Big Blue Ball

I just have one word to describe this album; Brilliant! This album has been one of the best piece in recent years. It's so good to hear awesome musicians from all over the world come together for a fantastic project.

I have been a big fan of PG and Afro Celts for a long time now..So, to hear my favourite artists along with other great musicians from around the world gives me goose bumps. I have been playing this album the most, amongst other music collection I have been listening to, since I bought it a week back.

We need more of these collaborations..

Cheers,
Sunder from Denver, CO

Too bad the grousing vinyl folks are included here to weigh down the rating of this wondrous album. I had read years ago about these magical sessions and had wondered for years about the possibility of hearing them. I am not only not dissapointed by undue expectation (as I was by Gabriel's last solo effort), but thrilled to glimpse a part of this legendary time of community at Real World. The joy and spontaneity of these performances shine through, the quality of the recording (I would assume all analog, thus accounting for the fullness evident), and the originality inherent in the world-fusion aspect, make this a one of a kind must-have.
Peter Gabriel's contributions are obvious in the overall style of production and it's great to hear his voice on a couple of songs, but the real magic here is the merging of this diverse group of stellar musicians, creating what they so brilliantly do - together.

This CD really blew me away from the first note to the last. Each and every song fills my soul. What an awesome bunch of musicians. I would have loved to have experienced the sessions with them. Amazing.

This outstanding album, 2008's "Big Blue Ball," is a Peter Gabriel album that's not really a "Peter Gabriel" album. A big 17 years in the making(!), it's a collaboration between Gabriel and a mass group of various singers and musicians from all over the world, including Karl Wallinger (of World Party and The Waterboys), Sinead O'Connor, Deep Forest, Natacha Atlas, Vernon Reid, Marta Sebestyen, Joseph Arthur, and many, many more. You've heard of The Alan Parsons Project? Well, consider "Big Blue Ball" an album by The Peter Gabriel Project, aka Peter Gabriel & a whole bunch of friends. So what took so long? Well, Gabriel & company recorded this album oh-so-casually, getting together for the odd occasional group recording sessions that started way back in 1991, slowwwwly putting the album together piece by meticulous-piece over the next decade-and-a-half, inbetween Gabriel's other various projects going on at the same time ("OVO," "Up," "The Long Walk Home" movie soundtrack, etc.). But now, as Gabriel himself says, "Big Blue Ball" is a fine wine ready to be drunk at last, and thank God for that---this music is *wonderful*! "Big Blue Ball" is passionate, atmospheric & powerful, with all the singers & musicians working together like a magnificent musical family. The songs are cohesive and flow together beautifully. My favorite tracks include Gabriel's trio of featured songs, the emotion-packed "Whole Thing," the funky "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" (which you may already know from Gabriel's best-of compilation, "Hit"), and his rockin' collaboration with Joseph Arthur, "Exit Through You." Arthur also shines brightly on the absolutely dreamy "altus silva." Sinead O'Connor makes her contribution count on the haunting "Everything Comes From You," Natacha Atlas and Marta Sebestyen also give great vocal performances on "Habibe" and "Rivers," respectively, and Wallinger concludes things on a high note with the very lovely title track. But really, the whole "Big Blue Ball" album from beginning to end is just marvelous. If you love Peter Gabriel's music and/or world music in general, then you're gonna love "Big Blue Ball." Trust me!

Any ideas what the differences are between the 2 versions available: ASIN: B0018RKENW and ASIN: B00195FU9Q - aside from price and cover art?
Both are listed as being CDs with the same track and editorial descriptions. Amazon even offers them as a package deal. And what a deal that is!!

Don't bother asking Amazon, as they are clueless and that's where they leave it - after repeatedly witnessing the clerk mentality raised to an art form - instead of trying to get a more definitive answer.

Any reliable help, as opposed to simply more speculation in which we are buried,would be welcomed. Thanks.