Box sets<\/a>. Super deluxe editions. Reissues<\/a>. Whatever you want to call them, it is the season for record companies to give consumers the opportunity to spend their hard-earned cash on previously issued material in new formats<\/a>, usually buttressed by music you haven\u2019t heard or at least haven\u2019t heard in this particular form. Reissues are cash cows, designed to extract additional money from people who have already purchased the same music multiple times already: LP or cassette, then CD, then some digital format, then maybe you bought the record again after you sold your vinyl in favor of CDs.<\/p>\n But then it gets complicated. There\u2019s the 10th anniversary remastered CD; some time after that, it\u2019s the new and revolutionary format that will soon become outdated or forgotten (anyone remember SACD? Or half-speed masters?), the 15th anniversary set with bonus material and special Dolby remix, the commemorative 20th anniversary box featuring new and unreleased demos and outtakes, the 25th year celebration edition, the 30th year anniversary box, the 40th year re-remastered remaster using the Plangent Process (or Atmos! Or a new format that will not have an impact on 99.9% of the people buying and listening to it), and the list will continue to go on as long as there are tapes in the vault and customers with money.<\/p>\n These items only used to exist around records that were considered canon or at least landmark. Nowadays, everyone wants to get in on it, and not just for financial reasons. Artists embark on these projects for historical\/legacy reasons \u2014 it\u2019s their chance to present their work with the benefit of time and experience, rectify errors or oversights \u2014 as well as for the gravitas of having this kind of package exist for your music. So the list of box sets and reissues has grown exponentially each year. It\u2019s still less expensive to reissue something you already own than it is to put money towards artist development and new bands or musicians who could be great if they had the chance to grow and develop.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the packaging. Nowadays if you want the fanciest of the fancy box sets, you have to buy the vinyl version (which may or may not come with a download card so you can have a digital version to listen to on your portable device) if you want to get the benefit of the re-imagined packaging, archival photos, and (hopefully, but not guaranteed) extensive liner notes. Otherwise, get out the magnifying glass (no matter how old you are) to read the liner notes in a CD-sized booklet.<\/p>\n The list of box sets and reissues has grown exponentially each year. It\u2019s still less expensive to reissue something you already own than it is to put money towards artist development and new bands or musicians who could be great if they had the chance to grow and develop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The question most listeners and fans ask is simple: Is it worth the money? It might sound great, but how much better does it sound than the thing I already own in at least two versions? There\u2019s outtakes and demos? Again, how much of that detritus exists, and how essential is it to the story of the band or the album? Are we talking about half a dozen alternate takes that basically sound the same, but have a couple of lyrical differences and an extra guitar solo? Is it everything someone found in the vault<\/a> that was recorded in that time frame, and thrown in without regard to what these tracks mean to the artist or the project?<\/p>\n Within this framework, here\u2019s some thoughts on recent reissues that might be a good fit for your holiday gift lists. (And for the record, your columnist bought all of the following releases with her own money.)<\/p>\n (Sony Music)<\/span> Patti Smith \u2013 \u201cHorses\u201d (50th Anniversary) 2LP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHorses<\/a>\u201d has been commercially reissued three times previously: in 1996, it was digitally remastered as part of a box set of Patti Smith<\/a>\u2019s 1970s work on Arista; in 2005, they released a \u201cLegacy Edition\u201d that was also remastered, and then there was a 2012 Record Store Day reissue that audiophiles across the internet actively dislike.<\/p>\n Comparing the remaster with an original pressing (not a flex, I\u2019m just old) on a very analog stereo system sounds fantastic. Given the fact that both Lenny Kaye and Tony Shanahan (credited as the reissue producer) have their names all over the 50th Anniversary version, this is where you want to put your money if you don\u2019t own a copy of the record or hadn\u2019t upgraded it since your original purchase. It\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n The outtakes are (with one exception) previously unreleased, taken from earlier rehearsals or alternate sessions in 1975 and then several from Electric Lady as well. There\u2019s always something interesting to find in early demos and outtakes; \u201cSnowball\u201d is a bright, poppy number but not at the level of the rest of the material in that time period, there\u2019s what sounds like an initial take of \u201cBreak It Up\u201d that has Verlaine\u2019s guitar work higher in the mix, and if you haven\u2019t heard Patti\u2019s version of the Marvelettes\u2019 \u201cThe Hunter Gets Captured By The Game,\u201d she always \u2014 still! \u2014 infuses her delivery on these songs with the same kind of always-smiling verve that you\u2019d have experienced in the audience at any Motown Revue.<\/p>\n Want more from culture than just the latest trend? The Swell highlights art made to last.<\/i> There\u2019s also an early version of \u201cWe Three,\u201d the torch song she wrote with Tom Verlaine, which would later make it onto \u201cEaster.\u201d But it is, perhaps unsurprisingly, an alternate take of \u201cBirdland\u201d dated from the September album sessions at Electric Lady Studios, that stands out, an embryonic but still magical version of the improvisational number that would appear on the album.<\/p>\n Because there aren\u2019t any liner notes \u2014 there\u2019s a paragraph reprinted from Smith\u2019s \u201cBread of Angels<\/a>\u201d \u2014\u00a0 we don\u2019t know why these takes were selected, or their particular significance, but even without that kind of curatorial guidance a careful listener can posit that the bonus tracks (which are identical on the CD reissue, points for not making people buy both to get everything) are meant as a mirror to the official release. Perhaps it was an alternate track listing at some point, or maybe it\u2019s just meant as a window into the past, a small analog time machine letting you sit in the corner while the band works through their material.<\/p>\n (Fire Records)<\/span> The Dream Syndicate \u2013 \u201cMedicine Show: I Know What You Like\u201d (Deluxe Edition)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Nervous breakdowns! Substance abuse! A revolving door of band members! This is more than a reissue; it is a reclamation and a delightfully obstreperous collection of material. First of all is a remastered version of The Dream Syndicate<\/a>\u2019s sophomore 1984 album, something that had been AWOL thanks to major label rights issues. The band won their fight, but under the condition that it could only ever be released on their own record label. So guitarist\/songwriter Steve Wynn revived the indie label he started back in the \u201980s and \u201cMedicine Show\u201d was free again.<\/p>\n \u201cMedicine Show\u201d was a record that either confounded or delighted fans of \u201calternative music\u201d back in the early \u201980s. \u201cMedicine Show\u201d was \u201cRadio Ethiopia\u201d in terms of the sonic and energetic fields it encompassed compared to the band\u2019s debut, \u201cThe Days of Wine and Roses,\u201d which gave them their spot in the New American Underground. They made their first record in a couple of hours and then signed to a major label, got a fancy producer in Sandy Pearlman (best known for his work with Blue \u00d6yster Cult and the Clash), and then founder Steve Wynn had a substance-enhanced nervous breakdown. \u201cMedicine Show\u201d was the result, and you loved it, or you hated it, but if you hated it, you were probably in the wrong place to begin with.<\/p>\n This is a set for the true believers, compiled in a spirit of genuine fan service. With the help of crack archivist Pat Thomas (whose recent credits include The Waterboys<\/a>\u2019 \u201cLife, Death and Dennis Hopper\u201d), they pulled together this doozy of a reissue, including the remastered album, unreleased bonus tracks, and loads of live and rehearsal tracks, including a 1984 Chicago show that was broadcast on WXRT and a proto-\u201dMedicine Show\u201d workout at CBGB<\/a>\u2019s in 1983 show. We get to hear a brief incarnation of the band with keyboards and the rotating bass player lineup, including several appearances by the great Kendra Smith before her departure.<\/p>\n What I think I love the most about this four-CD set is that there are no less than seven \u2014 both studio and live \u2014 versions of \u201cJohn Coltrane Stereo Blues\u201d on here, which is truly exceptional when you consider that the album version is almost nine minutes long and there is no version on this set that is shorter than that. There\u2019s an almost-16-minute version from CBGB\u2019s in 1983 that I might have been in attendance for, where Steve Wynn in the intro makes reference to \u201cthe debacle at the Palladium,\u201d which was when the band opened for U2 on the \u201cWar\u201d tour (I was definitely at that). \u201cWe figured it was a good time to jam for 15 minutes, so this is the song we jammed on in front of 5,000 people.\u201d But this collection of versions isn\u2019t just an inside joke (although it is that, too), it\u2019s also useful archivism, as it lets the listener chart the evolution and development of an absolute epic. It\u2019s also insane, in the best possible way.<\/p>\n (Rhino)<\/span> The Replacements, \u201cLet It Be\u201d \u2013 Deluxe Edition<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Replacements<\/a> have been absolutely outdoing themselves with box set reissues that are worth your money, assembled by the right people who have done an exemplary job at balancing the concerns of legacy and fan service. Now we\u2019re back at the record that could have (and should have) made the band into a household name; there are many reasons that didn\u2019t happen (there\u2019s a great book<\/a> that explains all of it in detail), but it wasn\u2019t for lack of talent. They had it, and this box set will make you remember if you were there, and will make you wish you were if you weren\u2019t.<\/p>\n The remastered album still sounds great; whatever improvements that were made aren\u2019t overwhelming. But also, the people who worked on the original record were very good at their jobs, and given the low-budget constraints, the record sounded very good when it came out, and it still sounds great now. The set is accompanied by fantastic liner notes from the great Elizabeth Nelson \u2014 and even if you think you\u2019ve already read everything written about The Replacements, you\u2019ll learn something. Her perspective is full of both deep appreciation and keen insight.<\/p>\n Of course, there is the requisite disc of rarities and B-sides. The five tracks that appeared on the 2008 reissue of the record are present, including the awesome \u201cPerfectly Lethal\u201d and their dynamite cover of the Grass Roots\u2019 \u201cTemptation Eyes,\u201d but the standouts have to be the two home demos of \u201cAnswering Machine.\u201d One of the demos was on the 2008 issue, but the impact of hearing the two of these back to back is simply stunning. It\u2019s the kind of archivism that will make you go back and forth between the alternates and the album track, comparing and contrasting minute differences in vocal inflection.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s a live show, from Chicago\u2019s legendary Cubby Bear in August of 1984. It is, absolutely, an astonishing performance, and was professionally remastered for this release \u2014 but it\u2019s still an audience tape from 1984 and unless you are still regularly listening to audience recordings of shows from the 1980s, you will likely struggle to listen to this more than once. This show ended up as part of the package because a fan gave Tommy Stinson<\/a> a CD-R of the recording, but one has to wonder if there weren\u2019t equally powerful shows that were captured with greater fidelity. If you just want to have all of the music, the CD version is probably the better investment here over the vinyl.<\/p>\n (Polydor Records)<\/span> The Who, \u201cWho Are You\u201d \u2013 7CD\/Blu-Ray Super Deluxe Edition Boxset<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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