VU

I am not tempted At All.

I like them lots, but never thought of them as that special as a collective in the first place.

Gary

Tune into BBC Radio 6 music now.

Julian Cope is on talking about his music and new book.

Stu.

Me neither ... I haven't worn out my originals yet ... When I was at school I seemed to be one of only two dudes in the class who liked 'em ... I've even got Squeeze on vinyl - same was true of Incredible String Band and the excellent String Driven Thing .... not exactly Sister Ray, but Squeeze is not as bad as critics say and certainly preferable to Live At Max.  

How rate squeezed squeeze?

Gary

If i still had my original  vinyl copy?It would be worn out by now.

The record player we had at school was in a bomb proof wood box with a half penny stuck on top of the cream head shell/arm that weighed a tun in the first place with a flip round needle.

The box looked like the ones Keith used on his RCMs years later.

He must of got a job lot cheap when schools were outing them in the mid to late 70s.

Stu.

Guy,

The problem that fans and critics have with Squeeze is not that it's a terrible album, but that it's not really by the VU. It's a Doug Yule solo album.

Squeeze is the weakest VU album, but is not awful. If it had been released as a Doug Yule then it would probably be held in higher regard. The original version of Loaded suffered a bit and listening to the alternative versions on the fully loaded CD set shows this. However, i still rate loaded 4 stars, the third album 4.5 stars and the first two 5 stars. 

Also Nico's Chelsea Girls and Cale's Vintage Violence are superb records ... Even if Nico allegedly hated her own records. 

If you haven't got Squeeze then it is now available on CD, but I would never think of it as a true VU album. In fact the album titled VU is preferable. A lot of the cutting room floor stuff found their way on to Lou Reed eponymous album, which certainly has some highlights. 

When you listen to The Gift or Murder Mystery do you use the balance control? I often did this with MM and made a cassette of three versions .. Left, right and stereo .... 

Now you've got me thinking perhaps i do need this new set .... 

All the best, Guy 

I don't agree it is terrible ... It has some very good moments. It should never been issued as a VU album. Crash and Caroline were very good tracks. However, you are not going to find the likes of "I Heard Her Call My Name" on Squeeze. 

Sister Ray remains my all time favourite VU track. 

All the best, Guy

The 5 x LP box-set is pressed by  USA/Sundazed.

I don't own and have never heard any UV on vinyl,

But Sundazed is not my favourite label, IME it sounds okay at best, but can also sound very SQ dull.

Personally i wouldn't risk 100 quid on a box-set without a top recommondation first.

Debs

Quite right Debs, £100 is too much without a solid recommendation. I had a read on the SH forum and they were raving about the sound but not the packaging.......... It can be a tad OCD over there so I was hoping a fellow naim forummember had taken the plunge.

Chelsea girl has always been a favourite of mine and it kinds of works out at £20 a record which ain't too bad. 

More thinking required but I'll have a punt with  squeeze based on the chat on this thread.

Thanks all

Gary

My recent purchase...

I got my pre-owned [near-mint condition] copy from Zoverstocks via Amazon.uk

The picture above is a protective cardboard wrapper that goes around 2 original CDs - the ones shown.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong; but these are 1969 released albums on original 1996 mastered CD's.

My opinion is they playback really well, good SQ and all that, and a bargain for under 4 quid delivered : )

Debs

Agree with Debs, I would be dubious if Sundazed were involved ... not my favourite label  - perhaps this set is different. 

Al the best, Guy