Reissues, ugh
01/12/15 17:46 Filed in: Rant
The hype around the deluxe reissue of Springsteen's The River is wearying, at least if you look for news about him, and/or follow his various social media accounts (none of which seem to feature any postings by the boss himself). It's all too much for too little that's new and interesting. This one follows the repackaging of both Darkness and Born to Run. The reissues have started to seem like nothing more than relentless cash grabs from fans who care about his music. It starts to beat down your sense of his integrity as an artist.
The 'making of' "documentary" is brutally low rent. Springsteen going on and on about how tough it was to choose which songs to include. We've seen that movie before. No comments from any of the band members. No information about the band's contributions to the record, other than a brief nod to Clemons and Federici, both of whom have, of course, passed away.
I don't know if these reissues are really marketing exercises by the record company. Probably. But $100 plus to purchase an album you already have and a bunch of questionable extras is remarkably cynical. And Springsteen is complicit in this cynicism, since he's happy to go out and shill for the marketing department. (Come to think of it, I expect one of the reasons no other band members are featured in the making-of video is probably because no one wants to pay them. And as has been documented elsewhere, people involved with Bruce are tightly muzzled when it comes to talking about the projects. Too bad, because that might make for some much more interesting content.)
The other thing is that - as Springsteen amply points out when talking about putting the original album together - there's a reason the album contained the songs it contained, placed in the order they were placed: It made for a good album. There might be a few things on the reissue that are worthwhile but by far the best part - and the only reason a fan might have any interest in any of it at all - is the original release.
So I'm kind of fed up with all these re-releases - not just Bruce's but all of them. They feel kind of unseemly. It takes money out of people's pockets - money that they might well spend on something new. In the last week there's been a fair amount of blowback about how many albums Adele has sold and whether or not it's the kind of music people should be buying. I say more power to her; she's at least putting out new product. Can't say I'm looking forward to the 10th, 20th, 30th etc. anniversary reissues of her work but for now, good on her.
One more thing: the guys who got famous in the heyday of vinyl and CD sales ought to be happy with how they made out. They made more money than any of the new kids are ever going to make. Stop stealing the food out of their mouths. You don't need it. And I know this assumes someone might take their money and spend it on some other music, which may not be the case, but geez, let's agree that Bruce doesn't need any more of our dough.
The 'making of' "documentary" is brutally low rent. Springsteen going on and on about how tough it was to choose which songs to include. We've seen that movie before. No comments from any of the band members. No information about the band's contributions to the record, other than a brief nod to Clemons and Federici, both of whom have, of course, passed away.
I don't know if these reissues are really marketing exercises by the record company. Probably. But $100 plus to purchase an album you already have and a bunch of questionable extras is remarkably cynical. And Springsteen is complicit in this cynicism, since he's happy to go out and shill for the marketing department. (Come to think of it, I expect one of the reasons no other band members are featured in the making-of video is probably because no one wants to pay them. And as has been documented elsewhere, people involved with Bruce are tightly muzzled when it comes to talking about the projects. Too bad, because that might make for some much more interesting content.)
The other thing is that - as Springsteen amply points out when talking about putting the original album together - there's a reason the album contained the songs it contained, placed in the order they were placed: It made for a good album. There might be a few things on the reissue that are worthwhile but by far the best part - and the only reason a fan might have any interest in any of it at all - is the original release.
So I'm kind of fed up with all these re-releases - not just Bruce's but all of them. They feel kind of unseemly. It takes money out of people's pockets - money that they might well spend on something new. In the last week there's been a fair amount of blowback about how many albums Adele has sold and whether or not it's the kind of music people should be buying. I say more power to her; she's at least putting out new product. Can't say I'm looking forward to the 10th, 20th, 30th etc. anniversary reissues of her work but for now, good on her.
One more thing: the guys who got famous in the heyday of vinyl and CD sales ought to be happy with how they made out. They made more money than any of the new kids are ever going to make. Stop stealing the food out of their mouths. You don't need it. And I know this assumes someone might take their money and spend it on some other music, which may not be the case, but geez, let's agree that Bruce doesn't need any more of our dough.
