Repackage, reissue, reissue

There was a time when "special edition," "deluxe edition," or "limited edition" sent well earned goose bumps up and down me. It was a 12" single or an album that was truly limited (i.e. deleted day of release) or deluxe or truly special in some "can't buy this from Wal-Mart" kind of way.

These days, those words are as over used as "brilliant" is on those tv ads ("buy the brilliant new album by So and So featuring the brilliant single ..."). I have to admit though, for bands I'm into, I've been suckered into buying more than my fair share of these releases.

Today, "special edition," "deluxe edition," or "limited edition" is attached to loads of releases, and reissues that really don't warrant it. A lot of the time these releases can be hit and miss, depending on what you're looking for.

Personally, I long for the rarities - stuff from the vaults, missing b-sides, single mixes, etc. Stuff I've known about but have never heard. Plying bonus discs with shoddy live tracks (I'm talking about you Joy Division) or demos (hello Cure!) is the easy and lazy way out in my books. I 'm also a sucker for a decent booklet, stuffed with photos, discographies, lyrics, liner notes etc.

A lot of these releases are aimed squarely at fans, and many are from older bands that still have a CD buying fanbase. I would say, hands down, some of the best reissue to date are from Depeche Mode. Not only do they cram their releases with some tasty extras, the discs have also been remastered as multi-channel SACDs. On last count, a reissue like Violator contained the multi-channel SACD version, two-channel SACD version, the CD version, the 5.1 DVD version, the DTS DVD version and the PCM Stereo DVD version on the two discs (that's six versions). There's also a specially shot video on the DVD about the time around the release of Violator. The collection is rounded out by a booklet with liner notes, and lyrics to the album tracks and bonus tracks. Wow!

Working that Long Tail

Having perused the blogosphere yesterday I came upon the fact that an album I loved from the late 80s was reissued recently with a load of bonus tracks, taking the original 10 song track listing up to a value-at-twice-the-price 21 tracks.

So, today and yesterday, I decided to trawl my local record shops in search of "Pop Said" by those Welsh troubadours, The Darling Buds. Shock of shock, as they're not gansgta rap or in the immediate top 10, the CD was nowhere to be seen IN A RECORD SHOP.

I had no option, but to high-tail it from the Zavvi Megastore on Oxford Street and log on the web where myself and other lovers of the long tail can purchase whatever we want whenever we want.

I have to say, if I did find it in a bricks and mortar Video Game / DVD shop (let's face it, that's all HMV or Zavvi are now), I would have probably been forced to shell out around £12. A handy search of the web not only got it for me from Play.com for £7.99 but I also managed to find a number of discount codes dropping the final assault on my wallet closer to £7.00

Target acquired and next week I'll be bopping along to the grooves of The Darling Buds début effort... no thanks to the local record shops.

Priority shift

For most of my adult life (and I classify that as the years I've had my own money, whether pocket money or from a job), I've been a collector. As a collector, that inherently means you NEVER part with anything.

Now when I say I'm a collector, it's not that sad type that doesn't part with anything. I've thrown out the usual stuff - burger wrappers, limited edition coke tins, etc. It's just the collectible stuff that's stayed with me - records, comics, CDs, limited edition board games, etc.

Now I've hit my mid-30s ... and well, for a few years now... it's become more imperative to me to have a clutter-free existence, and this has meant parting with a large number of "things" I've collected over the years.

Why?

The basic answer is a lot of the stuff I don't use any more. I haven't hooked up a turntable for over 7 years, so why keep a garage full of vinyl - even if the collection is chock full of rare white label 12"s and promos? Likewise, there's also a dearth of stuff I look at and scratch my head? Who the hell ever thought it was wise to buy the début Right Said Fred album? Who?

As I get older my priorities have changed I guess. I used to pride myself on a 400-strong DVD collection of which I never watched. Now I just rent the DVDs I want to watch from Tesco. Sitting in front of the telly with the rented DVD looking at my wall of DVDs does make me wonder what I was thinking, why my wallet didn't stop me and how I can offload discs that cost me around a tenner each and are now being given away free on Sunday newspapers.

I think the age of being amazed by that great find in the used record shop is now firmly a thing of the past, but it was fun while it lasted and I've got the crates of vinyl, the boxes of DVDs and the plastic-wrapped comics to prove it.

Now I just need to offload.