At just shy of ã60, you’d say this one is for the diehards only…
But even your average Oasis fan would be soft not to invest in this delightful collectable.
Having digested Dig Out Your Soul earlier this week in promo format, I was always going to shell out one way or the other on the real deal, but given it’s quality I decided to push the boat out and invest in the Limited Edition boxset (pictured above). And it’s a treat.
I say push the boat out, and to be honest in this day and age where going the match can cost anything approaching ã100 (ticket, travel, bevvies, food, programme etc), the boxset is a near snip.
So waddya get for your ã50 plus ã7.95 postage? As well as the album on CD and double heavyweight vinyl, there’s an additional nine-track CD (more of this in a mo’), again replictated on double vinyl, a DVD featuring Shock of the Lightning promo and documentary footage on the making of the album.
Added to this is a beautiful hardback psychedelic artbook gathering together the many cutout montages decorating the sleeve and a lovely shot of the band who resemble late-era The Doors; all emblazoned in orange and washes of darkness all contained in a whopping embossed brown box.
It’s on a par, if not better than that of Radiohead‘s In Rainbows set released last December.
So, to the bonus CD. Of the nine tracks six are remixes or alternative takes; something which hardly generates excitement at the best of times, especially when you think of Oasis, a band rooted in rock’s meat and potatoes. But Dig is probably the most apt recording they’ve produced to allow artists to approach the work using different methods.
Kasabian and Primal Scream associate Jagz Kooner pushes the psych switch on The Turning ramping up the groove and adding a frantic string section. He repeats the trick on Shock of the Lightning enveloping Liam’s voxs in fuzz and spinning a cloppy breakbeat. B-side to the lead single, and included here, is The Chemical Brothers‘ take on Falling Down; it’s good but not a patch on the original and loses some of its mystery with the emphasis firmly on bigbeat reducing it to a clunky Setting Sun Mk II.
Best of all is Death In Vegas‘ Richard Fearless‘ take on Gem‘s To Be Where There’s Life, which simply lashes on more Eastern pyrotechnics creating a wall of psychedelic noise. It’s mega.
Unfortunately, The Turning (Alt Version #4) is less so, simply stripped down with intense piano pushed to the fore as Noel replaces Liam on vocals, while Waiting For The Rapture (Alt Version #2) is a mere acoustic rendition.
Much better though are the new recordings, Liam’s much-heralded Boy With The Blues is similar in feel to I’m Outta Time, all Beatles pianos and a magisterial finale complete with orchestration and a ‘come together,’ choral outro.
Then there’s Noel’s bluesy stomp Lord Don’t Slow Me Down, a track which soundtracked the 2007 tour DVD of the same name, which although most fans will be familiar with is a welcome inclusion such is it’s brilliance – if you’ve yet to hear it think BRMC-powered Johnny Cash.
But the undoubted jewel is I Believe In All; a two minute little flighty number recalling Iggy’s Lust For Life but injected with a certain Merseybeat quality. You can almost smell The Coral jamming in the background, all twinkling acoustic strings and thrumming brushed drums. It’s another great Oasis B-side desperately waiting to be discovered. Dig it.