Album(s) of the month April 2020: Quo deluxe series albums

www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/status-quo-live-4cd-box-set/

Don't remember hearing about this, was it released in the UK? Nothing on Amazon and £70 on ebay!!

Excuse me...



I thought everyone on here was aware of John Eden's story, how he always expressed interest to remix RAOTW to make it sound better and more closer to the earlier Quo sound we all loved... and how much anticipated the release was...



It's a complete re-imagining of the album and in no way barrel-scraping!
 


Also, getting away from Quo for a moment, I think there are some absolutely fantastic deluxe editions out there:



- Tears for Fears, The Hurting + Songs from the Big Chair (box sets)

- Supertramp, Crime of the Century + Breakfast in America (deluxe editions with great live discs)

- the Jethro Tull and Marillion book release series, with in-depth notes and a lot of satisfying bonus material



...and lots more that I have forgotten. In fact, it's frustrating to buy an album when you know that you then have to get some other release to add the appropriate b-sides. I wish more artists released (well-curated, of course) deluxe editions. Of course, it depends on whether there's an interest in the stuff.

Often, the mastering of these is also better than that of the initial single CD "remasters", although that's not a guarantee and I'm quite aware of how ironic it is that a lot of the remasters from the early 2000s were terribly misguided in trying to match modern loudness levels.
It was quite a topic on Ricky's board. I'm not sure if I preordered it, but I got it pretty soon within its release date. Still have it. Nice box set, I do wish they had saved "Australia '74" for the Quo deluxe (and including the complete Roadhouse Blues...), and given us something from the 1977-1979 tours instead, which now are completely unrepresented on the series.

Because until your post, I've never heard a single positive thing about it from any fan over the years!

And also because I'm not a big fan of the album proper

Thank goodness Be Bop Deluxe never released an album called Edition!

I bought the 'Rock til You Drop' double VHS when originally released and had been at Wembley Arena on that day, though never got around to getting the album on CD. Fairly sure I had the cassette but alas has long since departed. 

Step forward the new Deluxe Edition. When we can all get back in our cars and once again go for long drives in the green and pleasant countryside then for me the Deluxe CD with will be an (essential!) companion. Quite a collection of material and well put together. Never really appreciated the likes of 'Mysteries From The Ball' ,'Dead In The Water' and 'Heavy Daze' until now. 

The original album had been released at about the time when I felt the band with Jeff and Rhino were beginning to gel more convincingly.

Had seen the band a few times through '86. At Wembley Stadium and at Knebworth with Queen. The 3 gigs in a day inc Knebworth had possibly been just as logistically impressive as the Rock til You Drop event, in a way? Denmark, Knebworth and Switzerland in 24 hrs!

Had also seen them that year with Waysted at Hammersmith. Went to see them again in '88 at Wembley Arena when Pip Williams joined them on stage for a few tunes. Though I wasn't completely bowled over, something not feeling right or sounding right.

Things seemed to be heading in the right direction when seeing them at Wembley in '89. Stage wise that is, as the albums up til then were inconsistent and a worry.

By Knebworth '90 and Rock til You Drop, Quo were back in business in a sense for me. I knew Francis had been very pleased with Rock til You Drop at the time and reading the Deluxe Edition booklet it appears that he still rates it. Interestingly he says that initially Rick was going to write an appropriate sounding rocked-up track to match the title but he decided to ask Andy to write the track in the end and expectations were turned on their head with a ballad style track.

Perhaps this was one of the reasons why, apparently, Rick had been less pleased with the album. Strange if Rick wasn't so keen, as I had read an interview/article around that time of release in Guitarist mag and both Francis and Rick seemed excited by the album in terms of its energy and sound. No dissenting voices.

In terms of the main album, some interesting original material but some odd covers and of their own songs as well, such as 'Tommy'. Rossi was determined to try to get that song accepted by the long term fans. Couldn't let it go without a fight.   
   

  

 

And he failed despite that persistence   Even tried to re-record it again but called it Beautiful instead