A Missed Opportunity
Dear reader, sets like The Wall Immersion Edition tend to evoke strong feelings of either “must have” if you’re a die hard fan of the band (like me), or “a complete waste of money” if you’re not and don’t get the point. You’ll fall into one of these camps. Both viewpoints are valid but if you’re in the latter camp, I’d say stop reading, walk away now and put the money towards a microwave oven or something else you really want.
So you should only be reading this from here onwards if you are in the fan camp, probably erring towards the die hard end of the spectrum and agonising over whether to part with your hard-earned. On that basis, at £50- or so right now, I’d say go for it. You should be pleased with the set on the whole, with just a few nagging reservations.
To start with, let’s be clear, this set is not worth the outlay purely on a music basis as there’s nothing much new - it’s the 2011 discovery remaster - although the additional demos and promo material, together with the documentary and other stuff on the DVD are great and worth a look.
However, taking into account this is meant to be a tactile thing (and being honest, as a fan this is a major reason why you’re considering buying it), the set is fun, desirable and a quality physical product that won’t disappoint. Ardent fans will love the ephemera, but a more casual fan might think the marbles (who thought of that?), scarf, repro’ show tickets etc. pointless. So the question is: “How ardent are you?”
My main reservation, as several other reviewers have commented (and I am speaking AS an ardent fan) is that it represents a missed opportunity. There’s no getting away from it. This applies to all three Immersion sets in different ways, but perhaps most of all with this one. Why could they not have thrown in a copy of the movie or at least a Blu Ray with a 5.1 mix for example? Now that would have made it really “immersive”.......as it’s meant to be for the fans of course!
As a sum up, at £50 ish, the set represents reasonable value. If you’re a die hard like me, I’d say it’s a no brainier, just buy it. Enjoy it for what it is as a tactile thing to “have and hold” and don’t look back. You won’t regret it. The media content is good enough to make the overall package worth the outlay although it’s not great.
On a scale of 1-10 where 1 = hating all things Floyd whilst 10 = you’re a fan prepared to mortgage your house for a lock of David Jon Gilmour’s hair, you need to be in the 7-10 category to appreciate the set if you buy it.
The key question then is where are you on the Floyd love spectrum?
Verified purchase: YesCondition: New