Reissues vs. Originals

What is your opinion on reissues, exspecially from the point of view of the CD owner who has a pricey OOP collectible, only to see his prized possesion reissued with remastering, better artwork, packaging,exclusive liner notes, etc? If you own the original do you buy the reissue? Does the original keep its original value? I remember when the first run of Metal Mind reissues came out, about a month later, I saw a TON of the Roadrunner originals in the used bin, like Sadus's Swallowed In Black for example. Do you see this where you live? How do YOU feel about reissues? Do you sell the original and buy the new one? Or do you refuse to buy the same album multiple times despite extra tracks etc? Please discuss.....

Depends on the album/band. 9 times outta 10, if a CD I already have gets reissued, it's gotta have lots of extra sweetness to make me lay out $$ for it again. A couple of bonus live tracks or demos isn't gonna cut it.

When Castle Records reissued Iron Maiden's catalog in the mid 90s with the extra CD of B-sides for each album, those were definitely worth re-buying. Same for the W.A.S.P. catalog overhaul from the late 90s, with all the B-sides and other goodies tacked on.

Otherwise, I generally don't even bother.

I dont usually buy reissues. Just something I like about owning the actual first press copies...dont know. I dont have a problem with reissues of OOP discs coming out because for me and a load of other collectors its a chance at maybe snagging a copy of the original for cheaper not to mention alot of guys will like you say, trade in their old copy for the updated reissue.

reissue = blind buy if it's REMASTERED, and from the original tapes. A lot of first-press and second press CD's, old ones, didn't come from the direct direct source recording and as mostly analog recordings, weren't tailored to be balanced out with the digital technology either, so the sound sucks. If you put up old 80's/early 90's pressings of things VS a vinyl of the same record, the vinyl is going to win each time.

If I don't have the album AT ALL, my preference is to own the reissue but if there's a large cost difference, I might go for the original if new copies are still available.

If an album that I already own gets reissued? Doesn't phase me, I don't worry about "upgrading". Though it would be nice to have, a simple remaster and/or tacking on of a b-side/unreleased/live song doesn't warrant a new purchase, IMO.

Depends on the album for me.

If I already have it, it's gotta have some pretty cool bells & whistles for me to re-purchase. If I don't own it alreay, I typically go for the re-issue.

One thing I don't like is having a band's entire discography, some original release and some re-issues. It bothers me for some odd reason, so in that case, I'll usually get the re-issues to have the full set and ditch the originals. But it has to be a band that I really, really love. WASP and Judas Priest are 2 good examples.

It depends on the album, mostly.

Like most folks here, if I already own it, I will not repurchase the reissue, especially if it gets reissued just a few months or a year after they originally released the album.

manny wrote:

especially if it gets reissued just a few months or a year after they originally released the album.

Otherwise known as the "Roadrunner Records Business Model."

Does not matter for me. If it's reissued and readily available I will buy that version. I am a fan of music and not fan of editions. If I have to buy the first edition to get an album - I will but I will not go to great lenghts and just wait for a reissue if it's coming.

The only one that sounds significantly better to me is "Killing is my Business".

Temple of Blood wrote:

The only one that sounds significantly better to me is "Killing is my Business".

The Forbidden Evil and Bonded By Blood reissues sound much better too.

Those Iron Maiden Castle discs are an interesting example. Sure, they had bonus material and everything...but the single disc reissues that came out a couple years later sounded WAY better. So it's a tough call for me because sound quality is of the highest priority.

Compare sometime the Castle reissue of the first Iron Maiden album, with the "enhanced" version from the late 90's and you'll see what I mean. There is WAY more depth to the sound stage on the enhanced version and the low end is much more precise.


I try to find CDs that were either issued or re-issued sometime in the mid to late 90's for the most part.

There are 2 reasons for this:

1. The D/A conversion software had been upgraded by this point to at least 20bit and CD's started to sound a lot better around 1994/1995 or so.

2. This was also BEFORE the "Loudness Wars" started between labels, so mastering engineers were less likely to BRICKWALL their mixes during that era.

It wasn't until the early 2000's that they started down that disastrous path.

I am in the "rarely buy same stuff again" department. If I own a copy of something on vinyl and like Detuned stated regarding initial 80's ADD format, a remastered/reissue may get purchased on cd. Though I do some Nancy Drew action and find out what was actually done, how good, if it is noticiable, and even worth it.

detuned wrote:

Those Iron Maiden Castle discs are an interesting example. Sure, they had bonus material and everything...but the single disc reissues that came out a couple years later sounded WAY better. So it's a tough call for me because sound quality is of the highest priority.

Compare sometime the Castle reissue of the first Iron Maiden album, with the "enhanced" version from the late 90's and you'll see what I mean. There is WAY more depth to the sound stage on the enhanced version and the low end is much more precise.

yep, the Raw Power reissues. Those are the ones I have, and I happen to be so obsessive, I won't even finish my purchases unless each one is the original Raw Power one, even though the Sanctuary ones from later are basically the same exact reissue but with a slipcase.

Again, most old original CD issues are pretty inferior, it's better to just get the vinyl. It's like the difference now between most digital files VS the actual CD.

detuned wrote:

Those Iron Maiden Castle discs are an interesting example. Sure, they had bonus material and everything...but the single disc reissues that came out a couple years later sounded WAY better. So it's a tough call for me because sound quality is of the highest priority.

Compare sometime the Castle reissue of the first Iron Maiden album, with the "enhanced" version from the late 90's and you'll see what I mean. There is WAY more depth to the sound stage on the enhanced version and the low end is much more precise.


I try to find CDs that were either issued or re-issued sometime in the mid to late 90's for the most part.

There are 2 reasons for this:

1. The D/A conversion software had been upgraded by this point to at least 20bit and CD's started to sound a lot better around 1994/1995 or so.

2. This was also BEFORE the "Loudness Wars" started between labels, so mastering engineers were less likely to BRICKWALL their mixes during that era.

It wasn't until the early 2000's that they started down that disastrous path.

Agree with you - the Castle reissues sound much better than the original CD's of the early stuff.

The 2010 Sabbath 'Sanctuary' releases are a fine example of how to do it properly. The 'extras' included are not just tacked-on, disposable garbage; they're actually well thought-out and very worth having.

The Mob Rules re-issue has the entire New Year's Eve '81 'Live at Hammersmith' show as a bonus CD!

Yes!

I go with whatever I can get the cheapest. The only way I'll re-buy a reissue is if it is loaded up with enough extra to justify the expense. I used to buy every release of favored albums but eventually decided I was only encouraging them to keep putting out cash grabs.

For me, if i dont have it then yeah ill buy the reissue

Generally I dont buy resissues if i have the original

Yeah it does irk me when the value of my orgiinal goes down because they re-record it and what not (good exmple Whitecross' ST album) but Im glad more people can get it to hear the music

The only cds I can remember actually replacing with remasters were my KISS cds. I think the only KISS cds I haven't replaced are Animalize and everthing after Crazy Nights. Animalize was the first cd I ever bought way back in '86, so I'll keep that forever (...this time I know and there's no doubt in my mind).

Outside, of that, if I don't already own it and the remaster exist, I'll generally pick up the remaster.

Temple of Blood wrote:

The only one that sounds significantly better to me is "Killing is my Business".

With the exception of "These Boots." The only reason I still own the original.

Ill buy the re-issue most of the time if it has bonus tracks even if I own the album. I dont go wild and if the original issue is too $$$ then its definetly the re-issue. I am not must have the original pressing guy anymore. I like the music and thats whats matters.

Well it really depends to me. If its a band I really like I will buy a reissue even if I have an original regardless if there are extra tracks or not. Most of the time I'll keep it but if its a band where I don't mind either way then I don't mind to get rid of the original copy. Like recently I sold on ebay the first 4 Nightwish cds because I own the remasters. And I recently bought the Black Sabbath Box Set with the Dio remastered albums. I sold the Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules originals I had but kept the original Dehumanizer because it had the lyrics and the remaster didn't.

Helloween is my favorite band so I own multiple copies of all their albums. Kind of the same with Maiden. I own a few originals but I own all the Castle Reissues plus I own all the remasters. Blind Guardian as well I own both the originals and the reissues. I was going to get rid of the originals but decided against it because the first 2 albums are remixed and remastered so they differ from the original. King Diamond and Mercyful Fate are another favorite and I own both copies of his albums. Last but not least I have all the original Megadeth albums and the remixed remasters. I'm keep both of those because I like some of the remixed stuff compared to the orignals and vice versa. Thats all I can think of for now haha.

Otherwise if its a band I never owned and I have a choice between remaster or original I most likely go with the remasters, like I own all the Judas Priest, Kiss, and Rush remasters and I don't mind if I have the originals or not.

there are rules:

- I must own only one edition of an album, and it must be TEH ULTIMATEZ edition...which edition this is is sometimes to my discretion... but this edition is often the Remastered or Japanese edition. At times it may be that my album art is inferior to that of the Russian edition; this too may be resolved.
- I shall own CD's with no gigantic fluctuations in volumes. Otherwise this shall create havoc with the digital playbacks and shuffle list and will not suffice. Poor Savatage albums shall not be played on the PC or Zune until a suitable sounding reissue is out.
- I must own no digipaks. Unfortunately this rule has been broken a small amount, yet I shall, at some point, revenge.

Much prefer original pressings (collector side of me). Only time I really go for reissues is either as a stop-gap until I can get the original press, or if the reissue is of an album that never saw a CD pressing.