Bonus tracks...

Vexer6 wrote:

I heard the Japanese versions of albums usually get bonus tracks as a measure to curb piracy(or something like that).

Not piracy, but imports. Generally CDs are more expensive in Japan (due to higher shipping and labour costs, and general purchasing power), so a lot of times it'd be cheaper to order from abroad. But with exclusive bonus tracks, I guess people are willing to pay for the domestic version.

But then those Japanese versions become desireable to foreigners.

mc666 wrote:

i'm not a fan of live bonus tracks. if i want to hear something live, then i want a whole shows worth of it, done right. not random live tracks tacked on to a studio album.

One of the most pointless bonus tracks I've encountered is on Are You Sitting Comfortably by IQ. The bonus track is a live version of the final song on the album.

What makes it worse is that the live version is pretty much indistinguishable from the studio version - there's no crowd noise and they don't perform it any differently from the studio version. How anybody thought this was a good idea is beyond me.

Narnia had some great japan bonus material - Cant Get Enough of You is a great song.

ultmetal wrote:

I know what you are saying. One I LIKE is the UFO Strangers in the Night CD remaster in which they restore the entire set-list in the proper order.

the "perfect" album for so many situations, and I concur with what your saying.

Eyesore wrote:

Infinite wrote:

What makes me scratch my head is when they add radio edits as bonus tracks. Who the hell wants That?

Yes, those are unnecessary. Why anyone would suggest a track like "So What?" is unnecessary is beyond me.

I echo those sentiments...

I really like the bonus tracks for early UFO, such as "Sixteen" on Phenomenon and "French Kisses" off of No Heavy Petting. I really liked the song "I Will Survive" on the remastered version of Shout at the Devil.

Judas Priest usually had pretty good bonus tracks on they'e remasters like "Prisoner Of Your Eyes" "All Fired Up" and "Thunder Road" But the bonus tracks on Ram It Down were pretty pointless, live versions of "When The Night Comes Down" and "Bloodstone" neither of which sounded that great in comparison to the studio versions.

Bonuses on Queesnryche remasters are probably my favorites, as are obscure Priest tunes. WASP deserve the mention also. But most of the time they are absolutely unnecessary. I mean, do we really want to have the same track as on the album played live without any changes.

Similar to many opinions already expressed, I think that bonus tracks that consist of either 1) demo versions of album songs; 2) live songs; 3) alternate mixes of album songs; 4) interviews; are all worthless. I really am only interested in bonus tracks that are b-sides/previously unreleased songs/rare tracks that were previously extremely hard to come by.

Another thing I strongly dislike on this topic is when a new album comes with a dvd with features of how they made the album. I really don't care about that and I've never once paid any attention to those. I would have preferred to get a b-side bonus track.

Not metal I know, but one of my favorite rock groups is Muse, and thanks to iTunes I've been able to download a lot of their b-sides that have been made available as bonus tracks on pretty much all their albums, and on lots of singles. That I like.

I also like when you don't have to shell out lots of extra cash for bonus tracks. Like with the last Mastodon album, I could pay 9.99 for the regular version at best buy, and then buy the 2 bonus tracks individually on iTunes.

Eyesore wrote:

S.D. wrote:

I love bonus tracks, b-sides, live versions, instrumental edits, alternate mixes, demos, you name it. However, my preference is to have a "bonus disc" with the original album on the first disc and the extra material on a 2nd disc.

I don't mind where the bonus tracks are, as long as they're not on a frickin' DVD! I know some people dig the higher audio quality some DVDs offer these days, but Tori Amos had a bonus track on a DVD before, Godsmack had two on the DVD that came with their last album. And I know there have been plenty of other bands to do it.

To me, that's ridiculous when they're just normal bonus tracks, you know.

I've bought at least one Porcupine Tree cd that had bonus tracks on a dvd (Lightbulb Sun). I wasn't a fan of that either. I ended up finding software to rip the songs off of the dvd, but that was kind of a tedious process. At least I don't have to mess with the stupid dvd though, when I want to listen to music in iTunes.

Quote :

Another thing I strongly dislike on this topic is when a new album comes with a dvd with features of how they made the album. I really don't care about that and I've never once paid any attention to those.

I'm certainly with you on that. I prefer those that include a live DVD (though several of the ones I own have remained unwatched-I swear I'll get to them someday ).

I can understand why some people dislike having DVDs or blu-rays included, but personally I love it. 5.1 mixes, high-res audio, documentaries. I really only buy special edition stuff these days, if it's just a single disc release I generally buy the LPs or hi-res downloads (HDtracks) instead.

Remasters/re-issues of early Tourniquet and Megadeth albums basically just had demo versions of existing tracks.

The 2011 version of "Angel Witch" has 20 bonus tracks!

Morrison wrote:

The 2011 version of "Angel Witch" has 20 bonus tracks!

Sounds awesome to me.

I'll never understand people complaining about getting more.

circle of dust's unreleased acoustic version of 'one enemy' was some of his coolest early work. if you asked me why it was never released i would shake my head and i might give you a cheerio.

Eyesore wrote:

Morrison wrote:

The 2011 version of "Angel Witch" has 20 bonus tracks!

Sounds awesome to me.

I'll never understand people complaining about getting more.

I generally feel that way too. More is better, right? One exception I have to that is the re-issue of Jeff Beck's Truth album.

Maybe it's just because I have a sentimental attachemnt to that original album (which I dubbed to tape from my dad's original vinyl), but the reissue tacks on 6 or 7 additional tracks and just make the listening experience too long. It seems to drag out much longer than it has too with stereo mixes and live tracks that add nothing. I normally wouldn't complain about getting more, but I've listened to those tracks once and have skipped them ever since.

One reissue with bonus tracks I just rediscovered in my collection is Nevermore's self-titled. The reissue has their 1992 demos. They were well done and as enjoyable as any of their official releases. Not quite the same style, but definitely Nevermore!