A Very Special Christmas: The Story and the Music

[Aaron]

Found a new 2013 release in my local HMV of. "A Very Special Christmas" including a DVD and CD. The CD is the regular album. The DVD is a new celebration of 25 years of the album, and includes video footage of U2 including:
- old photos and video clips from the Conspiracy of Hope tour
- clips of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" video
- clips of U2 playing Pride in 2003 at the Special Olympics opening in Ireland ( at least I think it was 2003)
- clips from an interview with Bono done around 2009 based on the sunglasses he's wearing....

[Aaron]

I posted a quick pic of the disc on twitter at the @u2w account.

[Zbych]

I've found this info: http://www.target.com/p/a-very-special-christmas-cd-dvd-only-at-target/-/A-14893056?clkid=1CVwkgQjiwgGzpaTOdXB4QqPUkT0E3RBiQdwxk0&lnm=Online+Tracking+Link&afid=Skimbit+Ltd.&ref=tgt_adv_xasd0002

[God, Part II]

Any chance the CD is remastered? That would seal the deal for me.

[u2expert]

Disc 2: The Story and The Song DVD

1. Intro – The Gift
2. The Creation
3. Music and The Movement
4. The Sequels
5. The White House
6. The New Generation
7. 25th Anniversary – Joy to the World
8. Changing Lives
9. Do You Hear What I Hear

Source:
http://theseconddisc.com/2013/10/30/a-very-special-christmas-reissued-target/

Appears to be a new documentary, though chapter 7 is likely from the GMC TV Special 'A Very Special Christmas: 25 Years of Bringing Joy to the World' documentary.

Cheers,
u2expert

FYI, related item:
A Very Special Christmas (DVD) (2007)
http://www.amazon.com/Very-Special-Christmas-Jon-Jovi/dp/B000WH5AVK

[Brad]

Right, GMC. Well, Nashville Network was a close guess... 

The GMC special was  60 minutes long if you chop out the commercials. I think it's identical to this new DVD.

That DVD from 2007 is a selection of promotional music videos. U2 is included, but the sound is atrocious and in mono. I wonder if I could rip it and sync it up with the audio from the CD?

[Aaron]

Any chance the CD is remastered? That would seal the deal for me.

Track times are identical to the millisecond for me.  I can compare the audio levels, but it doesn't appear that any real remastering went on. 

[God, Part II]

Any chance the CD is remastered? That would seal the deal for me.

I can compare the audio levels, but it doesn't appear that any real remastering went on.

It would be great to know for sure. It's not that the original CD sounds terrible, but almost all CDs mastered before, say, 1993, tend to sound somewhat anemic, especially in the bass department.

[Scarlet]

should make a decent XMAS gift for friends of fans 

[Aaron]

Any chance the CD is remastered? That would seal the deal for me.

I can compare the audio levels, but it doesn't appear that any real remastering went on.

It would be great to know for sure. It's not that the original CD sounds terrible, but almost all CDs mastered before, say, 1993, tend to sound somewhat anemic, especially in the bass department.

I took a look at the three copies I have - one I've had for years, one i bought last year that came boxed with AVSX-Mas 2 and a DVD, and the new one.
On all three the track in EAC is 2:20.62 and the peak value is 100%.  I took a brief look at the waveforms of all three and they looked pretty similar to me.  I'm thinking they haven't touch the sound on this, and if they did it's minor.  Just a repack I think.

[Brad]

There was an MFSL Original Master Recording version of this released in 1988, only in Japan I believe. I don't think I've ever seen one for less than $200.