Rhino Records C/D

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In my exp Rhino compilations are frustrating, about 75% successful. The problem is selection, the sets are almost always larded w/novelty songs and eccentric unrepresentative choices. In gneral the less familiar you are with an artist's original releases the more satisfying a Rhino collection will be. Though I am grateful for the sheer amount of music they've made available as reissues all too often it could be done better. And more knowledgeable ears than mine have nothing good to say about the sound quality, remastering etc.

m coleman (lovebug starski), Wednesday, 28 December 2005 14:22 (eighteen years ago) link

And more knowledgeable ears than mine have nothing good to say about the sound quality, remastering etc.

I thought they did an excellent job with The Cure. I am no audio expert though.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 29 December 2005 00:50 (eighteen years ago) link

I give them props for the Handmade series.

And for "I'm a Christmas Tree" by Wild Man Fischer.

Myke Weiskopf (Myke Weiskopf), Thursday, 29 December 2005 01:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Rhino has butchered any chance of Fanny being resurrected for the enjoyment of anyone but the Handmade purchasing nerds. They did
better with Cactus who were probably not as well know when both bands were still together. And apparently Jo Jo Gunne passed on to Wounded Bird, which was a better choice than the Handmade gold-plated dungeon.

In fact, Wounded Bird, which has Rhino in fine print on it, has largely been quite fine. They're budget-priced mostly and deserve to be. This year's select choices for me were Lord Sutch, More and the astonishing Loudness rereleases.

George the Animal Steele, Thursday, 29 December 2005 17:23 (eighteen years ago) link

the Handmade gold-plated dungeon.

chortle, giggle, snort.

Thanks for the Wounded Bird tip, never heard of the label.

sleeve (sleeve), Thursday, 29 December 2005 17:26 (eighteen years ago) link

I kind drag this in here because it's the work of ex-Rhino big deals. The Slade comp from last year, Get Your Boots On, really wasn't very good because it didn't show any recognition of what Slade's presence to its fans was in the USA when the records were actually being released. Slade didn't sell much at all but the albums that people remember were Slade Alive, Slayed and Nobody's Fools, the last before they were deleted prior to Quiet Riot reviving interest. So there is nothing from SA or NF on the package, and the mixes and sound from the songs that were published originally on Slayed had nothing of the raw, singularly sledgehammering tone that contributed to that record.

And the essay was mediocre. But they same people did good with the In Flame DVD. And the best Slade comp appears to be an import that was published about a month ago.

George the Animal Steele, Thursday, 29 December 2005 17:37 (eighteen years ago) link

Handling of Brownsville Station warrants mentioning. The anthology put out by Rhino proper was fair. But stuck at one disc, it's not nearly enough to capture the best of the band. The essay by Koda was great. Moving the first four BS albums to Wounded Bird was exactly the thing to do. They're all good but my favorites were easily No BS and Yeah!. Whatever happened to original drummer T. J. Cronley? Koda insisted he invented Ted Nugent's wildman shtick.

George the Animal Steele, Thursday, 29 December 2005 20:24 (eighteen years ago) link

If this were twenty years ago, I'd definitely say that Rhino was one of the better labels out there, but they've been dumbing themselves down something fierce as the years went on. Personally, I think Sundazed has fulfilled Rhino's earlier promise. Just enough well-knowns in the catalog to turn a profit, just enough obscurities to keep the collectors happy. That's what Rhino was like in the 80's, but whatever they had, they ain't got it no more!!! Every now and then they'll put something together that no one can argue with (like the NUGGETS and NUGGETS II box sets), but in general: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

BTW, Rhino really dropped the ball with the CHILDREN OF NUGGETS set.

Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Thursday, 29 December 2005 20:46 (eighteen years ago) link

re: the handmade imprint--i thought it was kind of bizarre that the recent Television live CD came out on this. in my opinion it can stand up there with any of the best rock live albums, and yet it was put out in an extremely limited edition (2500 copies, I think?) It was really overlooked as a result. I think it's on iTunes now, though...

Tyler W (tylerw), Thursday, 29 December 2005 21:55 (eighteen years ago) link

NUGGETS II is unbelievably good--better than the first one, I think. And the girl group box they did this year is just extraordinary.

Douglas (Douglas), Thursday, 29 December 2005 22:13 (eighteen years ago) link

Speaking for myself, I think NUGGETS I and II are both unfuckwithable. Both sets are indispensable, but I think the first one has the slight advantage. Why? Because there's only one song that I out-and-out don't care for, while II has quite a few turds scattered here and there (the Action, for starters). But that's nothing that a programmable CD player won't cure.

CHILDREN OF NUGGETS, on the other hand...even when I do max out the inferior tracks (more here than on the other two combined), it still sounds kinda half-assed.

Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Friday, 30 December 2005 02:23 (eighteen years ago) link

Sundazed has fulfilled Rhino's earlier promise.

This is a convincing argument, Get Back has also done as well for me.

sleeve, away, Friday, 30 December 2005 04:20 (eighteen years ago) link

I've said if before, but Nuggets II should have just been all British stuff. It was ridiculous to throw a few random tracks from around the world on there (especially stuff from Canada!).

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 30 December 2005 04:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Classic, I have been extremely happy with what they have done with the Cure this year. Talking Heads will be bought in 2006, of course both Nuggets are most owns and so on.

The most played thing I have bought has to be this:


http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000006OIT.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000006OIT.01.DTLS._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

BeeOK (boo radley), Friday, 30 December 2005 04:49 (eighteen years ago) link

of course both Nuggets are most owns and so on.

Not exactly. I would bet a good sum of people who bought Jo Jo Gunne, Fanny, More, Private Life, Cactus, Steve Hunter, Loudness, etc. have little or no use for Nuggets, I or II. So kudos to the company for not coming even close to catering to one singular demographic.

However, I always hated that album that contained "Plate Full of Kazoos." Now, it's time to reissue Mogen David and His Winos. This is an in joke.

George the Animal Steele, Friday, 30 December 2005 09:26 (eighteen years ago) link

three years pass...

Yeeps.

Ned Raggett, Friday, 25 September 2009 05:17 (fourteen years ago) link

It's really stupid because with all music becoming just dust in the ether I was valuing the definitive nature of Rhino boxes even more.

shipley irresistable (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 25 September 2009 06:00 (fourteen years ago) link

gah i was reading that and a giant ad for the CRASH TV SHOW popped up and i screamed out loud

fountain bleaut (s1ocki), Friday, 25 September 2009 06:18 (fourteen years ago) link

Bummer indeed. I even bought two new Rhino releases this year (Dehumanizer LP and Heaven & Hell LP). Guess my little part wasn't enough.

I wonder if Shout! Factory will ramp things up?

Nate Carson, Friday, 25 September 2009 19:48 (fourteen years ago) link

Thanks for the superb Robyn Hitchcock reissue program in the 90's Rhino. And the awesome Sabbath remasters in the 00's.

Wee Tam and the lolhueg (Jon Lewis), Friday, 25 September 2009 21:26 (fourteen years ago) link

yeah, they've done so much good stuff, and almost always done it well. I think the New Order remasters were the only things I heard really bad things about.

tylerw, Friday, 25 September 2009 21:27 (fourteen years ago) link

Doesn't sound good. I've still got to score that "Where the Action Is" box.

leavethecapital, Friday, 25 September 2009 21:28 (fourteen years ago) link

Oh man, maybe I should go buy that Big Star box set after all, even though I can't afford it now.

Size-zero-brigade-embrace-token-chubby-chops (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 25 September 2009 21:36 (fourteen years ago) link

Well this stuff will all remain available no? They'll just stop producing new stuff?

Wee Tam and the lolhueg (Jon Lewis), Friday, 25 September 2009 21:37 (fourteen years ago) link

God, I hope it'll stay available, I still haven't picked up half the Nuggets boxes, the rockabilly and girl-group boxes, etc...

This sucks :(

More Butty In Your Pants (Telephone thing), Saturday, 26 September 2009 02:56 (fourteen years ago) link

Get that girl group box. It's great.

leavethecapital, Saturday, 26 September 2009 03:21 (fourteen years ago) link

I love Rhino but sheesh you think maybe some of their woes stem from the outlandish claims made for their boxes (for almost ALL boxes really but...)? I finally heard One Kiss Can Lead to Another a few months ago and shame on anyone claiming that EVERY SINGLE TRACK is ace (esp. when half the songs are unaccounted for in all of the reviews I've read so far). Or take Tim Sendra's Allmusic review: "Any girl group fan will have additions to the list, but the great thing about One Kiss Can Lead to Another is that there are no obvious choices to remove to make room for anyone else. Each track fits just right and to take one out would be just plain painful." Cute...until you pluck down your $50. I intend to take out at least two discs full (and replace them with Ginny Arnell's "Dumb Head" which I'm NOT claiming anyone else on earth would like). Even with much more consistent fare, like the first two Nuggets boxes (yes, I paid cash fuckin' money for them), I managed dynamite one-disc distillations of each with no pain.

I don't applaud these layoffs or "the death of the music industry" in general. But the death of the box set sounds very healthy (and lookee here - Big Star box, new Nuggets box...).

Kevin John Bozelka, Saturday, 26 September 2009 09:02 (fourteen years ago) link

you are rong about one kiss imo

electric sound of jim (original version) (electricsound), Saturday, 26 September 2009 09:03 (fourteen years ago) link

Kevin I LOVE "Dumb Head"! My mother had it on 45 and as kids we spun it all the time. I was delighted to find an mp3 of it a few years ago. I don't remember the b-side; did she do anything else worthwhile?

Euler, Saturday, 26 September 2009 09:11 (fourteen years ago) link

Not sure I'd change a thing on the two 50s boxes, "Loud Fast & Out Of Control" & "Rockin' Bones" - except I'd eliminate the duplicates!

Seriously, though, Rhino has had an amazing ability to cut through the licensing issues and gather together artists work across labels like no one else. Who's gonna be able to do that in the future? Damnit, at least put out the desperately needed John Cale box first!

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Saturday, 26 September 2009 11:06 (fourteen years ago) link

cherry red (well, at least some of the people they have working with them these days) aren't too shabby at it, but they do put out a tremendous amount of crap alongside the excellently curated gems

electric sound of jim (original version) (electricsound), Saturday, 26 September 2009 11:21 (fourteen years ago) link

Cherry Red's quality control and "remastering" are a joke compared to Rhino. They routinely include tracks from vinyl rips that seemingly haven't been listened to.

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Saturday, 26 September 2009 11:27 (fourteen years ago) link

i agree it definitely depends on the release. the stuff joe foster does is excellent. ok, in all fairness, he's probably the only one there who really has a clue

electric sound of jim (original version) (electricsound), Saturday, 26 September 2009 11:28 (fourteen years ago) link

cherry red covers soooooooo many niche labels and compilers that there's no real comparison with rhino...the cherry red mail order catalogue each year is just ridiculously huge compared to rhino's yearly output

Jamie_ATP, Saturday, 26 September 2009 11:40 (fourteen years ago) link

Kevin I LOVE "Dumb Head"! My mother had it on 45 and as kids we spun it all the time. I was delighted to find an mp3 of it a few years ago. I don't remember the b-side; did she do anything else worthwhile?

Isn't it the most?!? And as contradictory a pleasure as anything by The Rolling Stones. The only other song I know of hers is the devastating "I Wish I Knew What Dress To Wear," kinda like Dionne Warwick going through her closet before she walks on by.

Kevin John Bozelka, Saturday, 26 September 2009 12:32 (fourteen years ago) link

Here is a link to an eighteen page thread on this topic on another board: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=194977

Garnet Memes (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 26 September 2009 13:10 (fourteen years ago) link

which also notes that this wasn't everyone at rhino, it was a substantial reduction, but bigger name things are still going to go out the door, and even some handmade titles. so rhino will probably get a little worse, which is what it's been doing for years.

akm, Saturday, 26 September 2009 13:39 (fourteen years ago) link

You guys heard the Sharades version of "Dumb Head?" It's maybe even better than the original. Joe Meek and all that.

GOVERNMENT TRASH QUEEN ON A THRONE (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Saturday, 26 September 2009 14:32 (fourteen years ago) link

Better than Ginny Arnell?

MCCCXI (u s steel), Saturday, 26 September 2009 15:53 (fourteen years ago) link

maybe. great keyboard noise and more obnoxious vocals. it's on youtube, i don't want to post it and clutter up the thread.

GOVERNMENT TRASH QUEEN ON A THRONE (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Saturday, 26 September 2009 15:58 (fourteen years ago) link

I think us steel was funnin', gott. But I do prefer Ginny Arnell's and like both.

From Rhino's website:

The Reports Of Rhino's Demise Were An Exaggeration

I'd love to ready a study tracing what happens to where all this reduced staff goes next, i.e. which professions, still in the industry?, etc.

Kevin John Bozelka, Saturday, 26 September 2009 17:32 (fourteen years ago) link

On that other thread they were talking about how this would cheat a guy who had won the Rhino trivia contest and was receiving a lifetime supply of every Rhino release ever. I though they might have been talking about Rickey Wright but turns out he only got 100 CDs.

Garnet Memes (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 27 September 2009 22:49 (fourteen years ago) link

three years pass...

Have they gone under? The mall store had a wall rack of CDs for $4.99, and about a third of them were Rhino soul and blues best-ofs: Percy Sledge, Solomon Burke, Elmore James, etc. I have all this stuff in various configurations, so I couldn't think of a good excuse to buy any of it. I did pick up Emmylou Harris's Luxury Liner. I won't lie--the cover factored in. Also bought the Gram Parsons double with both his LPs (not Rhino). I've already got them on vinyl, so it'll go into my box of gifts for some hypothetical future date. Felt almost sad buying these two records together off a budget-CD rack. They're the kind of albums that are worth spending years searching for.

http://img.noiset.com/images/album/emmylou-harris-luxury-liner-album-cover-46837.jpeg

clemenza, Friday, 1 February 2013 23:46 (eleven years ago) link

five years pass...

that aughts collection looks solid to me

niels, Friday, 7 December 2018 09:33 (five years ago) link

looking at their playlists it's almost too much to take in
https://open.spotify.com/user/rhino_records
I wanna listen and never stop

do they own the rights to the songs?

niels, Friday, 7 December 2018 09:35 (five years ago) link

four months pass...

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