We all love CD deluxe editions, don’t we? Extra-shiny
packaging with slipcases and lyric booklets, notes, bonus b-sides, remixes and
demos, and the original album remastered so that it’s a little bit louder and
maybe has a little more bass. What could
possibly go wrong?
Here is a list of ten ways in which deluxe editions go bad.
1. Incompleteness
This is the worst one. A deluxe CD edition is the
opportunity to provide a definitive edition, collecting together all the
associated b-sides, remixes and alternative versions. So what do they do? They
leave one off. And there’s always one, one b-side, one remix, something
essential that you know exists but which isn’t there. So you know that – sales
projections permitting – they’ll have to do another edition ten years
down the line.
Example: The Kinks’ Village
Green Preservation Society has the album in mono and stereo, it has all the
singles, b-sides and songs recorded during the sessions - except Pictures in the Sand.
2. Overcompleteness
It’s good when deluxe CD editions are thorough. But there
comes a point where you have to draw the line. Do you really need radio ‘sessions’
where all they did was play the single on the radio? Do you really need ‘edits’
which are identical to other versions except they were faded out earlier? And do
you really need albums presented in mono and stereo when there is no discernible difference.
I mean, with The Beatles, all the differences between the
mono and stereo editions have been scrupulously annotated. And you definitely need
both versions of Odessey and Oracle. But
what differences are there between the mono and stereo editions of Butterfly by The Hollies? Or Odessa by
the Bee Gees? Or Mighty Garvey! by
Manfred Mann? Are there any? Or is the mono version just the stereo version ‘folded
down’?
3. Inconsistency
What any deluxe edition is going to spend most of its time
doing is sitting on the shelf. So it’s vitally important that the packaging is
consistent and the spines all match up. On top of that, there should be a
consistent approach to content – no duplication of material, all bonus tracks
on the correct album, and if one CD goes b-sides, demos, live tracks, all the
CDs should go b-sides, demos, live tracks. It’s just tidy. If one edition puts
all the 12” mixes on a second CD, then all the successive editions should
follow suit, unless there’s a reason for not doing so. And for goodness' sake,
put all the b-sides together and all the 12”s together, or present them
chronologically, but at least have some appreciable logic to it. If people want
to listen on ‘shuffle’ then that’s their prerogative but you don’t need to
shuffle the tracks for them.
The worst examples, and I feel so bad for saying this, are
the deluxe editions of Erasure’s Wonderland
and The Circus albums. The first
reissue, The Innocents, came in a
lovely booklet-y case. Then the second and third come in those double jewel
cases we associate with Now! albums.
The contents are great, but on your shelf, ugly.
Additional example: Elton John’s reissues of his 70s stuff
are great, with most of the b-sides included. But when
it gets to his 80s stuff, most of the b-sides are left off. Why, Elton?
4. Rewriting History
Following on from my earlier point about incompleteness. The
albums have to be presented as they were when originally released. No sneaky
substituting alternative mixes is allowed. And while it’s great when the
original artist is involved with their reissues – they must realize that this
is an opportunity to present a definitive warts-and-all record, and that their
fans often love the things that they themselves don’t rate. At its most
extreme, this can even mean they leave whole albums out of their reissue
campaigns – Elton John doesn’t rate his Leather
Jackets album so it hasn’t been reissued at all. Yes, it’s not great, but
he’s done a lot worse.
Example: Nik Kershaw deciding that his b-side Progress should be left off the deluxe
edition of The Riddle because he didn’t
like it, and deciding to re-do the vocals of some live tracks. What is the point?
5. Tardiness
As Telex once sang, we are all getting old, so for goodness’
sake, get on with it, get the material out there. I realise there are marketing
considerations and people don’t want to swamp markets but this is what I believe branding people call ‘legacy’ material,
this is archive tat, your fanbase is growing old and deaf so let’s not prevaricate!
Example: Paul McCartney’s reissue program of his 70s and 80s
albums is slower than the rate the
original albums were released. Get on with it! I want Back to the Egg with all the bootlegged stuff!
6. Stalling
Following on from tardiness, what could be more annoying
than building up a definitive collection of one of your favourite artists CDs
in deluxe edition form – and then they stop without having included all the
albums? Yes, I know, sales, marketing, but this is my moan and it’s annoying.
It’s annoying that the Bee Gees
reissues didn’t get as far as Cucumber
Castle, they could’ve included the movie as a DVD extra (well we can
dream).
Example: Sorry to pick on Erasure again but it’s very
frustrating that the reissues – which, aside from the packaging, were excellent
– haven’t got to Wild! and Chorus because they are two of the group’s
most successful and highly-regarded albums, with lots of hits on and stuff, and
they both could really do with a remastering spit and polish. I mean, I think Chorus is one of the best albums ever
made, it’s annoying that it’s not been given the deluxe treatment. And both Wild! and Chorus have excellent concert videos that could be included as
DVDs. Oh, it makes me mad.
7. Ignorance
There is an art to providing liner notes. What you want is
to guide your listener through the various gems included in your deluxe
edition. They need context. They need to know what order the b-sides were
recorded and what singles they were flipside-ing. What you want, basically, is
your artists’ equivalent of Mark Lewisohn. Someone to ferret through the archives
and uncover facts about working titles and alternative versions. What you don’t
want is some journalist rent-a-hack who is just trying to fill four sides with
words. And I’m not sure you even want the artists themselves unless they have
something interesting and positive to say; liner notes full of ‘I don’t
remember writing this’ and ‘Well this was a load of crap we knocked off in an
afternoon’ are not what you want to read after you’ve forked out your £15.
But while it’s lovely to see the artwork of every international edition of every single... you do need to include something to read.
8. Low fidelity
There are one or two or more deluxe editions where the sound
quality is not, in any discernible way, an improvement on the previous edition.
In fact, there are a few where the sound quality is worse. I’m not going to
name them because it’s often not the record company’s fault, there are problems
with getting access to original tapes and things get mislaid, but
if improved sound quality is not your selling point then it’s all the more
important to make sure you get the other selling points right.
9. Superfluity
There comes a point at which you cannot improve sound
quality any more. At some point you are going to remaster something correctly,
as it originally sounded, but in the best possible quality. At which point you
should stop. And not, in the case of ABBA, keep going. Some of their albums
have been remastered three or four times now. So which is the best one to get?
This one’s too loud, this one’s too noise-reduced, this one’s got an edited
version of The Name of the Game by
mistake. Get it right – and then stop! In the words of ABBA – Move On!
10. Nonexistence
It’s a little bit baffling that some artists have had the
deluxe reissue treatment when they were, and are, not particularly popular or
highly-regarded, and yet with other artists we’re still listening to CDs that
were mastered in the 80s (when they didn’t even master stuff for CD, they just
mastered it for tape and used the same master for the CD). There are artists
with loads of b-sides, probably loads of great unreleased demos and leftovers,
where the only editions of their albums still have inlays telling you about The
Compact Disc Digital Audio System in four different languages. You know, ‘If
you follow these suggestions, the Compact Disc will provide a lifetime of pure
listening enjoyment’.
So come on. Get acts together. Pull fingers out. Where are
the deluxe reissues of Kate Bush’s stuff, Prince’s stuff (80s only, we are not
masochists), The Beautiful South’s stuff?
