starfish
Group: Members
Posts: 93
Joined: June 2009 |
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Posted: June 08 2011, 06:13 |
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Quote (stpaul @ June 07 2011, 18:47) | Quote (Woodend @ June 07 2011, 14:17) | Incantations is my favourite MO album so I was looking forward to it the most. But seeing this tracklist leaves me utterly gutted. I don´t need excerpts, I want the whole thing as a 5.1 mix. |
And I don't need 5.1 Mixes at all. In my opinion it's a waste of disc space. In contrast to the previous re-releases Incantations 2011 seems to include nothing special. Who needs the Wembley Conference Concert from Exposed DVD ? As all the concerts were recorded in 1979 they shoud have included another one, although it's only audio. |
The problem with Incantations is that it's such a balancing act, moreso than the previous re-issues. The problem being, of course, that Incantations is double the running-time of the others!
So I have great sympathy for the people at Universal who were compiling this album. Obviously the original 1978 mix should be included in the set, but what else?
Some people are big fans of the new remixes that have been appearing on the other re-issues. Some people prefer the B-sides and rarities (I myself am elated that Pipe Tune and Wreckorder Wrondo are finally getting a CD release), whilst a third group would prefer early versions and demos, such as the Space Movie takes.
The problem is that you can't please everyone, not when you only have three discs to play around with. Incantations 1978 mix + Complete Remix + Rarities + Demos just won't fit on two audio CDs because Incantations, at over 70 minutes, is just too long - it won't all fit!!!
In an ideal world, Universal would've given this set an extra disc, and then everyone would have been happy. But given the projected sales figures, I'm not sure Universal could justify the extra expense.
In the UK, you don't even need to sell 10,000 copies to reach the top 20 in the album sales chart (the 'Renegades' album by Feeder got to number 16 and sold less than 9,000, according to Wikipedia). Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn were placed 140 and 141, so how many must they have sold? A thousand copies at best!
That we're getting these lavish 3-disc sets at all amazes me, considering the relatively low sales.
Given that Universal only had two audio CDs and a DVD to play with, I personally think they struck a good balance. The original 1978 version is there for those who want it, plus a bunch of B-sides, and a few remixed excerpts.
Yes, it's a bit of a fudge, and no-one is going to be completely happy with the situation (I'd've given my left arm for a 5.1 remix of the 'Ode To Cynthia' section in Part 4). But it's a decent compromise, given the number of discs and the extended length of the original album.
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