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As a jazz fan, the alt takes ruin the continuity of cd's....they'll stick an alt take right after an LP track, sometimes even two! While the alt takes are of some value, many are so close to the original that they're tough to discern. Rock and pop albums usually put the bonus tracks at the end of the cd, so you still have the original running order, but when record companies screw with the flow by inserting bonus tracks in the middle, then they ruin things.
Bonus tracks can be a blessing or a bane, but with programmable cd players, they don't have to be such a burden.
I like to feel the suspense when you're certain you know I am there.....
Joined: June 22 2014
Location: NorCal
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Points: 126
Posted: November 26 2014 at 21:54
I find 80% of them useless. Why mar a great album by tacking crap onto the end of it? Too often they are badly recorded, or if well-recorded simply bad music. I'm glad I always listen to albums in digital form, which lets me simply delete these things. I also delete non-bonus tracks that are so awful they mar my enjoyment of otherwise terrific albums (*cough* Hare *cough*).
Joined: September 26 2010
Location: USA
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Points: 1281
Posted: November 27 2014 at 01:35
It depends. I think the better ones from Broadsword And The Beast make the 2005 version a better investment, particularly "Jack Frost And The Hooded Crow", "Jack-A-Lynn", "Mayhem Maybe", "Overhang" and "Down At The End Of Your Road". In fact, I burned a CD that had the best songs from that era (including the mentioned bonus tracks and all of the original tracks except for "Seal Driver"), along with some other ones that were included on Nightcap ("Lights Out", "Commons Brawl", "The Curse" and "No Step").
He looks at this world and wants it all... so he strikes, like Thunderball!
Joined: April 12 2013
Location: Michigan
Status: Offline
Points: 470
Posted: December 21 2014 at 21:09
The
intent of bonus tracks is always a sound one: give the consumer more bang for
his buck.Of course they run the gamut
from why-did-they-bother to allright!-I’ve-been-looking-for-that-one.
In
the former extreme, a good/bad one is “Futurama” by Bebop Deluxe, the 90s EMI
reissue.The two b.t.’s are readily
available elsewhere: the same version of Speed of the Wind is also a b.t. on
Sunburst Finish, and the live version of Maid in Heaven is the same as on Live
in the Air Age.
Another
questionable one is Santana’s “Moonflower.”One would think they’d have included more live tracks from that period,
but instead the best they could come up with was the single edits of three
tracks.Snore.
Some
are mixed bags in themselves, like Esoteric’s reissue of Love Sculpture’s Forms
and Feelings.They restored Mars,
previously available only on the U.S. LP, and included the single version of Sabre
Dance and its non-LP B-side.They should
have left it at that, but instead they also threw on four mono single versions
which are hardly discernible from the album versions.
In
the latter extreme, EMI did much better with the first four Barclay James
Harvest albums.The first album, for
instance, is expanded to twice the original length with tons of rare tracks.The other three are equally worth picking up
for the same reason, though many of the non-LP singles were readily available over
the years on compilations.
Kansas’s
“Two for the Show” was expanded to almost twice its original length with more
live tracks dug up from the same period.You should complain, maybe?
One
I especially welcomed was the Voiceprint reissue of Anthony Phillips’ “The
Geese and the Ghost.”Not everyone wants
to hear demos and stripped-down versions but the ones here really served to
illustrate how the album was pieced together.It even included a track which Ant once said there was “categorically no
chance” of being released: the original single version of “Silver Song” which
was to be a Phil Collins solo single but which Charisma pulled the plug on with
no explanation.
Caption: We tend to take ourselves a little too seriously.
I am not very keen on bonus tracks. Most of these bring an album down and deserve the qualification "only for completionists". I usually skip them since I'd rather like to listen to an album as it was meant to be. Yet there are some exceptions, but these are in the minority.
Joined: February 10 2010
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Posted: March 21 2015 at 03:06
AreYouHuman wrote:
Kansas’s
“Two for the Show” was expanded to almost twice its original length with more
live tracks dug up from the same period.You should complain, maybe?
That's a bit different case, same as ELP's extended Works Live compared to the original In Concert (or the recent release of the full concert of the Orchestral Tour in Montreal 1977). I guess that adding more songs in live albums is in general always welcome by most people (as long as the recording quality is on par).
Joined: January 17 2013
Location: NY
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Points: 470
Posted: March 21 2015 at 05:01
I love b-sides and stuff. I generally separate the stuff into a separate section and don't place it with the original album however. It's annoying to have an album and then a bunch of bonus tracks ending it out. Sometimes the stuff is uninteresting enough or I have from other places (think Marillion remasters) I'll keep them around but won't sort them along with the rest of my Marillion. But yeah, if it's an artist I really like I LOVE the rare stuff. Gotta have all of it!
Joined: April 26 2005
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Points: 10616
Posted: March 21 2015 at 07:24
Some Italian (and other) bands have real album material on their LP's/CD's, but add as bonus tracks on the cd a hit single (with a B-side) which was obviously meant to draw attention.
I get the impression that often it is quite good, though poppier than the rest.
For example, Il Paese Dei Balocchi did that. But I also remember Hatfield & The North doing that.
Joined: January 04 2007
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Posted: March 21 2015 at 11:51
snowsnow wrote:
Depends who is doing them.
Bands like Tull or Caravan have done some decent ones. But more is certainly not better. ...
I have a lot of comments on this!
My favorite of all was when the CD was finally released of Caravan and the New Sinfonia, and the concert was complete, because the stuff that was on the original LP was not, and was obviously missing whole sections. I loved that album, but the CD made it even more spectacular and I would imagine that it should have been a double album if the orchestra had not gotten union blues!
That's respect for the art itself right there, I guess! Although I can imagine how an megalomaniac conductor would abuse the priviledge!
All in all, in the early days I was also listening to a lot of bootlegs from many bands that I liked, and the best Jethro Tull has never been released ... a massive 15 minute of "My God" with a blistering flute solo. It would have blown a few classic buffoons to Mars!
I'll just leave it here, because there was a lot more that deserved to be known and shared, of a live nature, that never was. That part, hid a lot more about the artists, than just one song or one small detail that showed up later! So, if we're talking about "gems" and "gold", The Beatles were the kings of it all, because so much more was out there that was hidden and "Let It Be" is STILL hiding a lot and should get "remastered' and cleaned up and shown again!
Over and out!
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
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Posted: March 21 2015 at 13:40
As strange as it may sound, I usually would prefer the bonus stuff being released as a separate album (such as Marillion did with B-Sides Themselves or Bowie did with Rare) than added at the end of an official album.
Or, now in the CD era, as a bonus CD in the package, but not in the same disc as the original album, such as Dream Theater did with the covers bonus disc in the Black Clouds... special edition package.
Joined: February 01 2011
Location: Michigan
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Posted: March 21 2015 at 17:51
Gerinski wrote:
As strange as it may sound, I usually would prefer the bonus stuff being released as a separate album (such as Marillion did with B-Sides Themselves or Bowie did with Rare) than added at the end of an official album.
Or, now in the CD era, as a bonus CD in the package, but not in the same disc as the original album, such as Dream Theater did with the covers bonus disc in the Black Clouds... special edition package.
The greatest compilation of B sides, singles and unreleased material (at least not in the U.S.) was Jethro Tull's Living in the Past. To this day I consider it one of Tull's top five albums, because of unbelievably good songs like "Witch's Promise", "Singing All Day", "Sweet Dream" and "Life Is A Long".
...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
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Posted: March 21 2015 at 17:54
sublime220 wrote:
^Not strange at all. Highly agree with this.
Well, I mean, because when it's added to an original album's disc you get the feeling that you get it 'for free', while when released as a separate disc or album you fell that you are paying for it.
Joined: April 12 2013
Location: Michigan
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Points: 470
Posted: March 23 2015 at 18:52
ExittheLemming wrote:
Free s.h.i.t is still overpriced
p.a.r.t.y. p.o.o.p.e.r.
KingCrInuYasha wrote:
It
depends. I think the better ones from Broadsword And The Beast make the
2005 version a better investment, particularly "Jack Frost And The Hooded
Crow", "Jack-A-Lynn", "Mayhem Maybe", "Overhang"
and "Down At The End Of Your Road".
In the first decade or so of
CDs I think the trend was to put rare tracks, B-sides and the like in
stand-alone compilations and box sets (i.e. Marillion’s B-Sides Themselves,
Yes’s YesYears), but later the tendency was to toss them on CD reissues as
bonus tracks.Often the result is that
the same tracks you may already have picked up on box sets and the like will
turn up again as b.t.’s.Most, if not
all of the rare and unreleased studio tracks on Tull’s 20 Years box set later
turned up as b.t.’s; all eight of the ones on Broadsword & the Beast were
previously on 20 Years.
The Dark Elf wrote:
The
greatest compilation of B sides, singles and unreleased material (at least not
in the U.S.) was Jethro Tull's Living in the Past. To this day I
consider it one of Tull's top five albums, because of unbelievably good songs
like "Witch's Promise", "Singing All Day",
"Sweet Dream" and "Life Is A Long".
Totally with you on that.They were savvy enough to realize that such an
album could be a collection of great songs, even one that would yield a hit
single, at a time (the early 70s) when such collections weren’t so common.
Likewise, most or all of the
FGTR-era tracks on the first Genesis Archive box later popped up on a later
issue of FGTR.
moshkito wrote:
My
favorite of all was when the CD was finally released of Caravan and the New
Sinfonia, and the concert was complete, because the stuff that was on the
original LP was not, and was obviously missing whole sections. I loved that
album, but the CD made it even more spectacular and I would imagine that it
should have been a double album if the orchestra had not gotten union blues!
Agreed, that was always one of
my fave live albums, one that benefited enormously from the expanded treatment.
More buried treasure?
Little Feat – “Waiting for
Columbus” was greatly expanded, and even to someone like me who isn’t a really
hardcore L.F. fan it’s a pretty spectacular set.
VDGG – “The Quiet Zone/The
Pleasure Dome”.Finally got to hear the
studio versions of Ship of Fools and Door.
Peter Hammill – “In
Camera.”The 3 b.t.’s are from BBC
sessions, especially welcome is the VDGG track Emperor in His War-Room.
Flash --“In the Can.”The Esoteric reissue contains the welcome addition of the B-side Watch
Your Step.
Moody Blues – “Octave.”Several live tracks from the ’78 tour were
added.
Kevin Ayers – “Joy of a
Toy.”I just got this last year, and
though the b.t.’s include multiple versions, one of them features Syd Barrett!
Love – “Forever Changes.”Studio rehearsals, alternate versions, a
couple of unheard tracks; if you love this album, you can’t go wrong.
More trash?
ELO – “Eldorado.”A brief bit of noodling (Dark City) and an
instrumental medley, neither necessary.
Pentangle – “Basket of
Light.”There are two “alternate”
versions of Sally Go Round the Roses, and I literally can hear no difference
between them, or between either and the original version.The guitar solos in all three sound nearly
identical.
Eric Burdon & the Animals –
“The Twain Shall Meet.”I looked forward
to this because it contained the single version of Sky Pilot (split in 2
parts).I was expecting the superior
(IMO) version from the U.S. single, only to find nothing more than a mono mix
of the album version, which apparently was the U.K. single.Did they even try to get the U.S. single
version?Totally fumbled the ball on that.
Caption: We tend to take ourselves a little too seriously.
Joined: September 25 2010
Location: Melbourne
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Points: 2446
Posted: March 24 2015 at 03:20
Tulls bonus tracks make them 2-3 times a better band I thought they were on certain albums. Eg. Aqualung and Warchild 40 year versions prove to me tull were at least twice the band the original versions of these albums suggested they were. There's at least twice as many strong tracks to enjoy now.
All I like is prog related bands beginning late 60's/early 70's. Their music from 1968 - 83 has the composition and sound which will never be beaten. Perfect blend of jazz, classical, folk and rock.
Joined: February 18 2004
Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: March 25 2015 at 03:01
Finnforest wrote:
I'm an album guy so I like the reissues to be just the album as it was released. I play the bonus stuff once if it looks interesting, but after that I eject the CD as soon as the regular album is over. I think most of it is pretty tedious.
Some notable exceptions would be early Kate Bush demos which I love, the stuff that Gilmour heard her play and the outtakes from the first two albums. There is a pretty sweet Heart version of Stairway that was added to Little Queen. And on Rumours, they corrected the bonehead decision Lindsey and Mick made to pull Silver Springs off in favor of "I don't want to Know". Stevie was horrified. So Silver Springs is back on Rumours where it was supposed to be.
Here is one of those early Kate songs that I love....don't be too hard on her, she was only 14. Also includes a lovely photo montage of Kate as a child.
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