When Is It Just Too Much?

chewie wrote:

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!!

Heck yea!! I'd be down for a set like that too.

I know they are not technically box sets in the manner we are discussing here, but those "5 Album Classics" sets are pretty neat. Especially, as Runicen said, as a way to get into bands discographies bundled pretty cheaplyand the cardboard sleeves take up less space than the jewel cases.

Painkiller wrote:

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

Now, yeah. All the box sets I own that were releases in the 90s and back, none are cheaply made. I won't say that many weren't cash grabs because some were, but in general the older box sets were far better than those we get today.

Anyway, as big of a collector as I am, I've never been one to go after these super-expensive things. Especially live stuff.

There's only a few box sets that are worth the money for me- the KISS box set(whatever it was called) the Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper, AC/DC-Backtracks, 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong and a few others I can't think of at the moment.

Speaking of which, anyone have the Venom box set called MMV?

I paid about $70 to $80 with free shipping for Janne Da Arc's 10th Anniversary Indie Album set, with the DVD. That was a solid deal, for something in mint condition. I also paid about $20 with free shipping for a complete set of Boowy's albums, with minimal to no wear. That was a steal though. I kind of regret not buying the Princess Princess box set when I had the chance, though. All of these are Japanese rock bands, and as you know, stuff from Japan can be expensive. However, these were all acquired from eBay sellers located in that country.

Likewise, one of the worst box set ideas I've ever seen also came from Japan, who usually create good products. It was one of TM Network's early box sets that was nothing more than a complete collection of greatests hits albums they had previously released with a lot of the same songs repeating over and over again. Such a waste.

There was also a box set of X Japan and Luna Sea stuff that had flashy things like jewelry and prisms. I also recall one box set including a disc indicating one of X's albums for gold/platinum status.

Ugh. That reminds me of that awful box set (more cardboard sleeve) combining all the Queen "Greatest Hits" comps which were pretty awful compilations to begin with.

Runicen wrote:

Ugh.  That reminds me of that awful box set (more cardboard sleeve) combining all the Queen "Greatest Hits" comps which were pretty awful compilations to begin with.

Ha. That is my Queen collection, except I have the "fat boy" jewel case. It was a birthday gift from my Uncle about 10 years ago.

I'm still waiting for the big Queen rarities set. The stuff they put on the latest remasters was ok, but considering each "bonus disc" for the albums clocked in at around 20 minutes, it was a pretty slim offering.

Ya know, I appreciate the info, but it's really disappointing to find that out. I want to someday own all of the Queen discography, but even used copies go for $10-12 and those "new" two disc releases are $18. $15 if they are on sale. It seems like there's probably not enough meat on the bone there for me.

The biggest revelation in the reissues was the first album - but not for the album itself.  The second disc has a needle drop recording of a demo acetate they recorded before the album.  I want to say it's "The Night Comes Down" that was taken wholesale from the acetate for the album, but the other tracks were unreleased.  

It's got the grandeur but without the muted performance/production of the first album that even the band complained about (the studio wasn't suited to the type of sound they wanted from the drums, for example), but it's a LOT harder rocking.  

There are good moments in the other bonus discs, but even I have to admit that the only reason I picked them up was to hear the albums remastered and I was a bit underwhelmed when comparing them to the old Hollywood Records editions I already owned.

If there is a reason to pick them up, it's to get the single b-sides which are often really damn good, but at the price they're going, it's not really worth it.  Your best bet is to see if the five disc "box sets" (i.e. cardboard sleeves containing the normal jewel case releases) ever go on deep discount via Amazon sellers or the like.

EDIT:

Actually, you could do worse than to pick up those box sets. They're around $30-$35 each even after shipping. For ten discs in total each, that's not bad at all. Hell, I'm actually jealous. I spent way more when they were new.

Vol. 1:
http://www.amazon.com/Queen-40-1/dp/B004SBB0LU/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1443009996&sr=1-2&keywords=queen+box+set

Vol. 2:
http://www.amazon.com/Queen-40-2/dp/B0057TZIMY/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1443009996&sr=1-4&keywords=queen+box+set

Vol. 3:
http://www.amazon.com/Queen-40-3/dp/B005K1VRII/ref=sr_1_5?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1443009996&sr=1-5&keywords=queen+box+set

Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series volume 12 has been announced and will be released in a month. I got volume 11, the full set, for Christmas last year. It's 6 discs and was something like $100.

Volume 12 (the full version) is going to be 18 discs, available only on Dylan's website, and will cost $600. No way I will ever own that and I definitely don't think it's worth it. This set is said to comprise every note Dylan recorded in 1965 and 1966, landmark years to be sure. But it is almost entirely different takes of all the album tracks. There is one disc that is ONLY "Like A Rolling Stone", 15 versions/takes.

Obviously, many BD die hards will buy it, if they can afford it. There is a 6-disc set that will be $150, and is available at normal retailers, but that isn't worth it to me either. There is a 2-disc "best of vo. 12" version, which he also did with the Vol. 11 Basement Tapes last year. The 2-disc will be the only version to add to my collection. Most times I don't care at all about alternative versions or takes, but Dylan's are interesting. Not 18 discs or 6 discs worth of interesting, but definitely 2.

$600 definitely seems like an unreasonable price though, even if the content on those discs are worth it to you. It does come with a big hardbound book (vol. 11 did too and it is very nice, for sure), the original 9 45 singles from the time, and a couple other extras. Still. That's a lot of money. Maybe if it were somehow 18 discs of newly discovered unreleased original tunes from that era.

Runicen wrote:

The biggest revelation in the reissues was the first album - but not for the album itself.  The second disc has a needle drop recording of a demo acetate they recorded before the album.  I want to say it's "The Night Comes Down" that was taken wholesale from the acetate for the album, but the other tracks were unreleased.  

It's got the grandeur but without the muted performance/production of the first album that even the band complained about (the studio wasn't suited to the type of sound they wanted from the drums, for example), but it's a LOT harder rocking.  

There are good moments in the other bonus discs, but even I have to admit that the only reason I picked them up was to hear the albums remastered and I was a bit underwhelmed when comparing them to the old Hollywood Records editions I already owned.

If there is a reason to pick them up, it's to get the single b-sides which are often really damn good, but at the price they're going, it's not really worth it.  Your best bet is to see if the five disc "box sets" (i.e. cardboard sleeves containing the normal jewel case releases) ever go on deep discount via Amazon sellers or the like.

EDIT:

Actually, you could do worse than to pick up those box sets.  They're around $30-$35 each even after shipping.  For ten discs in total each, that's not bad at all.  Hell, I'm actually jealous.  I spent way more when they were new.

Vol. 1:
http://www.amazon.com/Queen-40-1/dp/B004SBB0LU/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1443009996&sr=1-2&keywords=queen+box+set

Vol. 2:
http://www.amazon.com/Queen-40-2/dp/B0057TZIMY/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1443009996&sr=1-4&keywords=queen+box+set

Vol. 3:
http://www.amazon.com/Queen-40-3/dp/B005K1VRII/ref=sr_1_5?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1443009996&sr=1-5&keywords=queen+box+set

10 discs for $35 shipped is a good deal in my eyes. I just got the new issue of Classic Rock mag (subscribers only collector editin with Eddie on front) and they had an advert for a Queen vinyl box set and turntable for almost $1000!!!

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Volume 12 (the full version) is going to be 18 discs, available only on Dylan's website, and will cost $600. No way I will ever own that and I definitely don't think it's worth it. This set is said to comprise every note Dylan recorded in 1965 and 1966, landmark years to be sure. But it is almost entirely different takes of all the album tracks. There is one disc that is ONLY "Like A Rolling Stone", 15 versions/takes.

I couldn't imagine what I would do with a disc full of 12/15 different versions of "Breaking the Law" or "The Trooper" I get it, it's for collector purposes only and has no real functionality. I know you are a huge fan of the Coop but I can't imagine you would listen to a whole disc worth of different versions of "I'm Eighteen" more than one time through. There is just too much other music (and so little time) to listen to.

I guess the next question we ask is "are collectables" just that? Something to look at like a painting or Fabrege egg?

the sentinel wrote:

I know you are a huge fan of the Coop but I can't imagine you would listen to a whole disc worth of different versions of "I'm Eighteen" more than one time through.

You are absolutely correct on that. I cannot imagine every wanting or needing to hear so many versions of any song. Demo versions as bonus tracks or box set tracks annoy me to begin with. If there's something cool about an alternate version, like an acoustic version of an electric song, or vice versa...or like a version with someone else helping out on vocals or something, that stuff is interesting...otherwise, I am basically good with the official, studio version.

I agree with you on the demos thing. I like it if it's a whole album of demo tracks or stuff that was unreleased/ didn't make the album, etc. I don't like when it's one song as a bonus or like on the "deluxe" edition of Destroyer where it's simply a different guitar solo in the song. What a cash grab!

I learned about a set coming out today that I feel pretty much goes against the opposite of this thread. Next month, Springsteen is releasing "The Ties That Bind: The River Collection". It's 4 discs and 3 blu rays/dvds, plus a book, which I think is something like 200 pages.

The DVDs sound like pretty cool stuff if you dig on that kind of thing. I don't, but many Springsteen fanatics do.

As for the CDs...The normal The River double album is present. Then there's also the original single album called The Ties That Bind, which he scrapped because he wasn't satisfied. He re-recorded some of the songs, recorded a ton more songs, re-organized the whole thing, and The River was the end result. This single album is his original idea. Most of the songs, but not all, were on the final version but some of the versions here are different, some pretty heavily different.

The rest of the CDs round out about 20 or so of the other songs from the recording session. A chunk of them have surfaced on rarities sets before, but I think there's a total of 14 or 15 songs across this set that I don't have, so I will be cherry picking those from iTunes and making my own new "lost" Springsteen album.

I kinda wish that in addition to this set, they were releasing The Ties That Bind original album as its own CD and also like a 2CD of all the outtakes, even including the ones that have popped other places. I'd buy those for sure. I can't really justify $107 when I do have most of the audio from it, but I definitely feel that's a fair price for this set, when the people buying it will probably be even more interested in the book/video content.

I can't believe I didn't post this before but I think I found the ultimate example of it being "too much" on the Heavy Harmonies site. Whenever I visit, there are CD's for sale and the asking prices are just ridiculous. I know there are people out there that collect music and spend obscene amounts of money, but it still dumbfounds me. Take a look for yourselves. http://www.heavyharmonies.com/

the sentinel wrote:

I can't believe I didn't post this before but I think I found the ultimate example of it being "too much" on the Heavy Harmonies site. Whenever I visit, there are CD's for sale and the asking prices are just ridiculous. I know there are people out there that collect music and spend obscene amounts of money, but it still dumbfounds me. Take a look for yourselves. http://www.heavyharmonies.com/

I've always noticed those CD sales on the side too and thought it was kinda wild the asking prices. But I assume that's just wishful thinking on the part of the sellers (though I'm not positive, as I usually have no clue about the bands/CDs listed for sale--maybe people DO pay $500 - $1,000 for this stuff).

In an eBay auction, I could throw up a copy of GNR's Appetite CD that you could go and buy for a penny plus shipping from Amazon sellers and slap a $1,499 buy-it-now on it. No one would ever buy it, but I could try (granted I'm sure the stuff being sold on those sales is actually rare, but that doesn't mean people want it, right).

ZombieHavoc wrote:

the sentinel wrote:

I can't believe I didn't post this before but I think I found the ultimate example of it being "too much" on the Heavy Harmonies site. Whenever I visit, there are CD's for sale and the asking prices are just ridiculous. I know there are people out there that collect music and spend obscene amounts of money, but it still dumbfounds me. Take a look for yourselves. http://www.heavyharmonies.com/

I've always noticed those CD sales on the side too and thought it was kinda wild the asking prices. But I assume that's just wishful thinking on the part of the sellers (though I'm not positive, as I usually have no clue about the bands/CDs listed for sale--maybe people DO pay $500 - $1,000 for this stuff).

In an eBay auction, I could throw up a copy of GNR's Appetite CD that you could go and buy for a penny plus shipping from Amazon sellers and slap a $1,499 buy-it-now on it. No one would ever buy it, but I could try (granted I'm sure the stuff being sold on those sales is actually rare, but that doesn't mean people want it, right).

Good point about the GnR album. I agree that it is supply and demand and really just having the right person look at that auction and want to pay some insane amount for a little known Sunset Strip bands demo or an SHM Japan EP of Helloween.
I know from years of Sports card collecting ( and to a lesser extent, Comics) that something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay and nothing more. I lurked on that forum for a few months and thought about joining, and sfter reading some of the posts, it sounded kinda like there were some members who have paid crazy prices and did so happily.

I've been a member of the Heavy Harmonies forum for years now, and yeah, there are some people there who willingly pay ridiculous amounts of $$ for small-press CDs by random, long forgotten no-name local yokel hair metal/AOR bands just because they're "rare"...

...I bet Uncle Sax made a mint off of some of those guys during his CD-Collection Fire Sale a couple of years ago.

Vexer6 wrote:

There's only a few box sets that are worth the money for me- the KISS box set(whatever it was called) the Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper, AC/DC-Backtracks, 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong and a few others I can't think of at the moment.

Speaking of which, anyone have the Venom box set called MMV?

Yes I do and I love it. Like Eyesore most of the boxsets I own are from the 90's and like Eyesore stated they were not cheaply made and made with a great deal of care.

manny wrote:

Vexer6 wrote:

There's only a few box sets that are worth the money for me- the KISS box set(whatever it was called) the Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper, AC/DC-Backtracks, 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong and a few others I can't think of at the moment.

Speaking of which, anyone have the Venom box set called MMV?

Yes I do and  I love it. Like Eyesore most of the boxsets I own are from the 90's and like Eyesore stated they were not cheaply made and made with a great deal of care.

I have it as well and it's a nice set. Those Sanctuary box sets have really nice, large booklets.

I was pretty stoked to find thrash band STONE boxed set, with 9 CDs and 1 DVD for only 18 bucks ! Also, S&H was under 3 bucks... #1 That's more like it. #2 It just goes to show how much $$ they're jacking other boxed sets up.

(you can find it at LaserCD. com)

That's cool. Welcome aboard, sir.

If I recall, HeavyHarmonies had The Imperials' Greatest Hits listed on their database. That group was an old time gospel band. Not even Gospel-Rock. I remember someone making note of it in the comments, saying "What gives? Grandma doesn't really visit HeavyHarmonies."