Music Mondays: DELUXE

Let's put aside the VINYL vs CD vs DIGITAL debate for a moment. Obviously VINYL is best, then Digital, then CD. The only thing CD has going for it is packaging. That's it (since the sound is already digital). To some (Jen) packaging's very important. And I won't lie, it's important to me too. But VINYL usually has the same packaging only larger... Wait, we said we'd put this aside. What I'm about to say transcends format. They call it the Deluxe Edition. Expanded, stereo, mono, surround, with bonus tracks, new liner notes and on and on and on. It's quite an object. A lot like sex, it can be a rip-off, a booty call, an affair to remember, a soul mate connection or a combination of all of the above.

For those who've ever seen my CD collection or who have ever talked to me about albums I'm looking forward to know, I'm a stone cold junkie for the Deluxe Edition. But to my credit, there are only certain types of Deluxe Editions that will get me to open the wallet. You see, the term "Deluxe Edition" is virtually useless, since there are so many different definitions of "deluxe." My deluxe may be your boredom. Consider them breeds of dogs or flavors of Ben and Jerry's.

There's the basic vanilla terrier-

THE CLASSIC FULLY CURATED, EXPANDED, NEARLY COMPLETE DOCUMENT MULTI-DISC REISSUE

Examples include the Deluxe Edition of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" or Otis Redding's "Otis Blue" or the one I just purchased, Elton John's S/T record. Generally these will cost you about $30, unless you know the places that sell stolen CDs, then you can get them for around $16 (no authorities, I won't tell you where... Unless you can get them for $15). The quality of these classics vary. Some (like the aforementioned Elton S/T) are pretty exhaustive. That one has a disc of 20 bonus tracks, including demos, non-album singles and live in-studio performances. Then there's the complete rip-off versions, where there's a second disc of either nearly no bonus material (like four extra songs taking up a whole disc) or inadequate bonus material. For instance, I was pretty excited to learn about the Blondie "Parallel Lines" Deluxe Edition coming out. Until I read the tracklist. For $25 you get the original 40 minutes album, a whopping total of 4 bonus tracks and a few music videos. Now that's bullshit. Clearly there were demos or something that they could've included. Maybe we'll have to wait for the Deluxe Collector's Complete Edition. No thanks. Give me a REASON to buy the album again... I'm looking at you Thriller Deluxe edition. I don't need to spend money for Will.I.Am's version of PYT.


THE "NEW CLASSIC" FULLY CURATED, blah blah

This category has an even greater chance of sucking than the one mentioned above. Mainly because the term "New Classic" is so very relative. Beck's "Odelay" or Weezer's "Blue Album" are perfectly worthy "New Classics." But Jimmy Eat World's S/T album? That's not even 10 Years old. $30 for a 7-year Anniversary edition of a pretty shitty album?

When New Classic Deluxe Editions work though, they really work. Like Matador's Pavement reissues. Holy shit. For one, they cost the same as a regular CD. Then you have huge booklets and two discs full of on average 35 bonus tracks. Now if you hate Pavement (which a lot of people do) this may sound like the sort of party favor Satan would give at his 3 year old's birthday. But for the sake of argument, imagine they're one of your favorite bands? $15 for 49 songs? Come on. Unbeatable.

THE MINI-LP EDITION

The Japanese love these things. Basically an artist's entire catalog is re-released as CDs that are exact mini replicas of the original vinyl releases. For bands with elaborate covers/vinyl packages, this is especially cool. It's like this desk that Jen has. It's a mini desk, complete with mini protractors and mini paper clips and everything. Same thing with the mini LPs. Exact replicas we're talking. Like the Pink Floyd set. When "Wish You Were Here" came out initially on LP, it arrived in a weird plastic wrapper with a little postcard included. The Mini version? Same weird plastic wrapper with an even littler postcard. Fabulous. I really want them to do a mini version of the Zeppelin albums, since Zeppelin always had gimmicky covers. Like Zeppelin III had a working kaleidoscope and In Through the Out Door changed color if you dabbed water on the cover... Mini versions of that? Holy shit... These editions usually aren't remastered and don't contain bonus tracks, unless the last proper CD version contained bonus tracks. The main downside is that the usually aren't made outside of Japan(the Pink Floyd one was American though) and cost like 20 bucks or more a disc.

THE DELUXE NEW EDITION

Sometimes bands will charge another couple dollars for a bulky version of the CD that usually won't fit in a proper CD case. Sometimes they come with toys (Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible" had a flipbook), sometimes they come with expanded liner notes or lyrics. Often they come with terrible DVDs about the making of the album. Every now and then they are actually worth the money and will include a bonus disc of acoustic demos (Okkervil River's "The Stage Names") or worthwhile music videos. There was a period of time last year where I actually fell for this marketing shit. Now I need a damn good reason to waste the money and space.


THE WE JUST RELEASED THIS LAST YEAR EDITION

This is the worst. At the dentist this morning I saw an add in People magazine for the Deluxe Edition of Fergie's Magnum Opus of Shit "The Dutchess," which just hit stores. The only purpose of this edition is to get people who bought it the first time a mere year earlier to buy virtually the same thing again, but to convince them that they are truly getting a new product. How? With an additional single, remix, and/or a few thrown together collaborations. Almost every popular artist will do this at some point. Rihanna did it. Jay-Z may've invented it. And Creed wishes they had done more of it since now people will actually commit mass-suicide rather than hear a single bar of a single Creed song. Don't fall for this musical Deja-Vu. If you could've sworn this exact album came out last year, well hell, it probably did.


THE DELUXE OUT-OF-PRINT REISSUE

This is perhaps the most exciting. An album that's never been released on CD or has been out of print for years, finally returns as a "FULLY CURATED, EXPANDED, NEARLY COMPLETE DOCUMENT MULTI-DISC REISSUE" Deluxe Edition. Dennis Wilson's "Pacific Ocean Blue," which will arrive in my mailbox on Weds is one such example. Bonus tracks, an unfinished album, more bonus tracks, all for less than the original out-of-print shitty-sounding CD edition's E-Bay price tag.

Now when CDs don't exist in a few years, many of these Deluxe Edition will suffer. In anticipation, some companies are already releasing them on vinyl and most have digital versions. Oh joy, gouging can continue! If you're a victim, the question you have to ask yourself is: "is original album, price, bonus features all worth it?" If yes, I fully support letting the record labels fuck you.