Now that's DEEE-LUX!
February 1, 2016 7:31 AM   Subscribe

What Deluxe or Anniversary or Expanded Re-issues have really great extra content? Many albums from my youth have been reissued as two disc sets, with the second disc containing good, interesting, or even vital information. I would like to hear about your favorites among these reissues. Genre is not a concern.

I am seeking to avoid those that are simply: "Re-issue, re-package, re-package. Re-evaluate the songs. Double-pack with a photograph. Extra track and a tacky badge."
posted by OmieWise to Media & Arts (18 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: At this point, it seems expanded reissues can come out as soon as a year after the album is released, and then every five years for milestone anniversaries.

There are so many to choose from that various sites have actually cataloged their picks for best reissues (see: Pitchfork and Fact Mag), and others gather their annual picks (Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine). Note that some picks are not "expanded" as you ask.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:59 AM on February 1, 2016


Best answer: Son Volt recently re-released an expanded/remastered version of their awesome 1995 album Trace.
The originals are remastered and it contains an additional 18 tracks of live cuts + 8 demos.
posted by ZabeLeeZoo at 8:08 AM on February 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I'm not sure when your youth was, but one of the most interesting from mine was the Super Deluxe reissue of Quadrophenia by The Who.

The actual album remastering is fine, but the real gem is the original demo recorded by Pete Townsend. He went into the studio by himself, playing and overdubbing all the instruments and singing all the vocals. He presented the demo to the rest of the band, and they recorded the final version. It's amazing how close the demo is to the final version.
posted by The Deej at 8:40 AM on February 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


Best answer: All of the rereleases of Pavement's albums are amazing.
posted by papayaninja at 9:18 AM on February 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: Son Volt recently re-released an expanded/remastered version of their awesome 1995 album Trace.

It was finding out about this that prompted this question.
posted by OmieWise at 9:25 AM on February 1, 2016


Best answer: If you're into The Waterboys, the expanded anniversary edition of Fisherman's Blues is the holy grail. Known as Fisherman's Box, it has SIX CDs of material from the lengthy recording sessions, covering all kinds of genres. Of the 121 tracks, I consider about a third of them to be essential listening, and most of the rest are very good, with only a handful of throwaways. If you get the deluxe/whatever-it's-called version (which I did) you get a remastered vinyl of the original album, and another CD with 17 tracks by other artists that influenced the recordings. I believe both versions come with a good booklet detailing the history of every track. The whole thing is well worth the investment. (And I hadn't seen the site I linked to before finding it via a search, but it looks like it might be useful to you.)
posted by valleys at 10:04 AM on February 1, 2016


Best answer: Live at Leeds actually has the whole show now.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 10:15 AM on February 1, 2016


Best answer: The recent Queen re-issues did away with the terrible bonus remixes from the early 90s and now include some really interesting rarities and demos/alternate takes.
posted by monospace at 10:23 AM on February 1, 2016


Best answer: The Soft Boys Underwater Moonlight reissue that Matador Records did is great: the two CDs or three LPs contain quite a bit of unreleased music.

I enjoy the Deluxe reissues of some of The Kinks albums, such as Arthur, Something Else, and Village Green Preservation Society. I feel the same about the Deluxe reissues for The Monkees catalog.

The box set of the first three albums from The Bee Gees is one of my favorites -- excellent sound quality of mono and stereo versions of songs and many other extras.

The first album by The Cars also got a good Deluxe reissue.

I get my news about Deluxe reissues from Super Deluxe Edition.
posted by the matching mole at 10:55 AM on February 1, 2016


Best answer: air - moon safari
beastie boys - check your head
beck - odelay
everything reissued by the cure
everything reissued through rhino by elvis costello
lemonheads - it's a shame about ray
matthew sweet - girlfriend
paul simon - graceland (only adds 3 songs, but they're great)
everything reissued by pavement
pearl jam - ten
everything reissued through rhino by the ramones
sebadoh - bubble and scrape
posted by nadawi at 11:22 AM on February 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Catch a fire. Contains a stripped-down version of the album that's actually thought superior to the Island overdubbed one.
posted by nicolin at 12:40 PM on February 1, 2016


Best answer: Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Nas - Illmatic
Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Company
posted by box at 1:25 PM on February 1, 2016


Best answer: The XTC: Surround Sound Series is an incredible value, with extensive input from the band to reveal insights into how each album was conceived and constructed. Each of the three releases thus far--'Nonsuch,' 'Oranges & Lemons,' and 'Drums & Wires'--includes a new 5.1 surround album mix and stereo album mix from the original multi-track masters; plus demos, work tape sessions and pre-recording rehearsals, promo videos, and oddities tossed in by the band (ex. a hilarious home-made film by the band using paper cutouts to explain the Oranges & Lemons album to Geffen Records executives). Bonus: a thick booklet with extensive notes by Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding & Dave Gregory.
posted by prinado at 10:54 PM on February 1, 2016


Best answer: I wanted to add : Stanley Road, deluxe ed. has got a nice second disc with rawer versions of the songs and more material that is quite interesting. There's also a DVD, but I have to say that the Cds are so good that I never managed to watch it.
posted by nicolin at 1:12 PM on February 2, 2016


Best answer: I'm going to make an effort not to threadsit, but I wanted to mention too :
Mofo, Lumpy money, if you're a bit of a zappa freak, and The complete village vanguard recordings.
posted by nicolin at 7:38 AM on February 5, 2016


Best answer: Forgot about this one until I just saw it in my library: The Guess Who Live at the Paramount now has 13 tracks from that show instead of just the 7 when it was originally released.
posted by The Deej at 6:45 AM on February 11, 2016


Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I'm still happy to hear other suggestions.
posted by OmieWise at 7:07 AM on February 11, 2016


Best answer: I've just listened to The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions (3 cds set, unreleased tracks, different edits) : real cool, offers a very thorough insight into the creation of such a record.
Btw, I mentioned Stanley road upthread, but there's also a deluxe ed. of Paul Weller, and of Wild Wood.
posted by nicolin at 2:12 AM on March 10, 2016


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