Anniversary / deluxe editions - Yay or Nay? - a discussion

[TheBaconman]

Interesting discussion! Would be very cool to get few more bonus and alternative tracks.

Appetite For Destruction
Keep the mix and mastering nearly as is. Maybe add a tiny bit of volume if it works without losing sound quality. IMO the "classic" reputation of this album makes it very hard to change without getting a big backlash.
Add the old '86 demos of You Could Be Mine, Don't Cry, Back of Bitch as bonus.

GN'R Lies
On this one we could seriously improve it by removing all the fake crowd noise.
Add recordings of Shadow Of Your Love, Heartbreak Hotel, Jumping Jack Flash and Cornchucker as bonus

Use Your Illusion I & Use Your Illusion II
Revisit the mix on some of the songs to remove some of the effects and samples. Some examples:
- Garden: remove the background voice at the start
- Knocking on Heaven's Door: removing that phone call please :-)
- Dead Horse: remove echo/reverb on Axl's voice at the start (keep his voice, just less effects)
- Coma: remove woman voices around 7:15
- Get In The Ring: remove the personal rants and also remove strong effects on some Axl's vocals
- Pretty Tied Up: strip it down to its core, a nice rocking tune

Maybe even the track order could be revisited. Axl mentioned being rushed to get the two albums out of the doors. With that in mind, it make sense to retouch these two albums.

Great bonus could be Ain't Going Down and maybe even the old demo recording of This I Love from '92 or '93. All the other unreleased songs could be packaged with '89 demos of the UYI tracks. If Crash Diet was actually recorded all by GNR members, add it too as bonus.

"The Spaghetti Incident?"

Add all the unreleased songs which were recorded. Even if that means having multiple covers from the same band.

Chinese Democracy

I wish they could release older alternate versions of the albums, like having a full length 1999 version of CD and also one album with just the 2002 demos. Releasing Catcher of the Rye with Brian May on it would be nice.

Love these ideas.  I would buy all of it

[D-GenerationX]

Use Your Illusion I & Use Your Illusion II
Revisit the mix on some of the songs to remove some of the effects and samples. Some examples:
- Garden: remove the background voice at the start
- Knocking on Heaven's Door: removing that phone call please :-)
- Dead Horse: remove echo/reverb on Axl's voice at the start (keep his voice, just less effects)
- Coma: remove woman voices around 7:15
- Get In The Ring: remove the personal rants and also remove strong effects on some Axl's vocals
- Pretty Tied Up: strip it down to its core, a nice rocking tune

Some I agree with here, some not.

Do you mean the "no, I won't" at the beginning of 'The Garden'?  I don't know.  Does that make a big difference?

Never understood the inclusion of that phone call bit in KOHD.  The first place I had that track was the 'Days Of Thunder' soundtrack.  I assumed it was a clip from the movie.

Would not want to mess with Axl's voice on 'Dead Horse' or any other track.  Pearl Jam, Ozzy, Megadeth have all re-issued stuff with remixes, if not outright re-recorded parts.  I do not care for them.

I would NEVER remove those women's voices.  The doctors and the women are a big part of setting that songs' mood for me.

Do think the name checking of people that done Axl wrong was childish at the time, and sound dated as fuck now.  And there is a good guitar solo buried underneath it too.

Would not change 'Pretty Tied Up'.

[EmilyGNR]

There were more lyrics, that they cut. That's what I read on the Internet!

 


/jarmo

A third verse Axl wrote was edited out because the record company thought it made the song too long.

The internet is a handy tool

[Silex]

When Megadeth released 'Peace Sells' 25h anniversary Box Set, they did this and I tought it was pretty cool. http://www.discogs.com/Megadeth-Peace-Sells-But-Whos-Buying/release/3080597

So with GNR I'd like to see something like this:

AFD & Lies

cd1 - original album remastered (Extended Nightrain etc.)
cd2 - original album remixed & remastered (I think the original album sounds perfect already but this could be fun. I liked what Mustaine did with Megadeth albums.)
cd3 - Lies, original album remastered
cd4 - demos & unreleased songs
cd5 - live cd
dvd's - live dvd, music videos & making of etc. extras


UYI I & II
cd1-2 - original albums remixed & remastered (some songs sounds awful with headphones)
cd3-4 - demos & unreleased songs
cd5 - live cd
dvd's - live dvd, music videos & making of etc. extras


TSI?!
cd1 - original album remastered
cd2 - Izzy version
cd3 - demos & unreleased songs

Vinyl and Hi-Res versions, like Pono, could be cool too. They sound better than CD versions.

CD
Not yet. Too soon to re-release. IMO.


But to honest I usually don't care when bands have alternate takes on these 'deluxe editions' because mostly they don't sound that different from the versions that ended up on the album. I listen them once and that's it. "Oh this version has slightly different guitar part". Yipee. But they are the reason why people buy them.

[axlvai]

First of all... a GnR boxset wil be perfect for us, the fans. Ill like anything but less something like Live Era. PLEASE dont touch the original voice or the original guitar, etc. The way it was, was the perfect thing!!!

From AFD:

- Original CD
- Remastered CD
- a Special remake made by Axl/Slash/Duff (and the others)
- Demos or songs that left out like Dont Cry (and more)
- Bluray (forget the word DVD) From exclusive material like the Marc Canter tapes and some Proshots from Marquee (like the Rollings Stones)

From Lies:

- Original Cd
- Remastered without fake audience
- CD Some songs/demos that never released from that era.
- Bluray with doing some Studio, doing the Patience videoclip and the CBGB.

UYI 1 and 2

- CDs original
- Bluray audio with all songs fadeout-less (idk how to say this), with remastered.
- Remixes
- bluray. Documentary from 91-92-93 tour.
- some unknow proshots like Sao Paulo 92. MIAMI 92. MEXICO 92. COLOMBIA 92. VENEZUELA 92.
- MORE PROSHOTS FROM 93.

TSI.

- Cd original
- Cd remastered with a b-Sides from songs that left out (idk if that songs exists)

Chinese:

- CD original
- CD remake by the oldGNR

Others:

A TOKYO 92 with Coma Bluray concert. An Upgrade Tokyo 92 UNCUT and only the concert.

And... i can pay for that 500 usd.

[jarmo]

The scary part about remastering something is when it sounds worse. Due to the loudness war.

- Bluray (forget the word DVD) F

Well if the material isn't in HD, why would you need a Blu-ray disc for it?
A VHS sourced recording probably won't look that amazing just because you put it on a Blu-ray.



/jarmo

[nick6sic6]

The scary part about remastering something is when it sounds worse. Due to the loudness war.

- Bluray (forget the word DVD) F

Well if the material isn't in HD, why would you need a Blu-ray disc for it?
A VHS sourced recording probably won't look that amazing just because you put it on a Blu-ray.



/jarmo

Hopefully some company or someone will find a way to up-up-upscale non-HD material,master it the hell out and make a bluray out of it.Then a new collector's chapter opens up 

[rebelhipi]

The scary part about remastering something is when it sounds worse. Due to the loudness war.




/jarmo

Absolutely,
I think theres no need to remaster those records. Even thou The Spaghetti Incident and Live Era are extremely compressed.

Most remastered versions suck nowdays, exception are the new The Clash and Zeppelin remasters, they are actually less compressed (quieter) than the previous remasters that came out on both cases in  the mid/late 90s.

[LIGuns]

Any AFD era demos of YCBM out there?

[adydas78]

Oh, I wouldn't even know what to choose from all these! I would probably buy everything! I would definitely love box sets of everything, including video releases. There are concerts from the 70's with Elvis for example that look awesome on Blu-Ray, I would be surprised if they couldn't upscale something shot in the '90s.

Not to forget a Blu-Ray disc of the reunion tour, maybe they could play full Appetite live and release it, some bands did that for anniversaries. And yeah, bundles, bundles, on CD, vinyl, iTunes, with booklets, let's get crazy here, I would start saving money tomorrow!

[axlvai]

The scary part about remastering something is when it sounds worse. Due to the loudness war.

- Bluray (forget the word DVD) F

Well if the material isn't in HD, why would you need a Blu-ray disc for it?
A VHS sourced recording probably won't look that amazing just because you put it on a Blu-ray.



/jarmo

Hopefully some company or someone will find a way to up-up-upscale non-HD material,master it the hell out and make a bluray out of it.Then a new collector's chapter opens up 

Thats the answer. Or can be the Bitrate of the bluray. Idk... in the 80-90s the laserdisc was the best thing but put that im a 60" full Hd TV like now (4K is the last thing maybe...).

Most of Queen fans are still sad or angry for the last Freddy Tribute Bluray because was a SDBluray.

[kaasupoltin]

Personally I'm not that interested in remixed versions of AFD, Lies or the UYI's.

I'd be more interested in hearing unreleased material and alternate versions of released material... something like Lost Dogs by Pearl Jam or With The Lights Out by Nirvana. But I don't know how much there really is to choose from, especially from the earlier years. Cornshucker would be nice, of course

[EmilyGNR]

Would love any sort of collection or boxed set(s) from GNR, they haven't delved into this area, so far -as other bands have.

I would gladly buy any collection released.

[axlvai]

Like Emily an Kasuu saids... anything unleaked or unreleased will be awesome.

But if u do to me a question ill choose all available. Like Ax singing Mery Christmas under the shower... i want that too. We r fans, we want all.

[jarmo]

Good point.

So, what's better: A career spanning box set with unreleased / hard to find songs or separate releases for each album?




/jarmo

[Spirit]

I think a career spanning box set would fit better after the band retires. For now, I'm all for fully focused separate releases.

[axlvai]

Good point.

So, what's better: A career spanning box set with unreleased / hard to find songs or separate releases for each album?




/jarmo

Hard to choose 1. I want unreleased/unknow material from 85 to 96....

[Virolec]

I quite enjoy silent films.  If you get DVD/ Blu Ray issues of classic films like Metropolis or The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari from big labels like Eureka, you often get a pretty substantial booklet with it (I'm talking in the region of 80 pages), with things like essays on the films and their directors, trying to set them in their context, critical-theoretical essays from film scholars, maybe reviews from when the films came out that show you how they were received at the time (Metropolis, incredible as it seems now, was a box-office disaster).

How about that kind of thing for, for instance, a special reissue of Appetite for Destruction?  Say a couple of retrospective essays on what it meant for rock music in the late 1980s, a few contemporary reviews from rock magazines at the time, a short piece on recording technology and how the record was made... I would definitely be interested in that.  Match that up with a triple disc set: 1) the album as it is 2) demos, outtakes 3) live performances (maybe an official release of the Ritz concert as a representative example of what the band was like as a live act in those days).

A similar format would work equally well for the Use Your Illusion albums.

You might need considerably more than an 80-page booklet to give decent coverage of how and why Chinese Democracy developed the way it did, of course... I suspect the market for a special issue of Chinese Democracy would be rather smaller than for the older albums, but a detailed book with new and contemporary interviews on the process, a chapter on the development of each of the songs, a section on the touring to promote the album - I would certainly buy that.

[jarmo]

A nice booklet in addition tot he discs themselves would definitely add value to such a release.

That could even be its own edition, like a super deluxe ultra mega ultimate edition.


/jarmo

[sofine11]

It would be nice if they celebrated the fast approaching 10 year anniversary of Chinese Democracy with the next 'Chinese Democracy' album. 

Point being, re-releases are fun and all, but why tinker with that when you allegedly have a finished album with *new* songs ready to go?