Disco de Mission of Burma: “Vs. [Definitive Edition]”

If you've been thinking about whether or not these new reissues are worth your time, the answer is a resounding YES! Rick Harte (Burma's producer) went back to the analogue tapes and completely overhauled them. The sound is more spacious, warmer, with more bottom end. For hardcore fans, the main draw would be the dvd's. Vs. has the afternoon show from the final Boston concerts, and Burma is at full boil. The show is chaotic from an audience stand point, but the band plows through a great, varied set. The picture is not Blue-Ray ready, but very watchable. The only problem with the sound is that it comes nowhere near how pulverizingly loud this band was. The evening show is on the "Horrible Truth" reissue with very little song overlap between the two shows. I'm not going to get into the music because you're probably already on board for these guys and want to know if these reissues are worth it. Yes, absolutely yes. Great job for one of the all time great pop/punk/experimental bands who could just never catch a break.

Matador Records outdid themselves with the vinyl reissues of Mission of Burma's original releases. 180 gram vinyl, gatefold sleeves, large booklets, mp3 downloads of albums, bonus DVDs ... wow.

A lot of thought went into this and makes re-purchasing these (upgrading from the Ryko editions) totally worth it. In many ways, Matador has set the standard for vinyl reissues with the MOB catalog. Very impressive.

the first time i heard this album was on vinyl, mid 1980s, in a friend's dorm room, on a crappy j c penney turntable. of course i made a tape of it, and played it literally to death in my car.

i have a soft spot for that muddy, used-tape-cassette sound, and will probably always associate it with this album (and with that time of my life, and those friends, and so on), but WOW, what a difference a judicious remastering can make! SO MUCH going on here that either i'd forgotten, or had just never heard before. definitely worth the purchase price - and i haven't even watched the DVD yet!

If you want to try and dip your toe into the post punk world I would start with this album. I have spun it several times and I really like the whole cd especially track 3. FYI: I highly suggest buying the stripped down single cd version of this album (the version without the DVD). The cd is far more essential than the DVD. There is so much music hogging my ear time I really only have time to spin the cd not the dvd that is included in this package.