Re-Make/Re-Model: The repackaging overkill thread.*

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Joni Mitchell's churned out a handful of dubiously "themed" compilations, Hits, Misses, Dreamland, and Songs from a Prairie Girl, in the last few years.

New Order/Joy Division have each had a Substance volume, plus Permanent, (the best of)/(the rest of), Singles, International, 20 Years of New Order, and at least another box set each.

There's a new Smiths best-of seemingly every year, providing WEA with more opportunities to flood the market with sub-Morrissey sleeve knockoffs. (Also cf., Roxy Music for some hilarious misappropriations of both back-catalogue and iconography.)

The Fall. Although many of their "above-ground" compilations stick to semi-defined eras (Early Fall, Early Singles, 458489, Palace of Swords Reversed, Rough Trade Singles Box, Past Gone Mad), there are certainly more than enough of them in any case without even getting into all the compilations that jump all over the place, the half-legal or just plain illegit live bootlegs, etc.

What other artists have outworn their welcome in the New Release bins with reams of useless "re-brandings" of the Same Old Stuff?

(Note 1: I'm thinking specifically of compilations that distill the obvious and widely available catalogue of an artist, and less so on reissues of individual albums or live/rare/BBC compilations. Catalog reissues/"remasters"/bonus tracks are an entirely different thread.)

(Note 2: I'm half-tempted to disqualify people who are canonical, legendary, and/or long-standing enough to have been exploited for decades on end, such as Bowie, Dylan, Sex Pistols, and the like; Joni is a unique example in my mind because there had been so few until so recently.)

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 03:23 (eighteen years ago) link

reggae to thread! specifically the trojan publishing house.

also how about all those endless lee perry / king tubby dub comps?

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 06:39 (eighteen years ago) link

Canons are meant to be fired.

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 09:44 (eighteen years ago) link

Salsoul - i really wish they'd just put out 10 voulmes (or however many) of all the good tracks, rather than the millions of themed compilations with endless track repetitions

― Robin Goad (rgoad), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 10:41 (eighteen years ago) link

The Small Faces! There are two great anthologies, the Decca Years and The Darlings Of Wapping Wharf Launderette, but there are millions of crappy comps out there that do them a disservice.

T-Rex - why the single disc remastered versions of the later albums when we've just had the Edsel 2CD versions?

― Dr.C (Dr.C), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 10:44 (eighteen years ago) link

The small faces crappy comps are all really cheap though.

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 10:59 (eighteen years ago) link

Yeah, but they're clutter, and I don't like mess!

― Dr.C (Dr.C), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 11:03 (eighteen years ago) link

Well, there's a need for both ends:

I have both the good anthologies, that's them completely.

I have one 'crappy' cheapie, the kids enjoy the hits.

(Oh, and most of the individual albums on CD or LP, but that's me)

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 11:07 (eighteen years ago) link

THE WHO

― The Man Without Shadow (Enrique), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 11:08 (eighteen years ago) link

Dunno about The Who. They seem to have a fairly standard catalogue for a band as big as them - probably too many 'best ofs' but not an excessive number - all the albums remastered and three in 'DeLuxe' versions. That's not too bad.

The only real pisser was when they expanded Live At Leeds and then expanded it again to put the whole of Tommy in.

― Dr.C (Dr.C), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 11:29 (eighteen years ago) link

Elvis Costello has re-packaged and re-released his entire catalogue at least twice, eh?

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 12:00 (eighteen years ago) link

in the states T-Rex/Marc Bolan were subjects of a literal closet cleaning. at least 8 volumes of T Rex Unchained: the Unreleased Tapes which was basically every studio scrap they could find.

most of it was well-nigh unlistenable to my ears, and I'm a fan of Bolan and interested in the recording process -- up to a point.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 12:04 (eighteen years ago) link

Where are the best versions of the singles unfaded?

I believe things like 20th century boy exist like this somewhere...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 12:18 (eighteen years ago) link

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 12:22 (eighteen years ago) link

i think spacemen 3 have too many cds out.

― The Man Without Shadow (Enrique), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 12:30 (eighteen years ago) link

oh god and soft machine.

― The Man Without Shadow (Enrique), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 12:30 (eighteen years ago) link

bowie's a strange 'un. they did two remastered bests of, 69-74 and 74-79, in about 1997, but afaik it stopped there. only recently have i seen a 79-8? disc, and the three in a set. but in the meantime i'm sure he's done another overall best-of.

― The Man Without Shadow (Enrique), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 12:35 (eighteen years ago) link

Thing about Lee Perry is he produced a million singles that are all impossible to find, so most of the excess compilationage is well warranted.

― senseiDancer (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 19:45 (eighteen years ago) link

but in the meantime i'm sure he's done another overall best-of.

Yep, there was a Best Of Bowie released in 2002, in about six or seven different configurations depending on what part of the world you live in, and then there was a budget-priced comp called The Collection which basically picked a non-single track from each of his RCA albums.

― Deluxe (Damian), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 19:50 (eighteen years ago) link

Wow, Talk Talk were really into birds.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 20:09 (eighteen years ago) link

And there are two more remix albums on top of that lot...

― Deluxe (Damian), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 22:19 (eighteen years ago) link

i'd never even seen that Introducing...talk talk cover, very nice. they have exquisite cover art, to my mind.

i do think there are entirely too many who comps.

― kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 22:27 (eighteen years ago) link

http://www.cherryred.co.uk/el/discography.htm

The "Various Artists" releases in particular

― The Vintner's Lipogram (OleM), Thursday, 2 February 2006 12:14 (eighteen years ago) link

EMI put out a Platinum Collection 3CD best of before xmas too

― i am not a nugget (stevie), Thursday, 2 February 2006 12:35 (eighteen years ago) link

yeah i think that's the three cds in one box or summat.

pre-'oddity' bowie is very extensively covered.

― The Man Without Shadow (Enrique), Thursday, 2 February 2006 12:40 (eighteen years ago) link

Doesn't Can have 3 or 4 CD versions of everything?

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Thursday, 2 February 2006 12:41 (eighteen years ago) link

Lee Perry and King Tubby are good examples not so much for the endless re-comping but for the substantial slice of CDs issued under one name or the other (or both) which have nothing whatsoever to do with either. I linked to a page on this, once, somewhere.

― Tim (Tim), Thursday, 2 February 2006 12:41 (eighteen years ago) link

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