Albums ruined by bonus tracks

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There is one other option too, including both the stereo and the mono version on the same

NONONONO! This is the WORST! I hate having to skip to track 15 or whatever every time I listen to Pet Sounds!

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:31 (nineteen years ago) link

remember when cds were new and they acted like songs that they coudln't fit on the vinyl were "bonus tracks"? like, four songs on Disintegration, I think, were called bonus tracks.

yes the new bowie reissues are idiots. the ryko versions withe bonus tracks are definitive to me (except for Aladin Sane which didn't have any! WTF? and the EMI one has a whole extra disc)

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:31 (nineteen years ago) link

NONONONO! This is the WORST! I hate having to skip to track 15 or whatever every time I listen to Pet Sounds!

Trouble is, if there weren't bonus tracks, you probably wouldn't have had a stereo version on the CD at all.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:32 (nineteen years ago) link

The trouble about Bowie is that the audio is clearly better on the recent EMI editions. They sound fantastic in places.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:33 (nineteen years ago) link

Am I the only person whose PC&L CD never included either "Blue Monday" or "The Beach" but kind of wishes it did?

Certainly including "State of the Nation" after the record has supposedly skipped catastrophically is unfortunate.

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:35 (nineteen years ago) link

Are you American? I think only the U.S. versions included "Blue Monday."

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:37 (nineteen years ago) link

the EMI Bowies do sound better? really? I didn't bother with them, I thought the Rykos sounded amazing. I'd probably be bothered if they sounded any different, actually, i'm so stuck to those ones.

the State of the Nation add to Brotherhood is the worst of these I can think of, only because I hate that song.

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:38 (nineteen years ago) link

At the risk of being called the next Mr. Monopoly, I'd like to say that it is definitely a letdown if you don't hit the stop button after "Whiskey Woman" on The Flamin' Groovies's Teenage Head.

― Ken L (Ken L), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:38 (nineteen years ago) link

aren't a lot of the ryko extra tracks being featured on the 'special' emi reissues ? ie the ones with an extra disc ?

not that i have checked too closely ..

― mark e (mark e), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:44 (nineteen years ago) link

How the hell could we all have forgotten Plastic Ono Band? "Do The Oz" anyone? I think I would have paid an extra $10 just to escape ever being exposed to that song. That's definitely the most offensive.

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:46 (nineteen years ago) link

I didn't bother with the Lennon remasters since I have the Lennon four disc box which is pretty comprehensive. also, the remixing scared me away. Also, yes, you don't need Do the Oz.

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:47 (nineteen years ago) link

Other albums that suffer:
Ramones
Moon & Antarctica
Close to the Edge

Other albums that benefit:
Music Has the Right to Children
(It's only one track, but it's fantastic)
Pink Flag
Chairs Missing
154
(The 1994 EMI re-issues)

Albums I'm ambivalent about:
CR,CR
Slanted & Enchanted
(All the bonus tracks are superb, and it's unbelievably cheap, so it's kind of hard to bitch about)
Modern Lovers
(Only one of two of the bonus tracks are less than stellar, but all those demos/alternate takes sure drag it out)

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:50 (nineteen years ago) link

See, this is why I like my iPod so much. I was able to take Big Star's Third, rearrange the track order to the original sequencing, and drop all the bonus cuts (except for "Til the End of the Day"). I still have all of the leftover detritus on my CD in case I ever want to hear Alex Chilton cover Jerry Lee Lewis again, but I don't neccessarily have to listen to it whenever I put on this album.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 18 March 2005 23:55 (nineteen years ago) link

"forever changes"

i don't want to hear anything after "you set the scene."

― you will be shot (you will be shot), Saturday, 19 March 2005 00:00 (nineteen years ago) link

No way! "Your Mind and We Belong Together" is great (unfortunately there is a lot of dross to wade through before you get to it.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Saturday, 19 March 2005 00:01 (nineteen years ago) link

Pet friggin' peeve. On my particular setup, programming the cd is kind of a pain, and doing so will create brief gaps between tracks if they run together. Yes, you can stop the cd after the end of the album proper, but sometimes you just want to hear the album without managing it. A few off the top of my head:

Henry Cow, "Legend" and "Unrest" (East Side Digital versions)--really crappy, noisy live tracks follow albums with perfect endings.

Johnny Dyani, "Witchdoctor's Son"--killer last track followed by alternate takes of each song. why...

Traffic, "The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys"--great, I get a second helping (single version) of the worst song on the album, Rock & Roll Stew.

― These Robust Cookies (Robust Cookies), Saturday, 19 March 2005 00:45 (nineteen years ago) link

One of my favorite albums ever 'From her to eternity' was perfect on lp with just 7 songs, but the cd version has 'In the Ghetto' and 'The moon is in the gutter' squeezed in between the titletrack and 'Saint Huck'. It closes with a 1987-version of 'from her to eternity'
WHY?

― Marcel Verhoeven (Marcel Verhoeven), Saturday, 19 March 2005 01:14 (nineteen years ago) link

Ha! I just mentioned a version of "In The Ghetto" on Albums improved by bonus tracks

― Ken L (Ken L), Saturday, 19 March 2005 01:20 (nineteen years ago) link

Well, it's not that I don't like the songs, they just don't fit in as far as I'm concerned.
What were they thinking at Mute?

It's time for remastered editions of those 80's cave records without single versions of Tupelo added to The firstborn is dead and without a video mix of The mercy seat added to Tender prey.

― Marcel Verhoeven (Marcel Verhoeven), Saturday, 19 March 2005 01:45 (nineteen years ago) link

"Pesky Bonus Tracks"

Problems We Want To Have: Chapter 745

― donut debonair (donut), Saturday, 19 March 2005 01:59 (nineteen years ago) link

I won't say the bonus tracks on Modest Mouse's "The Moon and Antarctica" reissue ruins the album, but they certainly are awful. The first one is a radio edit of the first song on the album, which means it's exactly the same with bleeped-out curse words. Why in the hell would anybody want that?

― Mickey (modestmickey), Saturday, 19 March 2005 02:04 (nineteen years ago) link

The placement of "Blue Monday" and "The Beach" on Power, Corruption and Lies is nothing short of brilliant. It's exactly what the original album was lacking.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Saturday, 19 March 2005 02:17 (nineteen years ago) link

That Marquee Moon reissue. Ugh.

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Saturday, 19 March 2005 02:22 (nineteen years ago) link

they fucked up those Hendrix reissues ten years back with the bonus cuts (and the WORST PACKAGING EVER)

And I don't like those Blue Note CDs that had the alternate takes placed right after the regular take.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Saturday, 19 March 2005 02:28 (nineteen years ago) link

This sequencing issue mentioned by Gear is the classic problem that all the econo-minded people on the thread seem to be ignoring, with the most glaring example being the Robert Johnson box.

― Ken L (Ken L), Saturday, 19 March 2005 03:03 (nineteen years ago) link

My copy of from her to eternity CLAIMS to have a bonus version at the end but it doesn't, and neither did the other copy of the CD I had. why is this? I will trade you CDs if you want.

― kyle (akmonday), Saturday, 19 March 2005 03:39 (nineteen years ago) link

Ken L - OTM.

I've found lots of reggae issues doing that.

Track 1: Song X
Track 2: Song X Dub
Track 3: Song Y
Track 4: Song Y Dub
etc...

God damn it, how could someone listen to a CD like that?

― Mickey (modestmickey), Saturday, 19 March 2005 05:15 (nineteen years ago) link

reissues.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Saturday, 19 March 2005 05:15 (nineteen years ago) link

The assumption underlying those Blue Note releases seems to be that we will take a scholarly approach to the music, appreciating and/or critiquing the subtle distinctions between two (or three) versions of the same track. We are not supposed to just listen to the album; that's what we did 40 years ago, when it was released the first time.

― These Robust Cookies (Robust Cookies), Saturday, 19 March 2005 06:51 (nineteen years ago) link

Bonus tracks in the middle of the album = big fat DUD all around

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Saturday, 19 March 2005 06:58 (nineteen years ago) link

While I'm almost fanatically devoted to the concept of quality over quantity in terms of actual albums--the perfect record length is around 35 minutes, to me--I do love bonus tracks, as long as they're separated by some silence.

The only "ruining" I can think of is, say, Bill Evans reissues that put alternate takes *in* the sequence. But that can't really ruin it.

― I.M. (I.M.), Saturday, 19 March 2005 06:59 (nineteen years ago) link

Bonus tracks at the start of the album, like the previous "Are You Experienced" issue=also DUD.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 19 March 2005 10:03 (nineteen years ago) link

bonus at the start means that by skipping you can still listen to the original as-intended artifact unsullied, it's pretty rockist-friendly unless you want to pretend that the original LP had a "track 13"

― kit, Saturday, 19 March 2005 14:24 (nineteen years ago) link

Plastic Ono Band was damaged by having the horrible 'Power to the People ' tacked on the end, after the beautiful and somber my mommy's dead.

― shookout (shookout), Saturday, 19 March 2005 14:45 (nineteen years ago) link

I've mentioned this before, but we could have all done without the "bone-us" song on Soul Asylum's Hang Time.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Saturday, 19 March 2005 16:06 (nineteen years ago) link

This is a problem with many jazz releases too. Giant Steps has to be one of the most frustrating listens because of the alternative takes that follow.

There's so much emphasis on value-added with the cd format. Somehow it's unacceptable to have 40 minutes or less on a cd?

― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Saturday, 19 March 2005 16:53 (nineteen years ago) link

Soft Bulletin features a poorly mastered version of the first track as the last track.

― Cheek0 (Cheek0), Saturday, 19 March 2005 17:01 (nineteen years ago) link

...also Plastic Ono Band disc added the equally-wretched 'Do the Oz.'#

Both tracks that Yoko Ono had a lot ot do with, unsurprisingly.

― shookout (shookout), Saturday, 19 March 2005 17:25 (nineteen years ago) link

Howabout "Ash - 1977" which has a bonus track of one of them being sick onto a metal tray for 5 minutes?

― mark grout (mark grout), Saturday, 19 March 2005 18:38 (nineteen years ago) link

Underwater Moonlight is a pain in the ass because of all the bonus tracks. The Go-Betweens reissues however, are perfect. Two discs, 13$, one disc is the album, and the second is all bonus material, usually singles, as good or better than any off the albums. Like the band themselves, pretty perfect.

― dan. (dan.), Saturday, 19 March 2005 21:37 (nineteen years ago) link

the fall's grotesque (after the gramme) reissue '98 is bad because it puts the singles first, followed by the album proper. up until these new reissues (not all of which are totally awesome - the new dragnet is worse than dragnet + in my opinion) solve this problem, but it helps to be picky.

it doesn't bother me with certain albums, especially those that aren't near and dear. echo & the bunnymen are great! and cheap!

― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Saturday, 19 March 2005 21:46 (nineteen years ago) link

I'd agree with the comment upthread that putting bonus tracks first is better--when you start the cd is the most convenient point at which to skip ahead. You rarely see it, though.

― These Robust Cookies (Robust Cookies), Saturday, 19 March 2005 22:03 (nineteen years ago) link

one month passes...

I just bought the reissue of The Meters' "Rejuvenation", and as bonus tracks it includes two edited-down single versions of two songs that are already on the album in their full length! I can sorta understand (even though I don't support it) the idea of including alternate takes, but why on earth would anyone think single edits are the sort of historical find that needs to be included on a reissue?

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:17 (eighteen years ago) link

I have a vinyl copy of Bowie's Heroes from 1991 with three bonus tracks. Two songs originally from the beginning of side 2 are shoved onto the end of side 1, mucking up the vocal/instrumental split. That's not the worst thing though. One of the bonuses is supposedly a remix of Joe Lion but some idiot has accidentally just put exactly the same version from side 1 on in its place.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Sunday, 24 April 2005 21:53 (eighteen years ago) link

The bonus tracks in the middle of XTC's "Mummer" annoy me so much I ended up burning myself a CD with the bonus tracks in the end rather than in the middle.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 24 April 2005 23:34 (eighteen years ago) link

One of the bonuses is supposedly a remix of Joe Lion but some idiot has accidentally just put exactly the same version from side 1 on in its place.
That's the same as the CD (at least the one I have). The Ryko CDs rule- the bonus stuff on the EMI reissues hardly warrants a second disc.

― Rand D. Butterstein, Monday, 25 April 2005 02:30 (eighteen years ago) link

>Plastic Ono Band was damaged by having the horrible 'Power to the People ' tacked on the end, after the beautiful and somber my mommy's dead.

fucking vandalism

― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 25 April 2005 02:43 (eighteen years ago) link

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