When Is It Just Too Much?

So, the following was just announced:

http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/queen-studio-collection-18lp-coloured-vinyl-box-set/#more-114933

At present, the box is priced around $450 before shipping.

Now, it LOOKS amazing and I'm sure it'll be a handsome piece for the shelf, etc. ...But it did get me thinking - when is something just too stupidly expensive or just bourgeois to be worth picking up? I'm all for lavish packaging and bonus content and the like, but just giving me colored vinyl platters in a thick box doesn't pass the litmus test for me.

Anyone else just have a point where they shake their heads and walk away even as a lover of the physical product?

Oh, and for the record, I probably WILL be picking up a few of the late 80s/early 90s Queen albums when the individual releases come out. Most of the rest I picked up in their original form second hand and I'm quite pleased with those barring a lottery win and the sudden need to find things to spend silly amounts of money on.

Even if I was a total Queen fanboy I would probably end up passing on that set, cool as it probably is. Box sets are generally too rich for my blood.

I've spent more than enough $$ upgrading all my vinyl/cassettes to CDs over the years, therefore I can count on one hand the # of times I've bought the same CD more than once.

If it's a disc I already own, it had better have some insanely frickin sweet bonus stuff added to make me double dip. I'd rather spend what little $$ I have nowadays to buy stuff I don't already have on my shelf, not newer and shinier versions of the stuff I've had for years.

The Metallica box set they recently released came immediately to mind...



$395 for 25 live performances from 2010 and 2013. Because I need to hear 'The Unforgiven' 25 different times. Oy vey!!

Not enough live music for ya? Try this other live box set for just $417...
http://www.metallica.com/products/live-metallica-by-request-2014-box-set.asp

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$395 for 25 live performances from 2010 and 2013. Because I need to hear 'The Unforgiven' 25 different times. Oy vey!

Good Lord. Even at half that price, who the hell would buy that thing?

Even Lars' Mom would probably tell him "Sorry Son, but that's just about the stupidest f**kin' thing I've ever seen."

There are music collectors out there with seriously deep wallets who will eat these releases up.  They are probably pressed in small quantities.  

I don't see this as being any more ridiculous than people paying $5000 for a 1950s Blue Note deep groove LP.

But hey, if I had the money who knows what I'd actually be willing to buy...but I could only guess since I've basically been dirt poor my entire life. LOL.

Most boxed sets are complete cash grabs and/or cheaply made.

On the other hand, there are some that are really appealing. Nuclear War Now! Productions' Sabbat boxed set from last year is a very unique documentary of their first decade together, from the Hot Rod recordings to a 140-page hardbound book.

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There are music collectors out there with seriously deep wallets who will eat these releases up.

...and they'll be smug as f*ck about owning it too.

As for the Queen set and other releases, the vinyl bubble will eventually bust, so I guess the record companies figure they might as well wring every last drop of blood from that format while they can.

I see that FYE is starting to stock records again. Or is it for the first time ever? Did FYE ever carry vinyl?

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Did FYE ever carry vinyl?

Yeah, back when they were still called Sam Goody.

I can definitely see the point of some of these sets. When I got my tax return, I picked up the Beatles Mono vinyl box set. Granted, I got it at a STEAL price, but it was still a huge music investment. Thing is, since I had the digital, stereo versions of everything and had heard there was a definite difference in the all-analog mono vinyl versions, it was worth it for the content.

Spending money on quality content never bothers me (even if some sets do give me heart palpitations due to their pricing), but when it's just flashy STUFF without any real musical content, I check out.

Some box sets are great, my appreciation for them didn't really kick in until I started collecting jazz. So many albums were long out of print and unlikely to be issued individually, so companies like Mosaic Records started putting together definitive box set editions compiling them together with exhaustive research, new liner notes, photos from the recording sessions, etc.

The majors jumped in as well and Rhino released several amazing sets including box sets for the entire Atlantic discographies of people like John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and others.

I consider these essential purchases and in many cases it was cheaper than acquiring either long out of print vinyl or buying expensive Japanese imports.

S.D. wrote:

Some box sets are great, my appreciation for them didn't really kick in until I started collecting jazz.  So many albums were long out of print and unlikely to be issued individually, so companies like Mosaic Records started putting together definitive box set editions compiling them together with exhaustive research, new liner notes, photos from the recording sessions, etc.  

The majors jumped in as well and Rhino released several amazing sets including box sets for the entire Atlantic discographies of people like John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and others.  

I consider these essential purchases and in many cases it was cheaper than acquiring either long out of print vinyl or buying expensive Japanese imports.

Yep, the last box set I bought was a collection of Edgar Froese albums some of which are really expensive to buy on CD these days as individual albums, other than that I'm not much of a fan.

Although the vinyl box set of Strapping Young Lad that Blood music put out was nice as it contained albums never before on vinyl.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

The Metallica box set they recently released came immediately to mind...



$395 for 25 live performances from 2010 and 2013. Because I need to hear 'The Unforgiven' 25 different times. Oy vey!!

Not enough live music for ya? Try this other live box set for just $417...
http://www.metallica.com/products/live-metallica-by-request-2014-box-set.asp

OK I admit, if I had more disposable income I would buy it, but it would take me centuries to listen to the entire set

Boris2008 wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Some box sets are great, my appreciation for them didn't really kick in until I started collecting jazz.  So many albums were long out of print and unlikely to be issued individually, so companies like Mosaic Records started putting together definitive box set editions compiling them together with exhaustive research, new liner notes, photos from the recording sessions, etc.  

The majors jumped in as well and Rhino released several amazing sets including box sets for the entire Atlantic discographies of people like John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and others.  

I consider these essential purchases and in many cases it was cheaper than acquiring either long out of print vinyl or buying expensive Japanese imports.

Yep, the last box set I bought was a collection of Edgar Froese albums some of which are really expensive to buy on CD these days as individual albums, other than that I'm not much of a fan.

Although the vinyl box set of Strapping Young Lad that Blood music put out was nice as it contained albums never before on vinyl.

I still regret that I never picked up that set. I was hoping they'd take the occasion to do a CD version as well, but that never materialized.

I think this (the Metallica and Queen box sets) is the answer to the question. Even if I were a rabid fanboy of both bands and had the requisite disposable income, I still wouldn't buy these. The half a dozen or so box sets I own (Kiss, Megadeth, Priest) were purchased to get songs I couldn't get anywhere else. Or, as S.D. said, a cheaper alternative to hunting down expensive, long out of print albums or I just want a song or two for a mix and not a whole album from that band (Hollywood Rocks set or the Heavy Metal box set).

I agree that people with the means will buy this stuff; I guess everyone has a different saturation point. I tried to put this in perspective of what if it were a top five fave of mine and came to the conclusion that it would still be a no. How many different live versions of "Breaking the Law," or "Aces High," or "Child in Time" do I really want/ need?

I would have to imagine that box sets are a tough decision for a record company as long time fans already have the material and casual fans probably won't drop the coin on something too expensive. I know I b*tch and moan about money now that I have a mortgage to pay and my view of necessary items to purchase has changed. It's not that I (or any of us) can't afford the Metallica set, it's that I won't buy it. I would rather spend the money on something else; beefing up my Raven collection or getting the last few Motorhead or UFO albums I am missing.

My desire for boxed sets of live material depends solely on what type of band we're talking about.

If it's a group that basically just performs the songs exactly the same as the studio albums then I only need a couple representative live sets, usually chosen for specific songs.  A band like Iron Maiden falls into that category, I don't need every live release they've ever done, but I always look at the tracklist and if it seems like a set I would enjoy I check it out.

If it's a group that improvises a great deal, changes things up, stretches things out, then I'm interested in hearing a lot more of it (as long as they are good improvisers).  Live jazz albums to be sure because you're never going to hear the song perfomed exactly the same way twice and bands like King Crimson.  I have about 30 live King Crimson recordings and I never get tired of them because they always bring new and interesting elements.

Money isn't being made of regular releases any more, so these sorts of expensive releases are done in limited quantity. They know that there are people out there with money who collect this sort of stuff and are readily willing to snatch it up. That Queen set is killer. It's just too rich for my blood.

The only box set I own is Judas Priest's Metalogy, and the only reason I own that is because a reporter friend of mine was sent two promotional copies by mistake,so he gave me the extra.

the one box set i really want is Sentenced - Coffin. It has a lot of cool stuff in it.

I own a veritable pile of box sets (which I'm being very violently reminded of now that I'm prepping for a move) and I think they're awesome - not least of all as a way to get into new bands or styles of music. Seriously, this is a GREAT time to be a music fan because a lot of labels are betting the farm on one last CD-quality hurrah by bundling entire discographies - often with improved mastering and bonus material - for fire sale prices.

I mean, what's not to like there?

For me, it does jump the shark a bit when you get sets selling for a pretty sizeable premium by bands whose material is already available even saturating the marketplace (much as I love Queen, this is them). By comparison, a year or two back, they put out a box set for their drummer's solo output and I was on that like white on rice. His stuff was mostly out of print and I really liked what I had heard, so I didn't mind shelling out for it though it was nowhere NEAR this price point.

A band that could use a US release box set is Budgie. They've never had proper distribution in the states aside from expensive import CDs, put together a definitive limited edition box set of (at the very least) all the albums thru Impeckable.

S.D. wrote:

A band that could use a US release box set is Budgie.  They've never had proper distribution in the states aside from expensive import CDs, put together a definitive limited edition box set of (at the very least) all the albums thru Impeckable.  

Here here!

I do have a 2-CD box of Budgie material that is kind of cool though.

S.D. wrote:

A band that could use a US release box set is Budgie.  They've never had proper distribution in the states aside from expensive import CDs, put together a definitive limited edition box set of (at the very least) all the albums thru Impeckable.  

That would be great

I hate how expensive their albums are here in North America. I would love to own the whole discography especially if it was well priced.

S.D. wrote:

A band that could use a US release box set is Budgie.  They've never had proper distribution in the states aside from expensive import CDs, put together a definitive limited edition box set of (at the very least) all the albums thru Impeckable.  

YES!! YES!! YES!!

S.D. wrote:

A band that could use a US release box set is Budgie.  They've never had proper distribution in the states aside from expensive import CDs, put together a definitive limited edition box set of (at the very least) all the albums thru Impeckable.  

I'll second that. I've been gradually working up my collection of their stuff, but it's a slow go. Even for me, it's hard to justify spending $20+ per CD.

I will probably wait until ImportCDs runs another 10-20% off a whole order sale and pick them up there. Last time I checked, most of those reissues were going for $16 through them and the shipping costs are pretty reasonable as well.

But, of course, if they just released a box set, it'd be a hell of a lot less work.

Then you have weird sets like the new Steve Hackett they're putting out - artwork totally incompatible with the music (he's prog, right? Duh! Get Roger Dean on it! - ugh...) and albums split randomly between discs. Yes, it can be fixed, but why the hell would I want to pay $150 for albums I already have, a handful of new mixes AND a totally borked presentation and track listing? It just feels like it's been curated by people who couldn't be bothered.