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Post by Kapitan on Nov 27, 2023 13:50:45 GMT
I'm sure that basic question--stick to the originals, or present something new--would be hugely controversial among fans. I could easily imagine some faction saying, "look, I bought some original albums, some twofers, I bought stereo mixes, I bought all these various versions, but what I want, all in once place, is the original albums, as they were released at the time, period." And I could easily imagine another faction with strong arguments against that, ranging from, "I already have the originals; I want something new," to Sheriff John Stone's preference for stereo or a unified mastering philosophy. With what would surely be a massively expensive set (or couple of sets) regardless, any divisions that would detract from the potential buying audience would hurt, too. What percentage of fans would buy such sets? I'm guessing a pretty small one. If you turn off half of them by changing/not changing the content...ouch. For me, the copyright extensions are more than enough for this. They've included good remasters and sometimes remixes of the originals, plus the goodies. No, they aren't in the original packaging, but I'm not so into that anyway. And at 1-2 albums' worth apiece, for the most part, the prices don't get TOO crazy.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 27, 2023 14:09:27 GMT
I'm sure that basic question--stick to the originals, or present something new--would be hugely controversial among fans. I could easily imagine some faction saying, "look, I bought some original albums, some twofers, I bought stereo mixes, I bought all these various versions, but what I want, all in once place, is the original albums, as they were released at the time, period." And I could easily imagine another faction with strong arguments against that, ranging from, "I already have the originals; I want something new," to Sheriff John Stone 's preference for stereo or a unified mastering philosophy. With what would surely be a massively expensive set (or couple of sets) regardless, any divisions that would detract from the potential buying audience would hurt, too. What percentage of fans would buy such sets? I'm guessing a pretty small one. If you turn off half of them by changing/not changing the content...ouch. For me, the copyright extensions are more than enough for this. They've included good remasters and sometimes remixes of the originals, plus the goodies. No, they aren't in the original packaging, but I'm not so into that anyway. And at 1-2 albums' worth apiece, for the most part, the prices don't get TOO crazy.Yes, and the ironic thing is, an "all-original albums only" boxed set would NOT be the best, or the most satisfying, or the most economically-smart purchase. Because, you would still have to buy the other various boxed sets, two-fers, and odd comps to get the unreleased/rare stuff. And, if you're a big enough fan, you're gonna want to go there anyway. You won't stop with just the original albums. It might be smarter - and more fun - to buy one "thing" at a time.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 27, 2023 14:25:13 GMT
I'm sure that basic question--stick to the originals, or present something new--would be hugely controversial among fans. I could easily imagine some faction saying, "look, I bought some original albums, some twofers, I bought stereo mixes, I bought all these various versions, but what I want, all in once place, is the original albums, as they were released at the time, period." And I could easily imagine another faction with strong arguments against that, ranging from, "I already have the originals; I want something new," to Sheriff John Stone 's preference for stereo or a unified mastering philosophy. With what would surely be a massively expensive set (or couple of sets) regardless, any divisions that would detract from the potential buying audience would hurt, too. What percentage of fans would buy such sets? I'm guessing a pretty small one. If you turn off half of them by changing/not changing the content...ouch. For me, the copyright extensions are more than enough for this. They've included good remasters and sometimes remixes of the originals, plus the goodies. No, they aren't in the original packaging, but I'm not so into that anyway. And at 1-2 albums' worth apiece, for the most part, the prices don't get TOO crazy.Yes, and the ironic thing is, an "all-original albums only" boxed set would NOT be the best, or the most satisfying, or the most economically-smart purchase. Because, you would still have to buy the other various boxed sets, two-fers, and odd comps to get the unreleased/rare stuff. And, if you're a big enough fan, you're gonna want to go there anyway. You won't stop with just the original albums. It might be smarter - and more fun - to buy one "thing" at a time. I agree, but I also see B.E.'s point about this sort of box: they are out there, and obviously somebody must really like them. The Beach Boys even had a singles version some years back, didn't they? I get the appeal: all the originals collected in one place. Not three worn-out LPs, a dozen CDs of various vintages, a cassette or two, etc. It's just that the appeal for me personally is very limited.
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Post by B.E. on Nov 28, 2023 3:32:50 GMT
I'd be surprised if Beach Boys fans truly wouldn't be interested if the price were right for them. Or even if that's the case, that they wouldn't personally be interested now, in the future, or at any point in the past, wouldn't you still think the Beach Boys are as deserving as these other artists? That it should be available to those fans who are interested? And might you have an opinion on how such a set should be put together?
I think The Beach Boys are absolutely deserving of a career-spanning boxed set. They are an institution. In addition to the quality of the music, I can't think of any group who had more actual releases/albums, so it would be quite the undertaking. But, yeah, it would be nice to at least have something like that available for the niche of fans who desire it.
Just off the top of my head, I think I would play it fairly safe with how I comprise the set. I would make it simple and as close to original as possible. I know this would be a controversial issue, but I would release all of the albums in the stereo format. I would stick to the original artwork - front, back, and liner notes. For CDs, I would prefer jewel cases not just for durability/preservation, but also for the liner notes (on the paper insert) where it applies.
As someone who has made endless Beach Boys' comps over the years, I've always been frustrated by the various volume levels of the albums. Frankly, they're all over the place. I would make it a priority to master all of the albums at the same volume level. It makes for a much more pleasing - and easier - listen as you go from one album to another during a listening session.
Hmm, regarding the Beach Boys having the most albums of any group, I wonder if that's true. Artist? Not even close, but group? Maybe. Or at least I think they'd be very high on the list. I completely agree with you about playing it fairly safe and sticking to the original artwork as well as being careful to balance the volume levels across the entire set (I'm a huge proponent of this!). Regarding stereo vs. mono, I wonder if the best option is a compromise: mono and stereo for those albums with a mono mix. But I could be talked into your idea, because there could/should be a separate mono box. The more I think about it, it was probably a missed opportunity for the Beach Boys not to release a Beach Boys in Mono box set alongside the Beatles (2009), Bob Dylan (2010), and The Rolling Stones (2016). The Beatles have a separate stereo box set and Dylan's complete album box is all stereo. I get that their release history is a bit different in this area, but they've got the most compelling mono backstory of them all! As for the CD case, I'd prefer the digisleeve(?) or mini LP style. I don't know if you've seen the Beatles 2009 stereo albums, but they look incredible and open up with space for a booklet. Don't get me wrong, I like jewel cases, too, but for this sort of set I think the aesthetics just aren't there. Also, they take up more space.
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Post by B.E. on Nov 28, 2023 3:33:18 GMT
I'm sure that basic question--stick to the originals, or present something new--would be hugely controversial among fans. I could easily imagine some faction saying, "look, I bought some original albums, some twofers, I bought stereo mixes, I bought all these various versions, but what I want, all in once place, is the original albums, as they were released at the time, period." And I could easily imagine another faction with strong arguments against that, ranging from, "I already have the originals; I want something new," to Sheriff John Stone 's preference for stereo or a unified mastering philosophy. With what would surely be a massively expensive set (or couple of sets) regardless, any divisions that would detract from the potential buying audience would hurt, too. What percentage of fans would buy such sets? I'm guessing a pretty small one. If you turn off half of them by changing/not changing the content...ouch. For me, the copyright extensions are more than enough for this. They've included good remasters and sometimes remixes of the originals, plus the goodies. No, they aren't in the original packaging, but I'm not so into that anyway. And at 1-2 albums' worth apiece, for the most part, the prices don't get TOO crazy. I could be wrong, but I think almost all of these sorts of sets stick to the original mixes and artwork. No argument from me, though, that a relatively small parentage of fans will ultimately be interested. But I imagine that's true of most releases beyond reissues of popular studio albums or greatest hits compilations.
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Post by B.E. on Nov 28, 2023 3:33:29 GMT
For me, the copyright extensions are more than enough for this. They've included good remasters and sometimes remixes of the originals, plus the goodies. No, they aren't in the original packaging, but I'm not so into that anyway. And at 1-2 albums' worth apiece, for the most part, the prices don't get TOO crazy. Yes, and the ironic thing is, an "all-original albums only" boxed set would NOT be the best, or the most satisfying, or the most economically-smart purchase. Because, you would still have to buy the other various boxed sets, two-fers, and odd comps to get the unreleased/rare stuff. And, if you're a big enough fan, you're gonna want to go there anyway. You won't stop with just the original albums. It might be smarter - and more fun - to buy one "thing" at a time. It's my understanding that many of these sets include bonus disc(s) to ensure it's truly "complete". For some, that's including their many non-album tracks and for others it also includes alternate takes, live versions, unreleased material, etc. So, there'd certainly be no need to buy the twofers, but also potentially many of their other comps or archival releases. A lot of that stuff is nonessential. But every fan is different. Some fans simply buy it all. Complete album sets, copyright extension, you name it. I also disagree that a complete album set would (necessarily) be more expensive than buying all (or most) of their albums individually. If such a set was available when I was getting into the Beach Boys, it would have been perfect. Speaking of the twofers, I appreciate them very much. I'm thrilled to have recently picked up a few that I was missing. But...they are awkward. Whether it's showing only one album on the front or both on the back. And as nice as the packaging is otherwise, the concept just feels a little cheap. Like the albums can't stand on their own. Also, many don't have any bonus tracks at all. BB85 doesn't even include "Male Ego", which (I know you know) was a bonus track on the original CD! In thinking about when a good time to have released a complete album set would have been, I first think of the reunion (for many reasons) but around 2000 wouldn't have been bad either. What if instead of the second round of twofers we got the complete album set? And what if the albums were also available for purchase individually? Then we would have had proper reissues of their entire catalog - like it should have been. All that said, I don't disagree that it can be more fun to buy things one at a time. It would just be nice to have the option not to, too.
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