Almost Famous - 20th Anniversary (Super Deluxe)

CD brandnew in seal. Recieved very quickly.

To paraphrase Sapphire, for anyone how knows what it is to be a fan of Almost Famous, this really is a beautifully presented collection. It has to lose a star for being so crazily expensive - but there's no denying the joy to be found in just wallowing in all the Almost Famous memories, anecdotes, mementos, photographs - and, of course, the music.The three main discs are a pretty comprehensive collection of the songs used in the film, plus dialogue snippets. As the songs are present in their complete forms (with the notable exception of Tiny Dancer, which here is in edited form with cast singing along, as per the famous scene), the listening experience is longer than the film itself. Crucially, it's also presented in the correct running order - unlike the new 2CD version, which completely fails in that respect. There are a few more songs included here than on the 2CD version (as well as the dialogue tracks); you can decide whether it's The Chipmunks, a few Led Zeppelin tracks, or Mona Lisas & Madhatters that adds the most.There's a further disc of Nancy Wilson's score, which might not feel like essential listening until you give it a spin and realise the huge contribution her music made to the atmosphere of the film. It's also nice to hear some of those themes being explored a bit more. And there's a disc dedicated to Stillwater, including some interesting demos of their songs as orginally worked up by Nancy Wilson and Peter Frampton. The demos by Stillwater themselves might be less likely to get repeat listens. Their 6 studio tracks are, I believe, no different to those that featured on a CD issued with the extended cut of the film on DVD in the USA (I've no idea if anything has been re-mixed or remastered).The physical package is just lovely; mine was shipped in a large Amazon box without too much packing and arrived unharmed. It doesn't feel like something that will likely fall apart unless it's given some abuse. The card CD pockets are perhaps a bit tight. The materials and printing are top quality - the idea of producing the book within the shard slipcase as one of William's notebooks works well. The short essays and quotes are an enjoyable read and great for repeat reminiscing whilst listening (although there are one or two inaccuracies in the dialogue quotes, which match neither the film nor its published script and might raise the odd eyebrow away from its default "mysterious" setting). I'm pleased to now know I share the same favourite scene with Patrick Fugit. It would be great to see Cameron produce a more substantial book about the making of the film - it feels like the material is there, and he clearly has the love for it.If it weren't for the staggering price, I'd give this super deluxe 5CD edition 5 stars. What is really needed now is for the producers to do the honourable thing and release the core 3 discs from this set at a price that all of the fans can afford. After all, isn't it supposed to be all about the music and the fans?

Finally an expanded version of the Almost Famous soundtrack. Given the huge number of fantastic songs in the film, many fans of the film have either waited nearly 20 years for this, or have compiled their own playlist. This new version doubles the number of tracks over the original, which is great; it also makes maximum use of the space on 2CDs, so the value is pretty good. The packaging is absolute bargain basement card-sleeve stuff - but you do get a booklet with a short essay from Cameron Crowe (just be careful not to drop the CDs while trying to extract it).What's frustrating is that that first CD is basically the same disc as the original 1-CD version, just with the Tiny Dancer replaced by a version lifted from the film soundtrack (so you can reminisce about that scene - but you can't enjoy the complete song). Nothing wrong with that in itself, they're all songs that still belong here - but this now means that playing disc one followed by disc 2 gives a pretty bizarre running order. It's sort of like hearing 2 passes through the film with different musical highlights, plus some additional Stillwater tracks tagged on the end. Given that the first disc must have had a new master cut (to allow for the change in version of Tiny Dancer), it feels incredibly lazy from the producers that the full set of tracks across the 2 discs wasn't shuffled into the correct playing order - or, at least, a sequence that makes some sense as a listening experience. Sure, you can achieve that if you either rip the CD or download the album - but you'll then need some patience (and a reference) to re-sequence the tracks. And it's not an option if you just want to chuck the discs in a CD player and enjoy them (unless you're still hanging on to a CD multi-changer...)It's also worth commenting on how this 2CD set compares to the content of the vastly more expensive 5-disc luxury package (and similar vinyl offering) released around the same time. This 2CD set does contain most of the songs from the core 3 CDs of that package; it omits all the dialogue snippets, and a small number of songs - most notably a handful of Led Zeppelin tracks from towards the end of the film, and the iconic Mona Lisas & Madhatters. But these 2 CDs are full; any more songs would have required a 3rd disc. Of the 6 "studio" tracks from Stillwater, 4 appear on the 2CD, with one change to the 4 that are included in the core discs of the 5CD; all 6 are on a dedicated "Stillwater" disc in that package. (The same tracks were also available previously on a CD in the US extended cut DVD package.)Verdict: this new 2CD collection is a frustration - and needn't have been. The 5CD super deluxe is a beautiful package and a comprehensive CD set (honestly, it's great) but is hideously expensive. What was really needed - and what the fans deserved - was the three core CDs from the super deluxe, in an affordable package. This slightly lame attempt at 2CDs just feels exploitative. After all, didn't Cameron Crowe go to great pains to tell us that it's the music and the fans that really matter?

Almost Famous has been my favourite film ever since I first saw it as a student back when it was released. I went out the next morning and bought the soundtrack, which has remained one of my favourite CDs ever since. As that one is getting a bit worn I decided to get the new 20th Anniversary release, but whilst it is now more accurate to the music played in the film, and comes with sufficient extra tracks to spread across 2 discs, it somehow misses the mark for me. Perhaps I'm just too entombed in the previous release to be able to accept some of the differences, such as the cast version of Tiny Dancer, but at this moment in time, having listened to it once, it's probably not going to be one that I regularly pick up and play, despite the expanded tracklist still being an excellent mix of music from the era.Perhaps it would have been better to remaster and re-release the original soundtrack on Disc 1, then add the revised and additional tracks (including the excellent Stillwater ones) on Disc 2, thus catering for all? I'm tempted to buy another copy of the original release while it's still available and keep this for the odd listen.

Great condition !! Thanks a lot.

Superb compilation at a really reasonable price. The tracks by the fictional band of Stillwater ( played and sung by many top musicians of today) are brilliant and classic 70's style rock. My only complaint (and it's not the album's fault so no drop in stars) is that the AutoRip that comes with the album is the single disc version and not this deluxe version but as I have the physical item I can live with that.