NewsSwing Out Sister reissue: a complete a waste of space?
As previously reported, Swing Out Sister will be reissuing their 1987 debut It’s Better To Travel this year as a two-disc 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition.
This expanded reissue is now available to pre-order
Disc: 1
- 1. Breakout
- 2. Twilight World (Superb Superb mix)
- 3. After Hours
- 4. Blue Mood
- 5. Surrender
- 6. Fooled By A Smile
- 7. Communion
- 8. It’s Not Enough
- 9. Theme from It’s Better to Travel
- 10. Another Lost Weekend (Long Version)
- 11. Blue Mood (12″ Mix)
Disc: 2
- 12. Breakout (NAD Mix)
- 13. Surrender (Stuff Gun Mix)
- 14. Communion (Instrumental)
- 15. Twilight World (Gas Distress Mix)
- 16. Fooled By A Smile (12″ Mix)
- 17. Dirty Money
- 18. Fever
- 19. Who’s To Blame
- 20. Wake Me When Its Over
Assuming the Amazon track listing is correct, this is appears to be a rather lazy and not particularly well thought out selection.
Tracks 1-9 and 12-15 constitute the original CD release from 1987 which is still very cheaply available. Another Lost Weekend (Long Version) originally featured on the Japanese Another Non-Stop Sister CD release from 1986, as did Dirty Money and Fever. In fact only THREE tracks on this two-disc release didn’t feature on the one-disc 2010 mini-LP Japanese reissue. They are Blue Mood (12″ Mix), Fooled By A Smile (12″ Mix) and Surrender B-side Who’s To Blame? (The other minor difference is that Another Lost Weekend on the 2010 Japanese reissue was not the ‘Long Version’).
Shockingly, this means that close to 60 minutes space across these two CDs is left unused. Amazing! Especially when you consider what isn’t on this reissue.
Key missing tracks include:
- • Blue Mood (Dubbed-Up Version)
- • Surrender (Roadrunner Mix)
- • Breakout (Horny Version)
- • Twilight World (Edited Version)
- • Breakout (A New Rockin’ Version)
- • Blue Mood (Growler Mix)
- • Blue Mood (7″ Mix)
- • Twilight World (Outer Limits Mix)
- • Fooled By A Smile (Phi Phi Mix)
ALL of the above remixes could have fitted onto the two discs giving fans 29 tracks rather than 20…
25 years in the making, how could they get it this anniversary reissue so wrong? The Japanese long out-of-print four-disc box Splendid Collection from 1991 remains the most comprehensive overview of the It’s Better To Travel material, but is virtually impossible to find at reasonable prices.
Leaving off so many officially released remixes on this forthcoming expanded reissue, with both discs only 50 minutes long, is pretty much unforgivable. There is simply no excuse for such sloppiness. Even if masters were missing, a decent vinyl rip, while not ideal, would be better than blank space.
This was supposed to be an anniversary release, but we are forced to send fans our condolences.
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I buy this one to fit into my collection, no matter what!
I hope you’ve noticed that the track listing has now been improved… http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/swing-out-sister-25th-anniversary-reissue-has-revised-track-listing/
[…] few weeks ago we posted a strong reaction to the proposed track listing for the reissue of Swing Out Sister‘s classic 1987 debut […]
It seems that only Japanese labels have ever shown proper attention to detail when releasing the music of Swing Out Sister. I’ve got all of the Japanese releases(including the 4-CD “Splendid Collection” and other remix collections & expanded discs including “Swing 3”, “Swing Out Singles”,”Another Non Stop Sister” and expanded editions of several original albums), and I’ve made my own DVD-R from the Japanese Laserdisc “It’s Better to Watch”, since it is obvious that Universal Music will never offer a DVD of the group’s videos. Sadly, almost all of the group’s Japanese product is out of print, and Universal Music neglects the group’s catalogue. This new, pointless 2-CD set shows how out of touch with the fans Universal Music & Swing Out Sister are.
I had actually pre-ordered from Play, but going to cancel, was hoping it was going to be a Cherry Pop Re-issue, obviously not :-(
Andy Connell told me “we included the mixes we liked. Not much more to say”. So there you go, what THEY liked rather than what they thought the FANS might like!
Oh dear, I agree completely – a totally wasted opportunity! They’ve put the original (UK) extra tracks onto Disc 2 to help pad it out and create the illusion of quantity, and to not have the 7″ mix of Twilight World on there after all this time is unforgiveable. It beggars belief.
This is a total disgrace! I knew to expect the worst.
I agree with your take. I will still purchase this disc because I love SOS but this seems like a missed opportunity.
I echo Dominic’s disappointment. This could have been a great set, but instead it’s just the expanded original release that anyone who really cares already has.
A well written article; I wasn’t aware of how badly the reissue was put together (especially all the omitted tracks).
Awww, I was really looking forward to this :-(
I totally agree.