Reissues

How important (if at all) is it for you to collect albums that are part of the same reissue series? Do you consistently buy / collect albums from a particular reissue series or just whatever you can ultimately find at an affordable price?

For my part, I can be very picky and generally if I am buying reissues I will want to get only albums which are part of only that particular reissue series and will pass up other versions. At times I am only interested in collecting first pressings and will not cross over into any reissues - however this depends on the band, and how accessible and affordable the first pressings are.

This does not always work out. I find that often times I have to compromise especially when it comes to European metal bands, whose albums were released via labels that are either now defunct or always had poor distribution outside of Europe. For example, I own most of the Rage resissues which came out on Noise and later Sanctuary but with both labels now gone, it has become increasingly more difficult to find these reissues. In the case of the album, Missing Link I had to settle for an original pressing of the album which I managed to find on Second Spin of all places. Ironically Second Spin advertised it as the reissued version, which got my hopes up.

Although I was pleasantly surprised that I had scored a first print of the album, rare out of print and now quite expensive I was also a tad disappointed as the reissue (much like the rest in th Rage reissue series) comes jam packed with bonus tracks, being a mix of songs released on eps, live songs and acoustic versions.

So as you can see, this is a bit of a dilemma for me... when it comes to bands like Priest or Maiden it can easily be helped... their albums are never at risk of going out of print... but not so with lesser known bands.

I used to try to buy the reissues with most bonus tracks on them. I am no longer picky when it comes to what version i own. The only ones i want fro the same series are the ones when the CD spines form some sort of picture.

I don't worry about what "series" a disc is from. If it's a disc I need and it's cheap enough, I don't give a crap where or when it was reissued.

Fat Freddy wrote:

I don't worry about what "series" a disc is from. If it's a disc I need and it's cheap enough, I don't give a crap where or when it was reissued.

same here. The only exception is, like Kurt alluded to, is the maiden and priest remasters that formed an image on the spine. Otherwise it doesnt matter much...

Fat Freddy wrote:

I don't worry about what "series" a disc is from. If it's a disc I need and it's cheap enough, I don't give a crap where or when it was reissued.

Ditto

Quote :

The only exception is, like Kurt alluded to, is the maiden and priest remasters that formed an image on the spine.

Mmmm...nahh, I don't give a crap about those either. I am not nearly that O.C.D...

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

The only exception is, like Kurt alluded to, is the maiden and priest remasters that formed an image on the spine.

Mmmm...nahh, I don't give a crap about those either. I am not nearly that O.C.D...

hehe. I fight the completist in me all the time but i do like how the Priest and Maiden re-issues look in the cd cabinet. Thankfully not too many bands do that.

While we are on the reissue topic - does anyone buy multiple re-issues of the same album? i.e. saint - too late for living has been re-issued at least 3 times now...

exact33 wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

The only exception is, like Kurt alluded to, is the maiden and priest remasters that formed an image on the spine.

Mmmm...nahh, I don't give a crap about those either. I am not nearly that O.C.D...

hehe. I fight the completist in me all the time but i do like how the Priest and Maiden re-issues look in the cd cabinet. Thankfully not too many bands do that.

While we are on the reissue topic - does anyone buy multiple re-issues of the same album? i.e. saint - too late for living has been re-issued at least 3 times now...

No I do not, the exception being Hendrix where I had already owned the original disc and later bought the reissues because the sound quality was incredible.

I am major fan of lots of bands but I did not buy the reissue of any bands that came out with deluxe editions, thou I may make an exception for Def Leppard's Pyromania disc since they have a live ablum on the second disc.

[quote="exact33"]

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

The only exception is, like Kurt alluded to, is the maiden and priest remasters that formed an image on the spine.

While we are on the reissue topic - does anyone buy multiple re-issues of the same album? i.e. saint - too late for living has been re-issued at least 3 times now...

Sadly, yes.

When I first got online I was thrilled to find so many Christian metal CD's that weren't available here in Norway, so the hunt was on! Then labels like M8, KMG and later Retroactive Records started to reissue these old classivs, with bonus tracks! So there I was, rebuying it all. As of late Retroactive have started to reissue the reissues, this time with nicer packaging, remastered sound, but without the bonus tracks. And here I am rebuying again. You see, I no longer care as much for the bonus travks any more, as they more often than not doesn't fit on the original album at all. They are most likely only live versions or demo takes off of songs that weren't even on the album to begin with. I prefer it when labels release these extra songs separatly, on demo compilations or odds and sodds styled anthologies.

[quote="kmorg"]

exact33 wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

The only exception is, like Kurt alluded to, is the maiden and priest remasters that formed an image on the spine.

While we are on the reissue topic - does anyone buy multiple re-issues of the same album? i.e. saint - too late for living has been re-issued at least 3 times now...

Sadly, yes.

When I first got online I was thrilled to find so many Christian metal CD's that weren't available here in Norway, so the hunt was on! Then labels like M8, KMG and later Retroactive Records started to reissue these old classivs, with bonus tracks! So there I was, rebuying it all. As of late Retroactive have started to reissue the reissues, this time with nicer packaging, remastered sound, but without the bonus tracks. And here I am rebuying again. You see, I no longer care as much for the bonus travks any more, as they more often than not doesn't fit on the original album at all. They are most likely only live versions or demo takes off of songs that weren't even on the album to begin with. I prefer it when labels release these extra songs separatly, on demo compilations or odds and sodds styled anthologies.

i am torn on those saint and bride reissues too. I hear people saying they are an improvement on the sound but i dont know if i can hear it.

I am thinking of buying the deluxe edition of 'Diary of Madman' because of the live disc featuring Randy Rhoads

manny wrote:

I am thinking of buying the deluxe edition of 'Diary of Madman' because of the live disc featuring Randy Rhoads

i need to get the re-issue of Blizzard.

I try and get the same versions if possible, but if the original (or any other edition) is quite a bit cheaper, then i'll go for that.

Quote :

While we are on the reissue topic - does anyone buy multiple re-issues of the same album? i.e. saint - too late for living has been re-issued at least 3 times now..

If it's a CD I already own, the new version would have to be pretty freakin' sweet for me to have to re-buy. The only cases I can think of off the top of my head were when Snapper Music reissued a bunch of the W.A.S.P. catalog years ago with a fist full of bonus tracks on each disc, I snagged quite a few of those even though I already had them on CD (HEADLESS CHILDREN, INSIDE THE ELECTRIC CIRCUS, etc.).

Ditto for the Castle Music reissues of the Iron Maiden catalog which included a 2nd disc with all of the album's B-Sides. Again, I had several of those Maiden discs already but the bonuses were enough for me to double dip.

If the "bonus tracks" on a reissue are just live versions or demos of existing tracks then I skip'em. I prefer unreleased studio material or rare B-sides/extras, that sort of thing.

There was a time when I was obsessive compulsive enough that I wanted to own EVERY piece of music EVER recorded by EVERY band I liked - live, demos, b-sides, bootleg live stuff, etc. - but I had a lot more disposable income in those days than I do now, so I have to choose more carefully.

[quote="Fat Freddy"]

Quote :

There was a time when I was obsessive compulsive enough that I wanted to own EVERY piece of music EVER recorded by EVERY band I liked - live, demos, b-sides, bootleg live stuff, etc. - but I had a lot more disposable income in those days than I do now, so I have to choose more carefully.

that is where i am at. There are a lot of new releases coming out and i am beginning to question the wisdom of buying re-releases that I already have.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

While we are on the reissue topic - does anyone buy multiple re-issues of the same album? i.e. saint - too late for living has been re-issued at least 3 times now..

If it's a CD I already own, the new version would have to be pretty freakin' sweet for me to have to re-buy. The only cases I can think of off the top of my head were when Snapper Music reissued a bunch of the W.A.S.P. catalog years ago with a fist full of bonus tracks on each disc, I snagged quite a few of those even though I already had them on CD (HEADLESS CHILDREN, INSIDE THE ELECTRIC CIRCUS, etc.).

Ditto for the Castle Music reissues of the Iron Maiden catalog which included a 2nd disc with all of the album's B-Sides. Again, I had several of those Maiden discs already but the bonuses were enough for me to double dip.

If the "bonus tracks" on a reissue are just live versions or demos of existing tracks then I skip'em. I prefer unreleased studio material or rare B-sides/extras, that sort of thing.

That's exactly how I feel about this issue. Live versions and demos are just not necessary in my book....and a waste of time as far as I'm concerned.

Same as Freddy, at one time I wanted every live, demo etc commited on magnetic tape but I no longer have so much disposable income so I usually chose not to rebuy the same discs over and over.

manny wrote:

Same as Freddy, at one time I wanted every live, demo etc commited on magnetic tape but I no longer have so much disposable income so I usually chose not to rebuy the same discs over and over.

Not only is it lack of disposable income but lack of time to go truckin' all over looking for import CD singles, movie soundtracks, bootlegs, compilation albums, etc., etc... I ain't got time for that sh*t anymore!!

Thanks for everyone's views on this issue.

As I said initially, I am trying to become less pedantic about collecting particular re-issue series but perhaps not by choice but simply because they are very difficult to find (and more often than not will come at very high prices).

Piracy also becomes an issue when albums go out of print or become scarce for the general public. Although you can still find some of these out of print albums on ebay, chances are (depending on the price) that they are Russian / South American bootlegs. The best indication is to see where the album is coming from - if the seller is from Ukraine you know you're being ripped off. However, as some of us can attest, the country where the seller is from is not always conclusive proof - as there are a lot of bootleggers even in the U.S. (anyone remember the infamous fastdecision777?).

This is probably another reason why vinyl is a more attractive format - you can still find legitimate, genuine first pressings of albums that are now no longer in print on CD format. I could be wrong but I always assume I am looking at a genuine copy whenever I see an album on vinyl format, which is no longer available on CD. I mean, counterfeiting a vinyl is not as easy as counterfeiting CDs and making them look as near as possible to the genuine version.

Though in saying that, I am sure there are various underground labels selling unlicensed albums on vinyl. By that I mean, the label acts as though it owns the rights to the band's album(s) when in fact it doesn't and no money is going to the actual artist (think Crimson Glory's claim against Metal Mind Productions).

We live in somewhat unfortunate times - albums going out of print, and the labels that released them going bankrupt is a sign of the times. It is a sign that the traditional way of distributing music on physical formats is gradually being phased out. This is akin to the grunge scene killing metal from the mainstream in the early 90s. However, this is hitting much closer to home - it is the digital world replacing the tactile experience that collectors hold so precious.

If an album is reissued, I look for the reissues - which sometimes really is a rip off as in the case of the deluxe edition of Rainbow's Rising - it's more or less three versions of the album that don't really differ much from each other!
Than there's also the case when there are multiple reissues with different bonus tracks each (Savatage). I hate that.
BTW, except Saxon, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Megadeth, what other bands did the spines that make a picture when put together?

Sound quality is usually the determining factor on what reissues I purchase. If I find a specific mastering engineer whose work I admire I'll track down other reissues they've done. This applies more to labels like Mobile Fidelity, Analogue Productions, Mosaic Records, etc, whose primary target market is geared toward audiophiles.

Then there are series like the RVG reissues of the classic Blue Note albums, the original recording engineer from those sessions (Rudy Van Gelder) did the remastering for the entire series, which added an extra authenticity to the reissues because he KNOWS what these albums were supposed to sound like.

re: First Pressing discs:

I try to avoid any CDs that were pressed in the 80's because the A/D converters were pretty bad during that era, it wasn't until the early 90's that the quality of A/D conversion evolved to an acceptable level.

TheGreatDuck wrote:

If an album is reissued, I look for the reissues - which sometimes really is a rip off as in the case of the deluxe edition of Rainbow's Rising - it's more or less three versions of the album that don't really differ much from each other!
Than there's also the case when there are multiple reissues with different bonus tracks each (Savatage). I hate that.
BTW, except Saxon, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Megadeth, what other bands did the spines that make a picture when put together?

The Carcass reissues which come as gatefold digipacks make up a spine picture of a band photo. i think that is cool but annoying since i already own older reissues by Carcass.

I used to collect everything, but once I started running out of room, I began to notice how absurd it is to have the US version of an album, plus the Japanese import, the UK import, the European import, and the super-duper deluxe edition with 3D glasses I'll never use and a DVD which I'll watch once, maybe. And on top of that, there's the jewelcase promo, the CDR promo, the acetate promo, the six-track promo sampler, the three-track promo sampler in a slimline cardboard sleeve, and the cassette promo from Thailand.

That is just ridiculous, and this was repeated way too many times in my collection.

Now, I try to get the version with the most tracks, if cheap. Otherwise I go for the cheapest version and download the bonus tracks. Often legally now, too. Haha.

S.D. wrote:

Sound quality is usually the determining factor on what reissues I purchase. If I find a specific mastering engineer whose work I admire I'll track down other reissues they've done. This applies more to labels like Mobile Fidelity, Analogue Productions, Mosaic Records, etc, whose primary target market is geared toward audiophiles.

Then there are series like the RVG reissues of the classic Blue Note albums, the original recording engineer from those sessions (Rudy Van Gelder) did the remastering for the entire series, which added an extra authenticity to the reissues because he KNOWS what these albums were supposed to sound like.

re: First Pressing discs:

I try to avoid any CDs that were pressed in the 80's because the A/D converters were pretty bad during that era, it wasn't until the early 90's that the quality of A/D conversion evolved to an acceptable level.

Same for me. I will buy reissues if they've been seriously remastered. The new Pink Floyd discs and Jethro Tull's Aqualung are prime examples where buying the reissue was mandatory for me.

tohostudios wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Sound quality is usually the determining factor on what reissues I purchase. If I find a specific mastering engineer whose work I admire I'll track down other reissues they've done. This applies more to labels like Mobile Fidelity, Analogue Productions, Mosaic Records, etc, whose primary target market is geared toward audiophiles.

Then there are series like the RVG reissues of the classic Blue Note albums, the original recording engineer from those sessions (Rudy Van Gelder) did the remastering for the entire series, which added an extra authenticity to the reissues because he KNOWS what these albums were supposed to sound like.

re: First Pressing discs:

I try to avoid any CDs that were pressed in the 80's because the A/D converters were pretty bad during that era, it wasn't until the early 90's that the quality of A/D conversion evolved to an acceptable level.

Same for me. I will buy reissues if they've been seriously remastered. The new Pink Floyd discs and Jethro Tull's Aqualung are prime examples where buying the reissue was mandatory for me.

I generally don't mind remastered version but what bothers me to no end are remixes! I would like to plead with any band to never remix their original albums, and if they do, they should at least include the original disc with the package too. I was so disappointed when Mustaine remixed Megadeth's albums. It would have been fine had the remixed discs been included as bonus discs together with the original albums but no, it was far worse - the original discs went out of print! How can this be allowed?