP is a newly remastered version of the original GET YER YA-YA’S OUT! release. The second LP features 5 unreleased tracks by The Rolling Stones culled from the November 27 & 28, 1969 Madison Square Garden concert master tapes. The third LP features 12 never before released tracks by opening acts B.B. King and Ike & Tina Turner. The DVD features performances by the Rolling Stones from their 2 night concert at Madison Square Garden, backstage footage, scenes of Keith Richards in the studio and footage of the GET YER YA-YA’S OUT! album cover shoot, all shot by Albert and David Maysles.

The 56-page Collector’s Book includes photos and an essay by acclaimed photographer Ethan Russell, an original article by Lester Bangs from Rolling Stone magazine and remembrances from concert-goers. A limited number of the Super Deluxe Box Sets will also contain an insert with a code to download “I’m Free (Live)” for Guitar Hero 5.

This three-disc remastered Ya-Ya’s includes the original in all its gritty glory. Disc Two is a five-song EP from the same shows, with acoustic performances – “Prodigal Son” and “You Gotta Move” – from Richards (playing a resonator guitar) and Jagger. The third disc is an unexpected treat: blistering sets by openers B.B. King plus Ike and Tina Turner (doing an outrageously steamy take on Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”). And serious rock geeks will enjoy the final flourish: the original ROLLING STONE review, by Lester Bangs.