Reissues with worthwhile bonus tracks..

I'm not talking about the quality of the remastering of the original album, or if it was remixed or re-edited or anything.

Strictly the bonus tracks. I like, of course, when out -of-print EPs or hard to find soundtrack/comp songs or added. And I usually like fully completed songs from the same album recording sessions, that just got cut for whatever reason.

I hate live bonus tracks...or, if that is the *only* bonus material...that never necessiates a re-buy.

Some bands/albukms that I fully enjoyed the bonus tracks:
-The W.A.S.P. reissues had excellent bonus tracks.
-Ramones-hands down, my favorite reissue series. Some of the albums has almost full albums worth of unreleased tracks
-Motley Crue- TFFL and Shout. The subsequent album reissues got lesser and lesser, but those first two, I listened to the bonus stuff quite a bit.
-The Cure 2-disc reissues. Those supplemental discs had a lot of stuff that was not essential, but they also had a lot of good extras, I thought.

Any others? I'm sure I'm missing some good ones.

Seconding the Ramones and W.A.S.P. remasters... there's tons of cool extra stuff to geek out with on those.

Motorhead's back catalog has been raped more often than a hippo at a frat party but the Castle Records reissues that came out around the late 90s had a bunch of sweet bonus tracks attached - not just live versions, but a lot of alternate takes, demos, etc.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Seconding the Ramones and W.A.S.P. remasters... there's tons of cool extra stuff to geek out with on those.

Motorhead's back catalog has been raped more often than a hippo at a frat party but the Castle Records reissues that came out around the late 90s had a bunch of sweet bonus tracks attached - not just live versions, but a lot of alternate takes, demos, etc.

Oh yeah, I had a couple of the MH re-issues too. Not all of them. But they did have some good stuff too.

I'm kind of surprised that KISS did not get into the bonus tracks game. Like, they did the 1999 reissues. I'm surprised they never reissued them again a few years later with extra stuff. That is so up KISS' alley, the re-packaging of the same music.

The Castle Records 2 disc Iron Maiden reissues were exceptional for their bonus material.

Witchfinder wrote:

The Castle Records 2 disc Iron Maiden reissues were exceptional for their bonus material.  

I didn't even know there were versions of the IM records with bonus material.

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Seconding the Ramones and W.A.S.P. remasters... there's tons of cool extra stuff to geek out with on those.

Motorhead's back catalog has been raped more often than a hippo at a frat party but the Castle Records reissues that came out around the late 90s had a bunch of sweet bonus tracks attached - not just live versions, but a lot of alternate takes, demos, etc.

Oh yeah, I had a couple of the MH re-issues too. Not all of them. But they did have some good stuff too.

I'm kind of surprised that KISS did not get into the bonus tracks game. Like, they did the 1999 reissues. I'm surprised they never reissued them again a few years later with extra stuff. That is so up KISS' alley, the re-packaging of the same music.

I think in KISS' case, they used up most of the "extra" songs they might have used as bonus tracks in the KISS Box Set. Though I wouldn't put it past Gene & Paul to truck those extra tracks out again on a future reissue campaign. Probably the only thing holding them back from doing it is the fact that most people aren't buying CDs anymore!

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

The Castle Records 2 disc Iron Maiden reissues were exceptional for their bonus material.  

I didn't even know there were versions of the IM records with bonus material.

Castle Records in the United States reissued all the Maiden albums from the debut through Fear of the Dark with bonus discs that were packed with every Maiden b-side/EP.  This was around '95.  They are excellent.  Also, they were not remastered so the sound is not brickwalled.

I am still kickin' myself for not buying that entire Castle Records series of Maiden double-discs in one shot. At the time I only bought the ones I didn't have on CD already. When I realized how dumb that was, of course, they were already OOP and had  become impossible/very expensive to find. D'oh!!

Fat Freddy wrote:

I am still kickin' myself for not buying that entire Castle Records series of Maiden double-discs in one shot. At the time I only bought the ones I didn't have on CD already.

Same here. I have managed to get all but two.

Witchfinder wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

I am still kickin' myself for not buying that entire Castle Records series of Maiden double-discs in one shot. At the time I only bought the ones I didn't have on CD already.

Same here.  I have managed to get all but two.  

I've been lucky enough to score a couple of them used over the years since then, but I've all but given up on finding the rest of the ones I'm missing without paying stooopid $$$ for'em.

I really liked the bonus material on the Bruce Dickinson reissues from 1995. Sanctuary Records reissued his entire discography up to that point with bonus tracks/discs.

Displeased reissue of Toxik's World Circus comes to mind: 86 demo, Metal Massacre track, some unreleased tracks, Kiss cover song, some radio spots etc - 12 bonus tracks in total.
Think This also contains 5 bonus track, mostly instrumental, but I haven't heard it yet ...

The Queensryche remasters were also good.

I had those Maiden CDs as a kid, specifically Beast and Powerslave; they were kickass.

The Judas Priest remasters had a few neat bonus tracks here and there, like Fire Down Below and the extra live tracks on Unleashed in the East, but most of the albums had unreleased balladry that doesn't really blow me away. Also, the live cut of Leather Rebel on Painkiller...I don't know what the hell happened but that has to be the worst live cut I've ever heard.

W.A.S.P and Queensryche are the ones that came to mind first. May also include Virgin Steele, they have tons of bonus material reissued several times already. And Titan Force, for including their 1994 demo with live tracks as a pleasant addition.

That Forte - Stranger than Fiction release was pretty packed with original demos and such.

I enjoyed the live tracks on the Balls to the Wall resissue.

The Megadeth reissues were disappointing beyond just the quality--the bonus tracks were nothing but wet-fart original demos. I did enjoy My Creation though. And I haven't heard the Peace Sells reissue; mine is a first printing.

I can say that Van Halen needs some descent reissues with bonus tracks. Hell, we got a handful of isolated guitar tracks available on YouTube; why not throw them on CD? You'd think with the albums running so short as they are that a plethora of bonus material would be included.

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

 And Titan Force, for including their 1994 demo with live tracks as a pleasant addition.

I wish those weren't so ridiculously expensive, though. Those demos are really great.

I liked the Judas Priest albums with the bonus tracks.
The bands I wish would give us some bonus tracks are the Scorpions and Van Halen.

Helloween reissued all their albums from Walls Of Jericho to Better Than Raw. All with songs from their singles up to that point. 

Blind Guardian reissued their albums as well thru Nightfall On Middle Earth. All with some really cool bonus tracks. They also added their demo back when they were known as Lucifers Friend. 

Thin Lizzy has all their albums reissued with bonus discs. These are a little bit on the pricey side. I have a few of them but I'm trying to get them all. I just think $30 is a little steep.

Blur reissued all their albums as well with bonus discs with tons of bonus songs

Exodus' Force of Habit has 2 extra tracks on the 2008 re-issue, Crawl Before You Walk and Telepathic. I like the mastering on this release, and the bonus tracks feel like they should have always been part of the album.

Wurthless wrote:

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

 And Titan Force, for including their 1994 demo with live tracks as a pleasant addition.

I wish those weren't so ridiculously expensive, though. Those demos are really great.

I got them both for 30 $ each - usual price here if you buy a CD that unpopular. I believe I've seen much more friendly price on official label site (Sonic Age).

The Bush-era re-issues of Anthrax had some great bonus tunes.

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

Wurthless wrote:

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

 And Titan Force, for including their 1994 demo with live tracks as a pleasant addition.

I wish those weren't so ridiculously expensive, though. Those demos are really great.

I got them both for 30 $ each - usual price here if you buy a CD that unpopular. I believe I've seen much more friendly price on official label site (Sonic Age).

Thanks for the tip, dude. Their site has Winner/Loser for about 16 dollars.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

The Bush-era re-issues of Anthrax had some great bonus tunes.

What Re-issues? They only reissued Sound Of White Noise.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

The Bush-era re-issues of Anthrax had some great bonus tunes.

What Re-issues? They only reissued Sound Of White Noise.

They actually reissued Stomp 442 in 2001 with these bonus tracks:

12. Grunt & Click
13. Dethroned Emperor (Celtic Frost Cover)
14. Celebrated Summer (Hüsker Dü Cover)
15. Watchin' You (KISS Cover)

Also reissued in 2003 was Volume 8 with these bonus tracks:

16. Giving the Horns
17. The Bends (Radiohead cover)
18. Snap / I'd Rather Be Sleeping (D.R.I. cover)


I know this for a fact because I own them.