Quadrophenia- The Director's Cut (Super Deluxe Edition) [Box set]

The Who | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 15, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 6
• Format: Box set
• 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: Geffen
• ASIN: B005D9B26E
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,946 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. I Am The Sea

2. The Real Me

3. Quadrophenia

4. Cut My Hair

See all 10 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. 5:15

2. Sea And Sand

3. Drowned

4. Bell Boy

See all 7 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. The Real Me (demo)

2. Quadrophenia - Four Overtures (demo)

3. Cut My Hair (demo)

4. Fill No. 1 - Get Out and Stay Out (demo)

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Is It In My Head (demo)

2. Any More (demo)

3. I've Had Enough (demo)

4. Fill No. 2 (demo)

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Disc: 5

1. I Am The Sea (5.1 surround-sound mix)

2. The Real Me (5.1 surround-sound mix)

3. Quadrophenia (5.1 surround-sound mix)

4. I've Had Enough (5.1 surround-sound mix)

See all 8 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered and expanded Super Deluxe edition of this 1973 concept album by the British Rock icons contains four CDs, a DVD and a vinyl seven inch single. This box set gives a unique insight into the creation of this landmark album and features a remaster of the original double album, Pete Townshend's previously unheard demos including songs that didn't make it onto the original album, an exclusive eight track 5.1 sound DVD, a deluxe hard-back book, previously unseen personal notes, photographs, memorabilia and other exclusive material.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great box but could be so much better, f-f-frustrating, November 15, 2011

By 

Mr. T. Anderson "onlyconnect" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quadrophenia- The Director's Cut (Super Deluxe Edition) (Audio CD)

I love this album. It connects somehow, the frustration of My g-g-g-generation extended to an entire double album, played with the frenetic energy and genius of The Who, and intermingled with a dash of Pete Townshend's mystical leanings. I am the sea.

It is not only the music, the whole package was perfect when it arrived in autumn 1973. The black and white cover with the scooter and the four faces of the band reflected in its mirrors, and a breathtakingly good series of monochrome photographs. If any record deserves a deluxe edition, this one does.

And here it is - or is it? What we have is something half-way between the sumptuous, informative, historic collector's edition which the album merits, and the kind of money grabbing release you get when some record company notices how much people are paying for boxed sets these days and says, "Quick, let's get Quadrophenia out before the CD market disappears completely".

Because there is a lot wrong with this release, though I still cannot give it less than four stars. Still, time to stop rambling and tell you what you get. Within a very solid slipcase you will find a poster advertising the original double album (actually this is a fine reproduction and one of the better things here), a colour envelope holding various bits of memorabilia: reproductions of some of Townshend's draft lyrics, a rather darkly reproduced colour photo of Jimmy (the central character) on a scooter, and a 7-inch single of 5.15 backed with the slightly rare track Water.

Then there is the main event: a 100-page hardback book of photos and an essay by Townshend, within which nestle the original double CD remastered, a DVD with 8 tracks remixed for 5.1 surround sound, and two CDs of Townshend's demos for the album.

The book is certainly nice to have, though bear in mind that the original album came with a 46 page insert which is all included in the book, so that accounts for nearly a quarter of it. I am also upset to report that the quality of those wonderful photographs is poor; I was really hoping that I would get better copies than those in my falling-apart LP but in fact these are noticeably worse; they have that grainy look you get when photos are reprinted from a print rather than from the originals.

Still, the *other* photos in the book are nicely reproduced and the essay is fascinating if you love Quadrophenia half as much as I do. Townshend recounts how he came up with the story that is printed in the front cover of the LP (and also here), when remembering how he slept under Brighton pier once "after a riotous night at the Aquarium ballroom." He also describes how the album came together, how it was recorded, and adds notes on the songs and demos.

If you are a fan, you will definitely want to hear the demos too. They form a sort-of alternate version of the album, lacking the Who's energy but with its own appeal. There are also songs here that are not on the album, and others that did not show up until the soundtrack of the Quadrophenia film. Some of the songs have overdubs which I personally would rather had been omitted.

Note that the standard-price 2CD set has 11 of the demos as bonus tracks. This box has 25 demo tracks.

The 5.1 mix is enjoyable too. This album is ideal for surround sound, especially at those moments when sea noises swirl around.

It's curious though that only 8 tracks have been mixed to 5.1. Why? But the rest of 5.1 Quadrophenia is not the only thing missing.

The important thing to realise is that this is Townshend's deluxe box, rather than The Who's deluxe box. I have not spotted any contribution to the package from Roger Daltrey, despite his massive contribution to the quality of the album, nor even any attempt to collect existing quotes from the two members of the band who are no longer with us, Keith Moon and John Entwistle. There are no outtakes from band sessions, nor are there any live tracks from when Quadrophenia was performed live back in the day; yes I realise that the concerts at the time had some problems but I would still love to hear how they sounded.

Quadrophenia was remixed in 1996 and it is the remix that is offered here (there are small differences in the remaster including a new train noise in 5.15 but no big leap in sound quality), but for completeness I would have liked both mixes to be included, in line with what has been done in deluxe boxes for other classic albums such as Jethro Tull's Aqualung and King Crimson's In the Court of. To my mind the original mix is still important, the Quadrophenia that is as I first heard it in the seventies.

So this is a frustrating production, much less than it should be; but then again frustration is what Quadrophenia is all about so that is curiously fitting. Fans will still want this package, hard though it is to justify the cost. And I suppose when and if the full 5.1 release is done eventually we will be asked to pay again.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Packaging, Subtly better 2011 remaster, but a full 5.1 version isn't included, November 15, 2011

By 

Thomas E. Shepard "drfiresign" (Shaker Hts., Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quadrophenia- The Director's Cut (Super Deluxe Edition) (Audio CD)

Unlike other reviews of this nicely packaged box set, I can attest, at least IMHO, that the inlcuded 2011 CD remaster of the full album is subtly better that the 95 version. The channel seperation is better and clarity of individual instruments and vocal parts is noticeably better than the prior CD.

This can be found immediately in the I am the Sea -> The Real Me > Quadrophenia suite that begins the album, particulary in the segue from The Real Me into Quadrophenia. All previous digitial versions delivered an extremely trebly experience where the individual instruments, particulary the frenetically strummed acoustic quitar, buried each other in the mix. The 2011 remaster is the first digital version I've heard that matches the vinyls ability to clarify and present a soundstage in which the individual instruments can be heard cleanly.

The biggest complaint I have with this box, especially considering the price, is that only 8 songs from the full album are included in the multi-channel DVD. If, as I understand, only the masters for these 8 tracks were found then some more supplemental material should have been included, perhaps even a copy of the excellent Quadrophenia film that came out in 1980.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Why not ALL of Quadrophenia in 5.1 surround?, November 15, 2011

By 

Carl A. Johnson "Space Cadet Carl" (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quadrophenia- The Director's Cut (Super Deluxe Edition) (Audio CD)

Here we have the super deluxe treatment of The Who's "third and final masterpiece"...... 1973's Quadrophenia. Pete Townshend has always considered the three studio albums: Tommy (1969), Who's Next (1971) and Quadrophenia (1973) as the band's creative pinnacle in their history.

I've had several people tell me during the last two days that Townshend's comments made a couple months ago that several original 8 track and 16 track masters to Quadrophenia have gone missing ""are simply not true"". The corrected story I'm getting now is that Pete's team simply stopped putting a lot of priority into mixing any further Quadrophenia tracks into 5.1 surround sound. If this is indeed true, it's a major screw-up strategy by Townshend and his team. Anyone that's going to pay whopping $140 for a Quadrophenia box set is going to insist on the ENTIRE album presented in a 5.1 mix. I'll bet this will be addresed soon.