The Golden Age of Outakes, Demos, Alternate Mixes, etc.

Yes we are living in that age. But are any really better than the original? For Example, I like the version of Surrender with out the Synth pizazz, but I like it better with it. That version will never take the place of the original. Are there any songs that do?

I heard a remix of King Crimson's "Sleepless" that really beefed up the bass and drums. It may not "take the place" of the version that appears on *Beat*, but for sheer awesome wallop, it was killer.

When assembling the retrospective *Snap!*, The Jam chose to use the demo of "That's Entertainment," rather than any officially released version. They (or perhaps just Weller) said in the liner notes that the demo had a feel to it that none of the other versions captured.

All that said, I've become less & less impressed with all the demos, out-takes and remixes that appear as "bonus tracks" on a lot of reissued albums. Remixes, of course, are less a reflection on the band than on the mixer. Most of those mixers tend to reduce the original tracks to the level of data to be manipulated, thus discounting the artist's original vision and effort. (And most of them, no matter how cool and hip they think the DJ culture is, really have little vision of their own. Their mixes all sound pretty much alike, at least to my ears.) As for out-takes and demos, well, the bulk of them show why they didn't see wide release in the first place.

"Get Happy!!" has always been my favorite Costello record by a mile and one of my favorites by anyone - but I was floored by the bonus disc "outtakes" that came with the Rhino release.

Not necessarily because all that stuff is so great (although much of it is), it's more that it really illustrates how they put the songs together and how slight changes can impact a songs tone and feel.

I'll second that -- Rhino's Get Happy!!! is one reissue that really brings something new and great to the table. I haven't yet given in and replaced my old copy, but I know it's only a matter of time...

Get Happy!!! is also my favorite Costello album & I do have the Rhino version. It was one of the few that I wanted to upgrade from the Rykodisc version. Also, I heard that EMI will finally be upgrading the Beatles albums later this year. It would be nice since they haven't done anything w/them in 20 yrs.

I hope the first four Beatles albums are put out in stereo this time. They were released in mono when they first came out on CD, even though they were originally released in both formats when they were new albums. I find the stereo version of The Who's My Generation interesting, really stripped down sounding in three track stereo. A lot of the extras on that reissue were released on earlier compilations. I think most box sets are crap because they are loaded down with stuff that's already available, with a few rarities sprinkled in to get die-hard fans to buy them. Personally, I would reissue old albums in their original format, with covers and track listing being unaltered. If there are so many great outtakes existing of a band, just release a seperate CD of outtakes. I don't like the classics to be tampered with by someone wanting to make a work of art better, years after the fact, even when the artist themselves are involved. I would have kept the original MY Generation in circulation, so that people see the art as it was originally heard. The stereo reissue should also be available and noted as something seperate from the original because it's been altered from the original version.

I think that Bob Irwin has done a really nice job remastering a lot of the SONY Legacy stuff. Plus he owns the awesome reissue label Sundazed and works wonders with old releases. He mentioned to me in an interview a few years back that you can really mess things up if you try to make your mark too much. He has a light, unobtrusive touch, but has really made the sounds pop to my ears on releases by the Byrds, Link Wray, the Trashmen, and Buck Owens (to name a few). All but the Byrds are on Sundazed.

When I think of Alternate mixes Raw Power and LAMF both come to mind. I know Ira is not that fond of the Raw Power remix but honestly I like it better than the original. Of course I had never heard the original until the late eighties, if that matters at all. Even though I loved the album, the mix never quite sat right with me.

Personally I'm a big fan of Rhino's T. Rex reissues. I'm slowly collecting these. I like listening to all the demos for nerdly fun, but the most important thing is to have all the singles included with the album that they where recorded around the time period of. Too me, this series is one of the best catalogue updates ever. The presentation is also second to none.