Discovery Box Set: The Complete Studio Recordings [Box set, Original recording remastered, Limited Edition]

Pink Floyd | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 27, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 16
• Format: Box set, Original recording remastered, Limited Edition
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Capitol Records
• ASIN: B004ZNACA6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,363 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Since 1967 Pink Floyd have produced one of the most outstanding and enduring catalogues in the history of recorded music. All 14 original Studio albums have now been painstakingly digitally remastered by James Guthrie (co-producer of The Wall), and are reissued with newly crafted packaging and booklets created by the band’s long-time artwork collaborator Storm Thorgerson.

‘Discovery’ albums are designed as an introduction to the artist, with all booklets including full album lyrics.  All 14 newly remastered Discovery studio albums are now available as a boxset collection that also includes an exclusive 60-page artwork booklet designed by Storm Thorgerson.

 

Contains the following 14 remastered studio Discovery albums:

The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

A Saucerful Of Secrets

More

Ummagumma  

Atom Heart Mother

Meddle  

Obscured By Clouds 

The Dark Side Of The Moon  

Wish You Were Here 

Animals 

The Wall

The Final Cut

A Momentary Lapse Of Reason

The Division Bell

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

98 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Come for the music, not the package, September 28, 2011

By 

Mr. Scary (New York, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Discovery Box Set: The Complete Studio Recordings (Audio CD)

I'll break the review down into two sections, the music and the box itself.

The music-
It is incredible. I have owned every Pink Floyd album in various incarnation from UK pressings, to US dollar bin vinyl, and dubbed cassettes to various CD masters. I am rather estranged from most of my vinyl and mostly had MP3 and FLAC versions of recent reissues. Since I had a lot of ad hoc versions downloaded from various sources I was pretty psyched to get the whole collection in one nice newly remastered box. And sonically they are incredible. People are looking for a revelation in sound in the other reviews and you won't necessarily find it here. This is not the first time Pink Floyd's catalog has been well mastered. But it is extraordinary. It is neither over-compressed nor "brick-walled," the dynamics are super clear and this reminds me very much of my old vinyl. Especially albums like Wish You Were Here and Animals, which have always had a tremendous amount of depth and clarity. There is a bit of sonic unity through the masters which is also welcome. You can have a cut from the Division Bell follow in your changer after something from Obscured By Clouds without sounding overly jarring. But that is meant as a compliment to the excellent mastering work which just lets the original tapes shine.

The packaging-
This is where I'm less psyched, and why I am not giving this five stars. The albums are all housed in digi-packs which doesn't bother me as much as other reviewers. However the lack of art does bother me. This is PINK FREAKING FLOYD! The visual element has always been very important. The new booklets are all 8-12 pages long but are mostly lyrics. In some cases, notably Wish You Were Here and the Wall there is actually LESS art than in previous editions. If this is a last push at giving people a gorgeous physical product they definitely fell way short of the mark. And the 60 page book is not very interesting or cool. There are a few outtakes that look a lot like the original covers. Snore.

So in summary- from a sonic perspective this is probably the best these albums are ever going to sound on a 16 bit compact disc, and the consistency running through the discs is stellar. However the love put into the sound does not carry over into the bland box which does not do the visual style of Pink Floyd justice.

45 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ladies and gentlemen, the PINK FLOYD are back!, October 3, 2011

By 

floydian65 "dreamer" (Roma, Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discovery Box Set: The Complete Studio Recordings (Audio CD)

It was time. Now we got them to their well deserved glory.
I'm a huge fan of Pink Floyd from almost 35 years now, and I've waited for a remastering that was really appropriate since I turned from LP to CD. Now the time has come.
This final release of the Pink Floyd catalog finally makes justice to the music of Floyd. Now everything sounds exactly just like it always should have sound.
Reading the other reviews I discovered that there are people dissatisfied with the sound, and others even claim that there is no difference between the CDs of the 90's and those of this edition, as if the remastering work was not done.
Well, this is absurd and totally false. Openly. Unless their evaluation criterion is based on poor PC speakers.
I can only think about this possibility, really, because I don't want to think that they are not able to catch the big difference. The difference in terms of sound is really too big to be missed.

I have had both "Oh by the way" (which had no new remasters, so there was almost no difference with the editions of 1992 and 1994) and the releases from 1992 and 1994 - and here is really a world of difference between the CDs released in 1992 and those issued in 1994.

In 1992 there was a so called "remastering" editions and here are the conclusions:

1. A Saucerful Of Secrets: terrible sound as the very first release on CD of the album, sound dull and muffled (while the remastering on "Shine On" box released the same year is wonderful; I don't know why such things happen)
2. Meddle: it was an ADD like previous editions, good but nothing more
3. The Dark Side Of The Moon: just enough
4. Wish You Were Here: like the previous editions ADD
5. Animals: Poor, absolutely in need of a remastering work

In 1994, the rest of the catalog was released in a so called "re-mastered" edition (so I guess there is a big difference between "remastering" and "re-mastered"):

1. The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn: very good
2. More: very good
3. Ummagumma: very good
4. Atom Heart Mother: very good
5: Obscured By The Clouds: very good
6. The Wall: very good
7: The Final Cut: very good

To get excellent release of Animals I had to buy the Japanese edition.
In 2003 DSOTM was released in SACD and the result was absolutely superb.
In 2004 an almost new version of The Final Cut was released, remastered with the addition of "When The Tigers Broke Free", and the difference with the 1994 release is enormous.

Oh By The Way brings the latest remastering as they were already on the market (with the addition of a touch of remasters for "The Piper..." and "A Momentary Lapse of Reason"), but nothing new, really. I was very sorry for the way "A Saucerful of Secrets" and "Animals" sounded, two of my favorite albums.

Buying the Discovery Edition I found with great satisfaction and relief that everything, really everything is perfectly and painstakingly remastered, as well as the campaign promised.
I listened very carefully to all 14 albums (and I mean ALL) with headphones and the sound is simply stunning, powerful, fresh and crystal clear. I even found out sonic details that I had never noticed (remember I've listened to Pink Floyd albums for 35 years).

Of course, from a packaging point of view I expected more: more pictures, more history behind each release, some of the original inside pictures are lost, and also the booklet by Storm Thorgeson is not much, so there is no great treasures to offer to the hungry mouth, but anyway..."Oh by the way" was perfect from this point of view: new photos were not considered, but all the vinyl covers were exactly reproduced.
So what? The sound was not perfect. Well, you can't have anything, do you?

From my personal point of view, if you love Pink Floyd music you should be interested FIRST in MUSIC, and the way it sounds. The way it reaches your soul deep inside.
Now it does at its best.

The music of Pink Floyd has finally returned to his true greatness.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for someone who just wants the music, October 10, 2011

By 

Drawl Needler - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discovery Box Set: The Complete Studio Recordings (Audio CD)

I will start this review off by saying I'm less than 20 years old (not giving my real age, so that's going to have to do.) Therefore, I haven't been listening to Pink Floyd since "back in the day". Really, I didn't start listening to them until last year. I had of course listened to their 4 big albums (Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall) and I loved every single one. However, I still wished the listen to the rest of their stuff, as well as actually own my own copies of those 4. That's where this box set comes in.

For someone like me who just wants the music, this is perfect. It's bare bones stuff, yes, but that's all I really need. I can certainly understand the complaints about there not being any bonus stuff, and I will agree more should have been added to make this an amazing box set for long-time Pink Floyd fans. I, personally, don't need any of that stuff. I'm happy with it just the way it is.