Box Set Complete: SPOILERS

The staples are a bit of an eyesore when i put the box away with the rest of my vinyl.They should have gone with a Hessian cover with the construction glued together instead of staples- how much more would have it cost for a Hessian cover? Or is Hessian out of fashion these days? A glued together box would have resulted in the lid sitting snugly i'm sure.

Fotzepolitic wrote: The staples are a bit of an eyesore when i put the box away with the rest of my vinyl.They should have gone with a Hessian cover with the construction glued together instead of staples- how much more would have it cost for a Hessian cover? Or is Hessian out of fashion these days? A glued together box would have resulted in the lid sitting snugly i'm sure.

Agreed. I was quite disappointed when I saw the box, the staples just make it look really ugly. I've seen some great box sets recently, the nick cave one with it's linen box was beautifully made. I know it would have put the price up but I would rather have paid a bit more for a better product. Wonder what Saville thinks of this?

Stoo wrote:

Fotzepolitic wrote: The staples are a bit of an eyesore when i put the box away with the rest of my vinyl.They should have gone with a Hessian cover with the construction glued together instead of staples- how much more would have it cost for a Hessian cover? Or is Hessian out of fashion these days? A glued together box would have resulted in the lid sitting snugly i'm sure.

Agreed. I was quite disappointed when I saw the box, the staples just make it look really ugly. I've seen some great box sets recently, the nick cave one with it's linen box was beautifully made. I know it would have put the price up but I would rather have paid a bit more for a better product. Wonder what Saville thinks of this?

When i first saw the promo photo for the box some months ago on NewOrderNow i actually thought it was a linen cover though it was hard to be sure from the photo.Yeah i'd have paid a bit more for a linen cover.Wonder if Mute would entertain the idea of getting some linen boxes (just the box itself), glued not stapled, made up and sent out to those that purchased the box set to replace the current box.Probably not! Stupid question.

I suppose if you were really really really clever you could delicately remove the staples and then put the box back together with industrial strength glue. Not something i would consider trying though in a million years and anyway you'd be left with tiny pinholes were the staples had gone in though that might actually be better than some ugly staples if nothing else! Anyway, it's definitely not something i'd try.

steinomite wrote:

negative1 wrote: MUTE FACTORY

yes, factory set high standards, they would be hard pressed to achieve those again.

later -1

Not going to argue whether or not Factory equals Mute, but, within the last few years, Mute released the following box sets that are all similar in size the "Music Complete" deluxe box:

Kraftwerk - "The Catalogue" (KLANGBOX 002) Recoil - "Selected" (BXMUTEL17) Cabaret Voltaire - "#8385" (CABS21)

All three were well constructed with sturdy materials. The outer box for the "Music Complete" box looks/feels cheap in comparison. So, they may not be Factory, but Mute has a history of putting out quality box sets. See Depeche Mode, Throbbing Gristle, Wire, and Erasure for examples other deluxe retrospectives. Mute could have done better here. We, however, do not know if the label decided the materials to use or if someone like Paul Hetherington did. Saville himself only provides "direction" and is not likely to have been involved in this type of detail.

-Mike

i have both the kraftwerk box, and the cabaret voltaire one.

the major difference is that out of those 3 boxes, only the cabaret voltaire one had an option for 4xLP in it.... which is still not the same amount of weight.

so, packing cd's in there, they don't need the same support.

also, there were issues with kraftwerk and cabaret voltaire, missing tracks, alternate versions, easily scuffed boxes, flimsy booklets, etc.

i wouldn't exactly call them quality, but they were adequate.

later -1

You guys do realize that all of this is deliberate design choices made by Saville, right? That Mute had nothing to do with the design?

I don't think it's flimsy at all, and I think the "thread" (as stated in the description months ago - not staples) is an elegant touch. If your box is falling apart you obviously don't know how to handle it.

Those preview photos of the boxset gave me the impression that it will have a 'deluxe' feel to it. I thought it might be similar to the Bad Lieutenant boxset which has debossed lettering/graphics & the box is fabric-lined with glued at edges, etc..

So yes, when I opened up the package, my heart dropped a bit when I saw those staples and the cardboard box is not too strong either.

But then again it should have been expected because of the quantities of vinyls we are getting - double-album (GBP-20) plus 6 x 12" vinyls (GBP-9 each) would have equalled to GBP-74 but we only paid GBP-70...so we can assumed we got that cardboard box for free

...perhaps Tony Wilson would have turned in his grave, knowing the quality of the box.

poisoned snickers 2015 wrote: Those preview photos of the boxset gave me the impression that it will have a 'deluxe' feel to it. I thought it might be similar to the Bad Lieutenant boxset which has debossed lettering/graphics & the box is fabric-lined with glued at edges, etc..

So yes, when I opened up the package, my heart dropped a bit when I saw those staples and the cardboard box is not too strong either.

But then again it should have been expected because of the quantities of vinyls we are getting - double-album (GBP-20) plus 6 x 12" vinyls (GBP-9 each) would have equalled to GBP-74 but we only paid GBP-70...so we can assumed we got that cardboard box for free

...perhaps Tony Wilson would have turned in his grave, knowing the quality of the box.

Yep, I was thinking the very same thing before I read this. I am a bit disappointed with how it's turned out. So you get the MC double clear vinyl edition and 6 vinyls in a poor quality box. I would have liked this box set to have been a bit "deluxe" in presentation, and to me it comes across a bit lazy. The extended vinyls look great but have the same generic sleeve apart from the track details on the back, and the MC clear double vinyl is readily available anyway. All of this in a low quality box. They could have perhaps made a special pressing of the album, have a quality box, maybe a book of some sort, making of the album DVD, etc..

The whole point of box sets is that they're made to be collectible and all lot of that is due to the deluxe presentation not just the musical content within. It's an arty thing I suppose but I can't help feeling the whole box set project is a bit flawed and the band deserved better.

"Most folks are buying this to add to their high quality vinyl collections, hoping it will complement their other box sets etc.

You can't sit this next to Still on your shelf. It is embarrassing"

So, basically your main intention is to show off your "high quality" record collection to your visitors??!!!! Why else would it be "embarrassing" to put it next to your other box sets? Sorry if I've misinterpreted what you've said, but for me it's about the records themselves; some of the best vinyl I own is in sleeves/boxes that look like crap!

I got my box set yesterday and sadly it isn't one of the signed ones. I purchased it mainly to own something that will in time become a bit of New Order rarity (perhaps).

Not having a record player, I was really looking forward to the downloads. Excuse my general ignorance when it comes to computers and the web but when I typed "muteartistsdownloads.com/nobox" into google, all I get is a single link to this page on NOOL! No link to any website associated with Mute is even offered. I went to the Mute website but their download link go to itunes and such like. I also searched using yahoo but again no joy.

Does anyone have a link to the download page where I can enter my download code and get some more New Order magic? Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

truefaith1.0

truefaith1.0 wrote: typed "muteartistsdownloads.com/nobox" into google

You don't type that into Google. You type it into address field at the top of your browser.

Thanks MC. That did the trick. Like I said, some of us shouldn't be let near the internet.

Have listened to a few songs and it seems the "extended mixes" are more remixes than extended, given the length of some of the original songs.

I prefer the original of Stray Dog. If anything, it would have been nice to hear the original stripped back a little, to get down to the original part of the tune created by Steve and Gillian that the whole song was based on. The People on the Highline remix sounds good.

Music Complete wrote: ...... The box is very heavy card, reminiscent of Still. The front is debossed with Music Complete, and the back is debossed with New Order.

Lift the lid to find the album on top. I'm in the States, but the box contains EU pressings. It gave me a real nerd thrill to see a New Order album with a proper Mute Records "STUMM" catalog number, having grown up a huge fan of Mute's catalog.

There are two 4" stickers: a black and white one of the Mute logo (overhead view of a walking figure), and one of the Music Complete album cover with blue in the lower left corner (the CD format). There's also a business-sized card with the download instructions. The downloads come as both MP3 and FLACs.

...

Here's an unboxing video of the box, where you can see everything described above. In my opinion the box itself is very unsatisfying in case of quality. It looks and feels cheap, so that I wonder if Peter Saville is also the Art Director of the box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE3ZxtUpuHw

Besides, the music sounds great for me. Except "Stray Dog" I like every song, and also the extended versions are an extended value to the album!

Hugo Egon Balder wrote:

Here's an unboxing video of the box, where you can see everything described above. In my opinion the box itself is very unsatisfying in case of quality. It looks and feels cheap, so that I wonder if Peter Saville is also the Art Director of the box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE3ZxtUpuHw

These people who upload their unboxing videos to youtube are just plain weird.But i did note that some of his discs have the correct play speed (45rpm) and some are incorrect (like mine and others). But the ones that are correct or incorrect differ in correct/incorrect from the discs i have.So it seems completely random from each copy of the box to the next which play discs are labelled correct/ incorrect or not.Interesting stuff eh?

Will there be an extended video made to show the box contents?

Fotzepolitic wrote:

Hugo Egon Balder wrote:

Here's an unboxing video of the box, where you can see everything described above. In my opinion the box itself is very unsatisfying in case of quality. It looks and feels cheap, so that I wonder if Peter Saville is also the Art Director of the box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE3ZxtUpuHw

But i did note that some of his discs have the correct play speed (45rpm) and some are incorrect (like mine and others). But the ones that are correct or incorrect differ in correct/incorrect from the discs i have.So it seems completely random from each copy of the box to the next which play discs are labelled correct/ incorrect or not.Interesting stuff eh?

I think they totally messed it up in the first pressing of the labels, so that they produced 33rpm for every label and then they just printed some correct ones, which they mixed randomly with the incorrect ones. When I look at the box, instead of printing the right rpm for all, I imagine they wanted to save money :-)

Increasingly glad I didn't buy that ugly thing - happy with my clear 2LP ;)

M1 wrote: Increasingly glad I didn't buy that ugly thing - happy with my clear 2LP ;)

Altough I'm not satisfied with the box I am good with having the extended versions on vinyl. That makes sense for me, as New Order had alway a special relation, let alone "Blue Monday". So all in all I'm happy with the box.

I heard they will sell it on Amazon, maybe for less - so that could be an option for the ones hesitating to buy it?!

To me the vinyl is a millstone ... I'd be happy to pay whatever it cost, not to have it and the delivery hassles.

Hugo Egon Balder wrote:

I heard they will sell it on Amazon, maybe for less - so that could be an option for the ones hesitating to buy it?!

It's £75.99 on Amazon UK and available from 27/11.

I fell for the trick that it was going to be exclusive to the NO store and was told the run was limited by Mute so I parted with my cash over 4 months ago for fear of missing out. Once bitten...

I'm delighted it is Vinyl only, although it does come with downloads.

Academic really should have been first single, not Restless, which I like as an album track, but Academic is in the tradition of recently mind blowingly good first singles from an album.

Perhaps it's an opportunity for those so pleased to be happy in the 21st century to reflect on the joy of vinyl.

Sheesh, perhaps I'm just a sad fanboy or something, but I think the box (as well as its contents) are great. Mind you, I carried on buying New Order 12-inch vinyl well into the 90s just to get the fabulous Savilloid artwork larger than it was on the CD singles, so perhaps I'm too willing to forgive them their other trangressions!

I have no problem with the thick cardboard box — in fact I think it looks great with the chunky industrial staples — and although I'm a fully paid-up iPod owner who listens to most music digitally these days, I like owning the coloured vinyl and the box as something of an objet d'art. And you get digital versions of the songs anyway, so it's the best of both worlds to me. One day I might needle-drop the vinyl — I have the technology — but with a little boy to look after, it's a question of finding the time. The FLACs are doing fine for me in the meantime. And I say that as someone who still has a large record and CD collection, and would usually rather have a physical product if it's available, CD or vinyl, than live with downloads alone.

In terms of the contents, I think the 'Boxtended' versions absolutely rock. I like that they're 'traditional' extended versions rather than very different-sounding remixes, and most of them complement the album mixes for me, just as New Order's 12-inch mixes did in the 80s and 90s. For example, I like both the Technique album mix of Round And Round *and* the Extended 12-inch mix, and the original mix and Shep P mixes of True Faith — they're slightly different beasts to me, but all great in different ways. I feel the same way about the Boxtended mixes. And the long mix of Academic is an absolute stand-out highlight for me that's almost worth the price of admission alone.

So no complaints from me (well, OK, the included booklet seems a bit of a thrown-together afterthought, but that's about the worst thing I can say about the whole package). And despite the fact that I kicked off the currently quite popular thread on here about the shambolic New Order on-line store with an almighty moan about how crap they were at gettting Restless to me and losing my order details in the process, they even managed to deliver the box to me on time (even though my store account didn't ever manage to register that I had ordered it!).

That doesn't take away the fact that the Warners run on-line NO store remains a cut-price, badly run piece of crap, and I think they would admit it if they could — but the monkeys there did manage to post my box to me without getting too much mashed banana on it... and my FLAC download went smoothly, so happy days ;)

Sound-wise — I probably have tin ears or something, but the over-heavy compression some are complaining about is not bothering my auditory centres, either on the album or the box — certainly not to the extent that I would attempt to 'remaster' any of it myself. But then I've always preferred to listen first and decide whether I like something rather than let the way the waveforms look colour my judgement. I appreciate that not everyone feels the same, though...

While someone from Mute was assisting me with a digital download issue, I took the opportunity to politely comment on the perceived quality issues with the box set. Their response was actually quite informative and has had me rethink my opinion on the item. I don't want to quote them verbatim, but the essence of their response was as follows:

• Mute and Peter Saville spent a long time reviewing options for the box set, looking at traditional designs and things Mute had previously released.

• After examining the options, Peter wanted to do something completely unique that had not been done before.

• His idea was to mimic an archival box used by museums and even the British monarchy for archiving items. These types of boxes are typically constructed in the 10s and 20s, as opposed to the 100s and 1,000s.

• The "Music Complete" boxes were hand assembled using of the thickest available acid-free cardstock (i.e., so the contents inside won't yellow). So, the materials were not cheap, nor was the construction thereof.

• The type of materials used had not ever been folded at this size/dimension previously, which required the very specific positioning of the wire stitching/staples.

• It was not intended to stand up comfortably with the rest of one's record collection, but be an objet d'art on its own.

• Per the label representative, the project was done working closely with Saville and very much in keeping with the original ethos of Factory, Joy Division, and New Order.

Just thought I'd share these comments for what they're worth. And just a note from me personally, the whole 33 vs. 45 RPM misprinting - that happens A LOT on records across the board.

-Mike

steinomite wrote:

• The "Music Complete" boxes were hand assembled using of the thickest available acid-free cardstock (i.e., so the contents inside won't yellow). So, the materials were not cheap, nor was the construction thereof.

• The type of materials used had not ever been folded at this size/dimension previously, which required the very specific positioning of the wire stitching/staples.

The staples have to have been put in by a programmed machine though surely? They may be ugly (matter of opinion) but they are exactly evenly spaced and placed at exact measured spots.A human/humans couldn't get hundreds of the things over numerous box sets all exactly in the right spot and also without putting them in at a wonky angle on occasion.

Many thanks for the info, really interesting to get some insight into the thoughts , plans and manufacture of the box set.

Fotzepolitic wrote:

The staples have to have been put in by a programmed machine though surely? They may be ugly (matter of opinion) but they are exactly evenly spaced and placed at exact measured spots.A human/humans couldn't get hundreds of the things over numerous box sets all exactly in the right spot and also without putting them in at a wonky angle on occasion.

Many thanks for the info, really interesting to get some insight into the thoughts , plans and manufacture of the box set.

I am not going to claim to know the answer to your question. The Mute representative did not go into quite that much detail. If a machine was used to staple or do the wire stitching on the boxes, it is, however, conceivable that the device was hand operated. If literally assembled by hand, there could have also been pre-made marks or holes on the paper showing where the stitches should go. This is all pure speculation though on my part.

-Mike

steinomite wrote:

Fotzepolitic wrote:

The staples have to have been put in by a programmed machine though surely? They may be ugly (matter of opinion) but they are exactly evenly spaced and placed at exact measured spots.A human/humans couldn't get hundreds of the things over numerous box sets all exactly in the right spot and also without putting them in at a wonky angle on occasion.

Many thanks for the info, really interesting to get some insight into the thoughts , plans and manufacture of the box set.

I am not going to claim to know the answer to your question. The Mute representative did not go into quite that much detail. If a machine was used to staple or do the wire stitching on the boxes, it is, however, conceivable that the device was hand operated. If literally assembled by hand, there could have also been pre-made marks or holes on the paper showing where the stitches should go. This is all pure speculation though on my part.

-Mike

Ah good point, yeah maybe there was pre- made marks for the staples.

All in all i'm fairly happy with the box set.Yeah maybe it could have been a little better but i'm ok with it.It's something different and not something New Order have done before for an album though there was the white linen Factory boxes i suppose but that was on a much smaller scale with just a cassette inside.I don't think the box itself is "days away from falling apart" as one scaremonger said.

BazG wrote:

Hugo Egon Balder wrote:

I heard they will sell it on Amazon, maybe for less - so that could be an option for the ones hesitating to buy it?!

It's £75.99 on Amazon UK and available from 27/11.

I fell for the trick that it was going to be exclusive to the NO store and was told the run was limited by Mute so I parted with my cash over 4 months ago for fear of missing out. Once bitten...

Also on Recordstore.co.uk for £69.99 + postage (£3.95 standard delivery or £6.95 courrier).

I like to think that the designs on each of the 5 vinyl within the box set relate to 5 singles from the album. We've already had Restless as per sleeve 1, TF as per sleeve 2. Continuing the theme High Line, Academic and Superheated with the corresponding designs from each vinyl.

Hopefully with extended mix 2 of each of these - for me Academic extended is the best piece on the boxset but they are all class in their own right, will take another in-house take rather than half arsed remixes every time.

Motherwell Ordah wrote: I like to think that the designs on each of the 5 vinyl within the box set relate to 5 singles from the album. We've already had Restless as per sleeve 1, TF as per sleeve 2. Continuing the theme High Line, Academic and Superheated with the corresponding designs from each vinyl.

Hopefully with extended mix 2 of each of these - for me Academic extended is the best piece on the boxset but they are all class in their own right, will take another in-house take rather than half arsed remixes every time.

Fleece the fans

Sign me up!

Music Complete Boxset signed

Perhaps it was the universe responding to those brutal AU shipping fees.