Depeche Mode Sounds Box Set vs U2 No Line Boxset

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soctheo

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I'm a fan of both Depeche Mode and U2. I'm a little frustrated and disappointed comparing both box sets together. Sounds of the Universe is available in a 4 disc box set (the album, outtakes + remixes disc, demos disc and dvd that includes multiple documentaries, videos and the album in 5.1). It also comes with 2 picture booklet. They really did a first class job and all the extras are A+. I'm really impressed with the demo disc (great insight to Martin's creative process) This really is something worthwhile to add to the music collection regardless of the high price.

Amazon.com: Sounds of the Universe Deluxe Box Set (3 CDs/DVD/2 Books): Depeche Mode: Music

Compared with U2 box set (dvd + booklet extras), this really puts U2's effort to shame. I have the boxset and it is really bad. It displays nice on my shelf but other than that, I'm not sure how U2 can be proud of this. The movie is interesting but isn't worth repeat viewings and I'd rather buy the tour program than have the book. I think a more worthy addition to the U2 box set would have been a disc of demo's so we could hear the FEZ influenced versions that seem to have been minimized on the final album + a dvd documenting the making of the album (the youtube clips are fascinating). I think this boxset is going to end up in your favorite record store's delete bin really soon. The record store near me has already moved this to the back of the store to fill space. I think this was another missed opportunity for U2 to do something special with this release.

Amazon.com: No Line On The Horizon [Box Set] [Limited Edition] [CD/Poster/Book/DVD]: U2: Music
 
i own u2's box set and have depeche mode's on my wish list, but even just a straight comparison between the two puts u2's to shame. that is one thing, depeche mode have been great in offering real extras on their cds. the remastered albums they put out a couple years ago were great, all the albums were in 5.1 surround sound as well as all their b-sides and popular remixes. plus you got a short film discussing the period when the album was recorded and released, and footage of them recording the album. so i can just imagine the films for sotu will be as nice too.

the nloth box set definitely leaves a lot to be desired. i think what bums me out the most is there's no bonus tracks or anything. i've not even bothered watching linear, though that's mostly due to laziness as i am interested in watching it. but still, there's just not a lot of stuff in the box set, especially comparing it to sotu which is the same price. so far all i've gotten around to buying of sotu is the itunes pass and even that had a lot of bang for your buck. i kept getting little goodies over the past couple months, like remixes and bonus tracks.
 
It's interesting, if you look back a certain poster made a Bomb vs Playing the Angel thread years back... His premise was one of DM was much more "experimental" and "innovative", but I think he was new to DM and didn't realize that album was pretty much a throw back, DM doing DM.

Other than the documentaries, I'm not really interested that much in a bunch of remixes or demos, they are good for one listen and then you realize why they went with the album version, so in that aspect DM doesn't win by much...

Now in the same breath, I went to a party this past weekend and instead of just having music playing my friend always plays music DVDs and Linear actually works really well for background music and visuals to a party, he also played a DM videos DVD right after that...

So at the end of the day neither really offer all that much to put one over the top so I would have to go with which album is better, and for me it's NLOTH by a mile.
 
So now the argument du jour is Depeche Mode >>> U2?

OMGZ!!!!!1111!!11!






(BVS...I dunno...there's an equal number of songs I like and less-like on each album, although I'd say chart-wise NLOTH's strong songs hold far more promise than SOTU's do)
 
NLOTH boxset is cool looking, and it was nice that it went from being nearly $100 down to about $60 (at least on Amazon). But yea, I do feel a but slighted by the lack of content in the boxset. Looking at the HTDAAB special edition, we got a bonus track, and some "cool" alternate takes on the DVD.

That being said though, U2 almost never releases demos. And really, who would want an entire CD of U2 remixes? I'm sure a lot of people would... but the point is, I think that DM's boxset caters to their core fan base, while U2's caters to theirs. Or at least, both camps TRIED to cater to their fan bases. You can't please everyone, you know.

Next time, though, I'll hold off on the boxset unless its NECESSARY.
 
I think the new DM album is actually really good. I suggest anyone who hasn't, check it out. I'm a big DM fan, but not enough to buy the fancy version of the album. 9.99 at best buy was good enough for me! :)
 
soctheo said:
I'm a fan of both Depeche Mode and U2. I'm a little frustrated and disappointed comparing both box sets together. Sounds of the Universe is available in a 4 disc box set (the album, outtakes + remixes disc, demos disc and dvd that includes multiple documentaries, videos and the album in 5.1). It also comes with 2 picture booklet. They really did a first class job and all the extras are A+. I'm really impressed with the demo disc (great insight to Martin's creative process) This really is something worthwhile to add to the music collection regardless of the high price.

Amazon.com: Sounds of the Universe Deluxe Box Set (3 CDs/DVD/2 Books): Depeche Mode: Music
Click to expand...

KhanadaRhodes said:
i own u2's box set and have depeche mode's on my wish list, but even just a straight comparison between the two puts u2's to shame. that is one thing, depeche mode have been great in offering real extras on their cds. the remastered albums they put out a couple years ago were great, all the albums were in 5.1 surround sound as well as all their b-sides and popular remixes. plus you got a short film discussing the period when the album was recorded and released, and footage of them recording the album. so i can just imagine the films for sotu will be as nice too.

the nloth box set definitely leaves a lot to be desired.
Click to expand...


coolian2 said:
just going on contents, depeche mode offer a hell of a lot more to the fan for a similar price.
Click to expand...

All Of These. QFT. :up:

Depeche Mode's Remasters far outdistance all of U2's Remasters, including The Joshua Tree, so I was not really surprised when I looked at the contents and the price and found that Depeche Mode had once again kicked U2 all over the ring in the box-set category.

Both bands know it is collectors and hardcore fans who are going to be buying these Remasters and box sets, and yet, I feel like Depeche Mode acknowledges this and provides a maximum, highest-quality product for the price, while U2 provides the minimum they can get away with for the maximum price.

I love U2 so much, and always will, but this is definitely one area where they really disappoint me and really come off as greedy bastards sticking it to the fans.

Remasters and box sets: DM :up:
U2 :down:
 
FitzChivalry said:
Depeche Mode's Remasters far outdistance all of U2's Remasters, including The Joshua Tree, so I was not really surprised when I looked at the contents and the price and found that Depeche Mode had once again kicked U2 all over the ring in the box-set category.

Both bands know it is collectors and hardcore fans who are going to be buying these Remasters and box sets, and yet, I feel like Depeche Mode acknowledges this and provides a maximum, highest-quality product for the price, while U2 provides the minimum they can get away with for the maximum price.
Click to expand...
exactly. :up: i would like to point out their remastered albums (note they did this for all their albums except for playing the angel, and obviously sotu as it hadn't been released yet). every single remaster contains the album tracks remastered on one cd. then you have a bonus dvd with the album in 5.1 surround sound/pcm stereo, all b-sides and remixes from the era remastered, and a video detailing the band and the recording/promotion of the album from that era.

sotu contains a cd of the album itself, a cd of remixes, and a cd of various demos. it also contains three films, a video of their lead single, and four songs filmed in the studio. all album tracks and bonus tracks are remastered in 5.1 surround sound, two 84 page books, lyrics to all songs from these sessions, and tons of photography. oh, and badges, cards, poster, and a coa. even if you don't like depeche mode, you can't argue that's a ton of features for the same price as nloth's box set.

and i totally agree with you fitz about dm catering to the fans who buy this stuff. and that's in a good way of course. as you said they realize it's the hardcore fans buying this stuff, so they actually give us what we want, instead of u2 offering some teasers (like the unreleased demos on jt and war which then turn out to be utter crap that we're glad never made it onto the album, imo anyway) but holding back on the good stuff for that box set they'll release when they finally retire or something.

if you don't like depeche mode you don't like them, i'm not going to convince anyone otherwise because that's silly. but don't write off their box set as being not as good as u2's just because you don't like them. we're just comparing the content, not what the music sounds like.
 
FitzChivalry said:
Both bands know it is collectors and hardcore fans who are going to be buying these Remasters and box sets, and yet, I feel like Depeche Mode acknowledges this and provides a maximum, highest-quality product for the price, while U2 provides the minimum they can get away with for the maximum price.

I love U2 so much, and always will, but this is definitely one area where they really disappoint me and really come off as greedy bastards sticking it to the fans.

Remasters and box sets: DM :up:
U2 :down:
Click to expand...

KhanadaRhodes said:
if you don't like depeche mode you don't like them, i'm not going to convince anyone otherwise because that's silly. but don't write off their box set as being not as good as u2's just because you don't like them. we're just comparing the content, not what the music sounds like.
Click to expand...

crux of the issue is that. it's not if you like what's on there (unless you're being facetious - either way, the people who bashed it because it was depeche mode made me laugh), it's what is being provided for the people who are actually going to pay up for it.
 
I'm a huge fan of both- I looked at the U2 boxset and decided it wasn't worth the money for 60 minutes of Anton Corbin music video

I have got the DM box set for SOTU and it is wonderful- yeah the remixes are dismal (as per the norm) but the overall package is the best of it's kind

as for the remasters- Joshua Tree sets the bar very high- think it's better than all the DM remasters, am waiting now for the 2 cd remaster/reissue of Duran Duran's Rio which for any Duran fan has an eye watering (in a good way) track listing
 
djparky said:
I'm a huge fan of both- I looked at the U2 boxset and decided it wasn't worth the money for 60 minutes of Anton Corbin music video

I have got the DM box set for SOTU and it is wonderful- yeah the remixes are dismal (as per the norm) but the overall package is the best of it's kind

as for the remasters- Joshua Tree sets the bar very high- think it's better than all the DM remasters, am waiting now for the 2 cd remaster/reissue of Duran Duran's Rio which for any Duran fan has an eye watering (in a good way) track listing
Click to expand...

...yeah the DM CD+DVD combo was better value too.

$16.99 on Amazon as opposed to the NLOTH one which came in at $35.98 for the digipak with essentially quite similar material overall... though Amazon Marketplace has that version for under $10 now...

Amazon.com: Used and New: No Line On The Horizon [Digi-pack] [Limited Edition] [CD/Poster/Film Download]
 
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