McCartney "Ram" reissue news

Isejingu · Mar 21, 2012

Sean Murdock said: ↑

Yes, exactly. These deluxe Archive Collection sets are what I've been calling "library pieces." It's not my phrase -- Neil Young used it about 20 years ago when referring to his then-imminent () Archives Vol. 1 box. The way Neil explained it, he was doing these for himself as much as for his fans -- indeed, even if they were never released (according to Neil), he'd be happy knowing he could go to his library shelf and see his entire career collected, organized, remastered and beautifully packaged. Personally, I think Neil fell short on this goal -- a "library" version of Vol. 1 would surely include ALL the released songs from his first four albums, no? -- and if Paul's reissue campaign is allowed to finish it will (imo) eclipse what Neil is attempting to do.

No, I'm not kidding. Neil has talked about his Archives project for over 20 years now, and he's released ONE set, featuring short discs, incomplete albums, and outrageously expensive configurations if you want the "real" as-Neil-intended version. He's basically disowned the CD version, which is how 95% of his fans still listen to music. Paul, on the other hand, has serviced the CD user while treating the audiophiles to high-res downloads as well. He's covering one album at a time, and not omitting any period singles or album tracks. In addition, he's only formed this relationship with Concord five years ago, and he's managed to release more discs of material than Neil has released in 20 years of labor on the Archives.

I think a little perspective is called for here. A lot of people are unhappy about how "few" bonus tracks are being released with most of these albums. I think people are getting distracted by the bonuses being on a separate CD -- to some, a bonus DISC should be stuffed to the max (see the Elvis Costello Rhino reissues), and these just aren't. On the other hand, if the typical 8 bonus tracks had been placed on DISC ONE (after the album "proper"), we'd be glowing about how "stuffed" with bonus tracks these CDs are. If this plays out all the way to the end of his catalog, Paul will release the equivalent of a 10-12 CD box set of singles, b-sides and outtakes. Who could have ever dreamed of that much stuff being released? If this was being done in the late-1990s, we'd probably get plain remastered album CDs (probably louder than these are), and a 4-6 CD box set of outtakes and rarities. Yes, the bonus CDs SEEM short individually, but cumulatively, Paul is releasing a MOUNTAIN of material.

On top of all this bonus material, if rumors and leaked outlines are to be believed (and I do, more or less), there are actually SEVERAL box sets lined up to follow the album reissues! The only thing threatening the etcetera list from happening in its entirety (imo) is the viability of the CD format and the sales expectations of Concord and MPL. My biggest fear in the painfully slow release schedule so far isn't the quality of the product -- no one can argue that the remasters sound great, the packaging is lovely, and the books are fantastic -- but the possibility that someone will eventually say, "Not worth it -- pull the plug" and we'll never get to the end of the campaign. Expect several of these albums to get a more low-key release than Ram will get. Expect a few of them to be available only on Macca's website in small quantities. By the time they finish (God willing), we may be seeing the BOOK as the main component of each release, with the CDs being thrown in as a bonus, and everyone getting the high-res files automatically.

We're all friends here. We're all going to be in these threads together. In a few weeks someone will start a "McCartney Venus & Mars reissue news" thread and we'll spend months waiting and debating. But let's just try to take a big-picture view of this, and not get devastated every time this track or that track doesn't get included. I was expecting the mono "Another Day" and "Oh Woman Oh Why" to be included, but it looks like it won't. OK. But we're still getting a LOT of stuff, particularly what SHOULD be the most important -- a fantastic remaster of the original album. Everything else is, indeed, a "bonus" ... despite what we may pay for it.
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I totally agree with your points. We should appreciate and backup Paul for this Archive project so that it can continue to the end, rather than complaining on small details. This is the best music forum in the world and we connect each other through good music in spite of the age difference. I respect personal opinions, but just shifting a point of view a little... and everything will be different.

Sean Murdock · Mar 21, 2012

Sean Murdock said: ↑

But let's just try to take a big-picture view of this, and not get devastated every time this track or that track doesn't get included.
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Remind me I said this if they leave "I'll Give You A Ring" off the Tug Of War bonus disc, or the 45 mix of "It's Not True" off Press to Play...

macca728 · Mar 21, 2012

[email protected] said: ↑

looks like the dvd is pretty lame why bother include it at all,I take it
they don't want to put that James Paul McCatney special or live
shows on it
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no doubt at the end they may release complete live shows, I sure would hope that.

Mark · Mar 21, 2012

Continued here:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=2

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