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SDE’s Biggest Disappointments of 2022

It’s good to get things off your chest

By Paul Sinclair

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There were some great archival releases this year (see SDE’s Favourite Reissues of 2022), but in truth, 2022 won’t go down as a classic. Perhaps labels and rights holders were still nursing the COVID hangover of 2020/21 and supply chain problems and persistent issues with lead time on vinyl production led to projects being cancelled, put on hold or worse, rushed through with compromises. Or maybe not? Paul McCartney managed to deliver an 80-disc box set didn’t he, although even that came at a cost, as we shall see below. Requiring 240,000 vinyl records to be pressed, perhaps his box was a problem for others (“Bloody Macca and his singles box is stopping me getting my job through” I can imagine a frustrated product manager saying). As 2022 approaches its end, we can all reflect on the achievements and missed opportunities of 2022. Naturally, we will all have items without lines through them on our personal and professional ‘to do’ lists but the New Year is a great time reset and think about the next 12 months. I know it’s good to accentuate the positive, so this isn’t a long list, but below you’ll find SDE’s biggest disappointments of 2022. What are yours? Leave a comment.

Prince studio album reissues… Or lack of them

Money Don’t Matter 2 Night, because there’s nothing to spend it on. After decades of zero reissue activity, it finally felt as if things were changing and there was some momentum in the Prince camp with the superb reissues of 1999 and Sign ‘O’ The Times in 2019 and 2020, respectively. We can give the estate and the record label the benefit of the doubt with regards to the lack of action in 2021, due to the ongoing issues around COVID with related supply-chain issues – and the already problematic lead time for vinyl production – but this year also came and went without any sign of the much-rumoured Diamonds and Pearls / ‘Symbol’ album reissue. It’s now been well over two years since we enjoyed that spectacular Sign ‘O’ The Times reissue and the only aspect which has eased the pain a little bit is Sony’s activity with the material that they have the rights to. The ‘lost’ Welcome 2 America album put out in 2021 was much better than anyone could have expected, even if the box set was somewhat overblown and ludicrously overpriced in the UK. Likewise, the Prince and the Revolution Live release from this year was also decent, even if the audio was more impressive than the visuals. 

Watch SDEtv unbox the Welcome 2 America super deluxe

Older: The terrible box set George would have wanted

There’s so much inherent goodwill from George Michael diehard fans (the self-styled ‘lovelies’) that record label Sony don’t seem to have to try too hard to please them. It took the best part of five years to follow-up the troubled Listen Without Prejudice reissue and with Older, the ace up their sleeve was that while the album was easily available at a charity-shop-near-you on CD, it was nigh on impossible to get hold of on vinyl via the used market – unless you were willing to spend absurd amounts. So with the ‘vinyl revival’ in full swing, the record label knew the pent-up demand was there and duly satisfied it with a multitude of different coloured limited editions, which is, somewhat depressingly, becoming the norm these days. At least they correctly made the album a double LP, which is how it should have been formatted in 1997, with its running time of an hour. The reason the Older reissue gets listed under ‘disappointments’ is nothing to do with the vinyl but rather the box set. The fact is, under George Michael’s control, both Faith and Listen Without Prejudice were awful box sets and it seems that Michael’s estate is pleased to carry on this good work. Their iron-clad control of the archive ensured that the super deluxe edition offered nothing any reasonable person could describe as ‘rare’ and therefore it failed at the first hurdle. It was nothing more than a collection of previously released CD single bonus tracks (remixes, largely) spread over four extra CDs and one bonus LP (Upper). Add to that the album proper (duplicated across 2LPs and one CD) and the content was stretched like a wafer thin mint – what you might call an After Eight-disc box set. Incredibly, this £140 presentation was the only way to buy the reissue of Older on CD (except in Japan). Granted, It was well-presented and felt ‘premium’ but where was the stuff people actually want: video content (TV appearances, documentaries, promo video) and unreleased audio (such as demos and alternate versions)? To add insult to injury, the one really interesting NEW element – a Dolby Atmos Mix of Older – wasn’t included in the expensive box and indeed hasn’t been made available physically at all. You have to laugh. Taking into account the very high price, the lack of rarities, the ‘forcing’ of three vinyl records onto CD buyers and the failure to include the Atmos Mix on a blu-ray within the package, Older, in SDE’s estimation, is one of the worst box sets of 2022 which is rather sad considering what a great album it is.

Watch the SDEtv unboxing video of Older

No ‘space’ for spatial audio in box sets

While it has always been the case that surround sound mixes (generally now referred to as ‘spatial audio’) may or may not make an appearance in physical music box sets, at least in the past they weren’t included mostly because they didn’t exist, normally due to either budgetary constraints or lack of interest – or understanding – from the artist (or label). The difference in 2022 is that labels are going to the time and trouble of creating the spatial audio mixes (mostly Atmos Mixes at the behest of Apple) but then are still not including them as content within a physical box set. In other words, they are wasting great ‘content’. There are many unfortunate examples this year, including the Seal deluxe set, the aforementioned George Michael Older reissue and The Beatles’ Revolver 5CD super deluxe. The audiophile fans that enjoy spatial audio simply prefer physical product, so to assume people are happy to ‘make do’ with lower quality, compressed Atmos Mixes on streaming services is to completely misunderstand the audience. That’s like trying to force a £200 box set on an income-stretched millennial. The feedback from SDE readers has been crystal clear on this and the success of the SDE Surround Series in 2022 tells its own story. 

Will Paul McCartney’s Archive Collection make itself known to a member of staff?

Paul McCartney’s “multi-year” Archive Collection reissue programme started in 2010 and delivered nine albums in its first five years (Band on the Run, McCartney, McCartney II, Ram, Wings Over America, Wings at the Speed of Sound, Venus and Mars, Tug of War and Pipes of Peace). That’s 1.8 albums per year. By comparison, in the last five years (December 2017 to December 2022) we’ve had just three albums (Wings Wild Life, Red Rose Speedway and Flaming Pie), a ration of 0.6 albums per year. So in terms of Archive Reissues the output has reduced by two thirds. You could forgive the 80-year old if he was slowing down and trying to take things easy, but he hasn’t and he’s not! This year has included the time-wasting whim of fancy that was the ‘McCartney’ box (featuring McCartney, McCartney II and McCartney III) and we’ve had to endure that slightly annoying situation where albums that have already had the Archive Collection treatment are being reissued AGAIN as 50th anniversary half-speed vinyl pressings, taking up production time in pressing plants and news-cycle time in the media. It’s only three years since Wings Wild Life was reissued, so did we really need a half-speed just three years later, while we are still waiting or first-time reissues of London Town and Back to the Egg?! The same thing is likely to happen next year since Red Rose Speedway is 50 in April and who would bet against a 50th anniversary Band on the Run bumping the two remaining Wings albums to the back of the queue? Great though the 7″ Singles box was, it was a something of a distraction, like butterflies buzzing round Paul’s head. Clearly something HE wanted to do instead of being fan-driven. It must have taken a Herculean effort from team PM to deliver this 80-disc box, denying them any time to get on with the job in hand which is surely to get the album reissues out! Let’s have London Town and Back to the Egg in 2023 please. That Would Be Something.

Watch SDEtv unbox The 7″ Singles

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210 Comments

210 thoughts on “SDE’s Biggest Disappointments of 2022”

  1. The BIGGEST RE disappointment for 2022 is easy for me and many “surround” audiophiles to cite, imho: (it’s) The $150 (MSRP) “REVOLVER” grift!

    The lack of a HIREZ 5.1+ for “Revolver” including the singles released at that time (à la the “SPLHCB” 5.1 Blu-ray) is, easily, the BIGGEST disappointment of 2022!

    The lies that surrounded the reasoning ONLY served to AMPLIFY said lies and obfuscate the ACTUAL reasons for this abject FAILURE.

    Shame…

  2. For me, in retrospect there were many great new albums in 2022, including the long overdue Tears For Fears album, which is wonderful as was the concert.

    As for deluxe editions or vault releases, obviously the Prince Estate has little excuse for not having another Prince reissue or previously unreleased set of some sort. The live in Syracuse set was not really anything I cared too deeply about as we’ve had that concert since the 80’s. They did the really obvious money making ones already I guess and a Purple Rain do-over (because the other one was rushed and unorganized) maybe is too soon so they redid part of it with the Syracuse “remaster,” but it was a “everybody wants to sell what’s already been sold” moment.I don’t understand why they can’t just do a ‘from the vault’ album every year. It could even be here’s a disc of unreleased stuff from a particular year or here’s a concert from this tour… there are boatloads of this stuff available. There are also numerous things he released online or independently that still have not been reissued, such as the original version of The Most Beautiful Girl In The World or its corresponding remix EP, although the Gold Experience version has finally been restored. The Gold Experience vinyl, although cool, was a bit disappointing in that it could have been cooler. Perhaps the inner sleeve could’ve been the official artwork in a gatefold and and outer slip cover could’ve been the “promo” sleeve. Perhaps they could’ve included the b-side, originally Beautiful mixes and radio edits of Gold along with the Hate U stuff?

    The Seal box could have been amazing but wasn’t compelling at that price. I’d probably have purchased the vinyl had it been separate or even the box had it included something interesting like the b-sides on the vinyl replacing the etched side, a surround disc, or the Live at the Point on blu-ray. As it was it feels lazy and more striking for what’s not included than what is.

    The George Michael set also was lacking in something compelling to encourage a purchase.

    The Cure Wish set can’t be complained about because it was a budget priced item, but could’ve been an amazing all-encompassing box set.

    The Blondie box was cool, but find it’s organizational style less than perfect, but I’m nitpicking.

  3. I’m angry with McCartney over the lack of Back To The Egg & London Town, Even Press To Play! Maybe a deluxe Broad Street with the Movie on Blu–Ray included. What I didn’t like was having McCartney 1, 2 & 3 rammed down our throats multiple times in the last few years. I also wish that if we’re going to keep rehashing Beatles Reissues that someone releases a Capitol Masters LP Box already complete with the Reverb as I hear it first when I was a child. Speaking of 60’s music, isn’t it about time for Box Sets from The Brooklyn Bridge, Lou Christie, Gene Pitney or Dusty Springfield? NOT looking forward to the Stones Mono Coloured Vinyl set, but I missed the first run so i’m stuck having to buy this one and I am Thrilled at the Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons Complete Box on the way in April. Cheers to having a ton of great stuff in 2023.

  5. I agree, Paul, about the labels-yet again-not understanding their market. They seem to constantly lose track of it and the fact that multi-channel/Atmos mixes on Blu-ray as part of a boxed set is preferable to streaming those mixes. Their idiots.

  6. I know my thought relates to a Sep 21 release, but in 2022, Bob Dylan apologised for a box set gaffe relating to his signature. Throughout 2022, I have been trying to find out once and for all… was Vangelis’ ‘hand signed’ signature in all those box sets signed by his hand or mechanical reproduction? I wrote and asked the company twice… no reply! The associated ‘limited / numbered edition’ trick is getting tired… edition sizes are not declared until the orders are in or later are ‘extended’ to meet demand. None of this is ‘special edition’ content. It’s snake oil at best. All of this whipping up business with clever ‘techniques’ to assert ‘scarcity’ leavened by FOMO (fear of missing out) makes buying records a pretty miserable experience nowadays. Remember when you simply bought the records you wanted from OurPrice, WHSmith (which appears to be back in business!) and Woolies – no tricks back then; just records for sale… and they must have good ’uns because Discogs are still selling them!

  7. I thought the OLDER box set was beautifully done. I missed out on the previous releases, many of which are unaffordable now, so this set was perfect for “late-to-the-party” collectors like me. I have no disappointments with it.

  8. Without a doubt the biggest disappointment has been the Beatles Revolver not having a Blu Ray 5.1 Dolby Atmos included. I see that the excuse now being given was that it wasn’t available in time to be included. I did eventually buy it when it was super cheap from Amazon Italy and even at the low price it’s insubstantial. The best thing about it is the book.
    The problem now is if the reason for the Blu Ray omission was that it wasn’t ready within lead times then the implication is that one will be included with Rubber Soul if one is available within the lead time for manufacture ? Potentially making Revolver (one of their best albums) an outlier in that respect.
    The other thing is most of the Beatles CD SDE’s are a different shape and size ……. it bemuses me as why there can’t be some consistency ala the Bowie, Lennon, Bill Nelson, Ramones, Doors releases etc.

  9. Another year and still no Max Q or Tin Machine deluxe treatments. There is always money in the banana stand. Let’s get these to the fans!!

  10. A lot of major disappointments this year. Some of the low lights include Thriller, Beatles, Seal.

    As much as I love Prince not gonna hold out for anything next year either. I think the estate are banking on a Purple Rain superdeluxe in 2024. Same with Macca I assume he is gearing up to do a Band on the Run SDE in the same vein as the other sets for 2023.

    Still no Human League Dare or ABC as of yet. A lot of classic early 80s have missed out on a 40th. LOOKING at you Duran and Spandau.

    I hope the Madonna reissues live up to hype but I’m betting a lot of hip names will be involved on pointless remixes.

    Not looking forward to another release of Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow for next year.

    Hoping Bowie will push forward to showcase Ziggy, sod the 80s stuff post 1980, next year.

    Would like to see Tin Drum SDE, but I doubt it.

  11. A question that I would love answered is about missing music. Any release will have someone here listing a bunch of missing tracks, whether edits, extended, instrumentals, b-sides, remixes and so on. If we know these things are missing they, one might assume, will also know of their existence. So do they a) Not bother looking b) Look like a teenager looking for their ‘phone. Flounce into a room and announce loudly that they can’t find it and they’ve looked everywhere whilst not making the slightest effort to even lift up the newspaper it is probably under. c) Look a bit and find some stuff and think “that’ll do” d) Look a bit and find some stuff and think “we’re not giving them that…. or that” e) Look and look and look and give us everything they can find.

    But here is the thing I have noticed. It would seem everything *is* arseways. The less they give, the more they charge, the more crap they chuck in and double up and mix formats. I think we have all seen mixed format releases that actually new or interesting material would barely fill a single CD that costs £150 and then quite comprehensive booksets with 4 CDs and Blu-Ray / DVD for £29.99. It’s an inverse law of the music industry. Give them less, charge them more.

    That’s why I absolutely hate* the “Against the Odds” vinyl set and the other sets in that archive release. It shows me how it could be. Why are our shelves not filled with Inside the Pleasuredome or When Slade Rocked the World. Particularly when we are offered Hotel California and Use Your Illusion.

    One wonders whether it is a bug or a feature. Designed to fail. Made to prove a point.

    *I absolutely do love the “Against The Odds” vinyl set, but it does make me sad that it is the exception and not the rule.

    2. It comes down to who is doing the compiling and what is available in the archives. A lot of the times a box set by smaller labels id better as you get people involved with more of a passion for the project whereas one by the majors will be done sadly with an eye on profit. And a lot of the times it’s better not to have the original artist involved as they won’t want to release that live b-side of their 1984 single The Riddle as they are now embarrassed by it, not naming any names.
      The majors now treat, and I hate this term, ‘legacy’ artists as a brand, The Beatles, ABBA, the Stones, it just seems they stick the name on anything and flog it. Really sad to see Talking Heads being treated this way as well this year.
      Just out of curiosity I did send another comment about the forthcoming New Musik box set, was there a reason it wasn’t posted?

    3. Well said Chris.
      As a Deep Purple fan, we were well and truly spoilt in the late 90s and early 2000s when Simon Robinson (Deep Purple Appreciation Society) was involved in countless re-issues, 25th Anniversary editions of classic albums, the simply wonderful Listen, Learn & Read On box set and countless live recordings.
      Whilst not knowing the ins & outs of the inner sanctum, it appeared on the surface that EMI gave Simon plenty of room to curate these editions and it showed judging by the high quality of these releases and wonderful informative booklets. There was no Band involvement apart from Roger Glover doing some new remixes.
      I’m so glad these were all done/issued when somebody still cared. I shudder to think what some bright upstart who has never heard of Deep Purple would do with the catalogue now!

      The same could be set for Free’s Songs of Yesterday box set which had heavy involvement from Dave Clayton of the Free Appreciation Society and also Paul Sinclair of SDE for the box sets he helped curate.

      These days, it appears the majority of major projects have little involvement from the artists or the fans and it definitely shows up in the quality of these releases.
      As someone else mentioned, the smaller labels seem to do more research, take more care and give the fans more of want they want. These small label owners are usually fans of music in general and again, it shows in spades.

      Music for the Fans, by the Fans

  12. My wishlist for 2023. All deluxe sets if possible:

    George Harrison – Living In The Material World
    Small Faces – The Autumn Stone
    The Stone Roses – Second Coming
    Humble Pie – As Safe As Yesterday Is and Town & Country
    Any Rolling Stones from 1963-1969 (Some hope)
    U2 – Rattle and Hum (Will we ever see it come out?)
    Paul McCartney – London Town and Back To The Egg
    The Railway Children – Native Place
    Duran Duran – Duran Duran (Wedding Album)
    Any INXS (Scandalous handling of their legacy)

  13. My biggest disappointment was Status Quo’s godawful “Quo’Ing In – The Best Of The Noughties”. For a band with a near-60 year recording history, anything since the 80s is really badly served. It’s true that they went badly off the boil for a good while, but it needs to be better acknowledged that they rediscovered their studio mojo over 20 years ago and have produced some truly excellent original music in that time – almost all of it playing second fiddle to unwise PR stunts and poor single choices. So the announcement of a new compilation focusing exclusively on latter years, without relying on the overexposed 12 Gold Bars classic standards, was welcome indeed.

    But OMG what an absolute mess EarMusic made of it.

    Firstly the title: it’s illiterate, nonsensical, and untrue. What does it even mean? What’s with the apostrophe? And “noughties” means the decade 2000-2009. Only 20% of the tracks on the 3CD version are from the noughties. Fine, expand the scope, but then change the title to reflect the actual content!

    Secondly the artwork: zero-effort clip art of a generic crowd waving a generic guitar that’s the shape of a stratocaster, to represent a band famous for playing telecasters. It looks like the work experience kid knocked it up in five minutes flat.

    Thirdly the tracklisting: there are many hidden gems that belong on this compilation, unfortunately hardly any of them are here. The tracks have been selected by throwing darts at a song list. Superb, hard rocking returns-to-form from this side of the millennium are overlooked in favour of half-arsed throwaway 90s B-sides, some of the very worst work they ever produced. “Noughties” tracks date from as early as 1995 and as late as 2022, with those latest tracks being, yep, re-recordings of the 12 Gold Bars standards. It seems NOTHING new can be released without a fall-back version of Rockin’ All Over The Bloody World on it. Not one of the listed “rarities” is in the slightest bit rare. The 3CD version’s bonus disc, an “unreleased live set from 2008”, was already released in its entirety in 2008.

    I honestly don’t understand why labels get behind such release concepts – and to be fair EarMusic DID get behind it, it was well advertised, there were even billboards! – but then fail on the most basic requirement, the content. This could, and should, have been a defining release that changed perceptions once and for all. Instead it merely reinforced old tropes and dismissive attitudes. A truly appalling package.

    1. Beautifully angry. It wouldn’t matter if you didn’t care. Problem is many releases seem to be wanted by people who do care and “put together” by people who don’t. It’s all arseways.

      I used “put together” in quotaion marks as I might be giving some companies too much credit. “Thrown”?

      (see above)

    2. Please don’t insult the work experience kids.

      Many of them join the company with enthusiasm, at least if they end up in one that they chose themselves.

      I guess there will be more WEK at earMusic than proper office clerks who can tell the difference between a Strato- and a Telecaster… ;-)

  14. Certainly the quietest year I’ve ever had for buying. The Royksopp boxset was fantastic, simple and nicely packaged, and Toyah’s Anthem reissue was a great surprise. Fully loaded and beautifully presented. A thoughtful tribute to an excellent album. Hoping this year we’ll see The Changeling, along with a deluxe of Grace Jones’s Living My Life (or even something new?), more Olivia reissues (Why hasn’t the debut deluxe seen an Australian release? Anyone know?), Art of Noise’s Below The Waste, and hopefully Barry Adamson might find his way to deluxing Oedipus Schmoedipus. And of course, the dream: Kate will finally update The Whole Story with a remastered video collection.

  15. Biggest disappointments for m’wah is the 11th hour pull of Inxs from the SDE Atmos Blu-Ray Series, and the rest would be all the Atmos releases only to streaming instead of a physical product.
    My bad luck is living in a rural area with minimal internet speeds and services. (Supposed to have Fiber optic internet in May 2022, haven’t seen hide nor’ hair of it end of December).
    Regardless I’d still prefer physical because then I own it and am not renting it. (Besides the poor quality of streaming and other issues it doesn’t bode well even if I have access to better speeds).
    Also of note the high prices of all physical music, all formats from CD’s to Vinyl, I’m sure with plastic recycling it is inexpensive for labels to manufacture Vinyl LP’s, CD’s, Dvd’s and Blu-Ray disc’s.

  16. My reissue disappointments for the year have been streaming/download-only deluxe editions (particularly Shabooh Shoobah by INXS), no news of a deluxe edition of Cupid & Psyche ‘85 by Scritti Politti, the prohibitively expensive 4LP repress of Check Your Head by Beastie Boys and the price of vinyl generally.
    I’d really love Prince super deluxe editions of Parade, Around The World In A Day and Lovesexy, but I would get a Diamonds and Pearls SDE if it came out. I’d also love for download-only Prince albums like Slaughterhouse and Chocolate Invasion to be released physically. But I was kept happy enough in 2022 with the Prince & The Revolution Live 3LP and the Gold Experience RSD 2LP with the 6 bonus versions of I Hate U.

  17. My biggest disappointment is the continued lack of Wang Chung reissues that were promised two years ago and we were told they were definitely coming this year. Now they are saying the license ran out and they are trying to license the material again.

    1. Totally agreed on the WangChing reissues. It seemed so promising (btw these were announced in 2019). Vinny Vero was putting out updates during COVID – delays were understandable. But this now – expired licensing? Ay, caramba!

      1. Yes you are correct, it’s been three years. Jack Hues said a few months ago that he found more unreleased tracks from their first album that he had just gotten remastered. He said the licenses to reissue had run out and they were trying to license them again.

  18. I just wish Universal would finally sell the Motown catalogue to a company that would fully exploit it. I don’t know why they won’t just finally complete the expanded release editions of all the Diana Ross led Supremes years and her solo 70s Motown albums. Reflections and Ross 78 have supposedly been completed for a couple of years now.

    Also a fan of R&B and Dance music. I would like to see expanded and/or super deluxe editions of Janet Jackson’s albums. Really hoping that the Madonna reissue campaign turns out well and that the Prince program gets back on track

    Also in the same camp of not mixing vinyl and CDs. Definitely stopped me on the George Michael and Seal SDEs.

  19. The Prince situation is indeed concerning. He was such a genius in so many ways that his music, including unreleased songs, deserves to be heard by everyone. I sincerely hope the estate is sorting out the issues at hand because Prince’s box sets were a highlight and that’s an understatement.

    In general I wonder what the issue is with so many artists not interested at all in issuing box sets of their years old albums. Does it not make enough money? Do artists only want to look forward and not backwards? Is it too much work with licensing etc? Some of these reissues are clearly a labor of love, like the two Level 42 boxes which were honchoed by fans it seemed.

    One of the disappointments of the year was the 40th anniversary of the “Donna Summer” album. Compared to the previous, still widely available reissue, it has one (modern) remix but leaves off the State Of Independence remixes. A 100% pointless reissue. Oh and they doubled the price. $25 for one CD! That’s obviously never going to sell. It was so pointless, even Paul didn’t mention it’s release whereas he always posts Donna Summer releases. This is probably an example of the estate (Bruce Sudano) milking the catalogue for additional money to the point that it is missing the mark completely. Come up with unreleased remixes, alternative mixes, demos, etc, not this.

    1. The only added value would have been the single version of “The Woman In Me” but it’s not the actual single version which runs 3:33 confirmed by myself as I recorded the 7” to MP3. It’s just the album version with the spoken intro removed (like the actual single version) and faded slightly early.

  20. I notice many major artists(Bruce Springsteen, Depeche Mode,Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler etc..Sure you can name hundreds of others!) seem utterly disinterested in ever releasing expanded and superdeluxe versions of their huge back catalogue of popular lp’s.So that is my general disappointment,the fact so many big artists just aint interested in ever opening up their own(or their label )archives to satisfy their enthusiastic fans,who just want ‘more content’ to supplement their favourite lp’s.

    On a separate topic the late Jim Steinman probably has lots of demos,work in progress recordings,and maybe even fully polished recordings, of all those hundreds of great songs he has written for others.Would be nice if his estate could release some of it.He was such an enthusiastic lyricist that it would not surprise me if there even existed extra verses/ lyrics cut out of songs because they were simply deemed already too long.Would be great to hear some of this archive!

    1. Springsteen has done two comprehensive album focused box sets – Darkness on the Edge of Town/The Promise and The River. Lots of unreleased audio and video material on those. His Tracks boxset was pretty good too. He also has one of the best live archives in the business. True to say he has slowed down a bit with the reissues, but that may be covid related, along with focusing on new material.

    2. CJ already has written down what i would’ve told you too about The Boss. I would add that there also was a nice box for ‘Born To Run’ which included the first official release of the ‘Hammersmith Odeon’-gig that some years later was also released on its own.

      Depeche Mode may also not be the best example if you want to pick out an artist for neglection of archive material.

      They at least did deluxe editions of their back catalogue from the beginning until the ‘Exciter’ album with a few bonus tracks and a 5.1-mix for each album and followed the routine by doing 5.1-mixes of the later studio recordings right away (though they released them sometimes only later on).
      The only studio album that has not been physically released in 5.1 (or another surround version) so far is ‘Spirit’.

      DM have also regularly released official live albums during their career where at the least the video versions had surround sound on the discs and did several compilations of remix material.

      Sure you can say that there must be (much) more in the archives but that is what we in Germany call ‘whining at a high level’.

      Concerning Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler we lately had the albums boxes for DS and the early MK solo years, both featuring a bonus disc of material not on the original album releases nicely packaged for a very reasonable price.

      The second box of MK solo recordings this year kept the level regarding packaging but raised the price too much. That is one box where i’m sure there will be some deal alerts in the upcoming year.

      The DS box though, quite bizarre, suffered from the omission of the ‘Extended Play’ release where i’m quite certain that i’m not the only one thinking that these tracks at least should have been all included on the bonus disc of that set.

      1. Hi, which Dire Straits sets had a bonus disc? The vinyl and cd box sets were issued (vinyl was a re issue) but there wasn’t any bonus disc or extra tracks or even b sides or 12”’s.
        did I miss a European, USA or Japanese release which had extra stuff on ?

        1. Hi Paul,

          sorry for the confusion.

          I could’ve sworn…
          but must have mixed up the DS-box in my mind with the one released around the same time for The Police.

          Well, that at least explains the missing ‘Extended Play’-tracks.

          No bonus disc, no bonus tracks…

          1. No worries at all, glad I didn’t miss anything, would love DS to do some deluxe sets, unless there is nothing in 5he archives.
            one of my fav vinyl and live lp’s alchemy, which I’m sure had a could or one track missing from the actual show?
            also enjoyed the double vinyl release for brothers, hearing it complete on vinyl was superb and one of the first cd’s I ever purchased.

  21. Hi everyone and Hi Paul Merry Christmas
    Not concerned on any SDE listed, and in 2022 i didn’t get any box set or super deluxe edition . Let me take a glance at my shelves …….no. But among a lot of vinyls bought this year (the Only the Strong Survive double gatefold lps is a beautiful item) i got the Beatles Get Back documentary BR in July and recently the “In the Court of the Crimson King “documentary box set , 8 discs (2 BR, 2 DVD with same content, and 4 cd’s). I could have said stunning but unfortunately for me the documentary and the extras have no subtitles menu (french in this case) so very hard for me to get al the subtilities of the story. Advice for foreign customers who don’t get perfect english understanding .
    For 2023 for me the big deal will be the Porcupine Tree Deadwing reissue in March with 3 cd’s , a BR with making of documentary and a 2005 Rockpalast performance. (Same format as In Absentia few years ago). It will be Christmas in March !
    Happy new year to you all

  22. The Go West package was my biggest disappointment. The SQ was horrific but that seems par for the course these days with modern CDs. I’ve gone from buying approximately 200 a year to 4 in 2022 (Vinyl is where my money goes now and even that’s not perfect)
    This is one of the best sites of its kind – if not THE best, but I do wish Paul would bring to the attention of the record companies the bad mastering practices that are todays norm. I’m sure he’s got enough influence to make people listen.
    The Swing Out Sister box – that’s another flaky one. I borrowed a friends to have a listen and thought it was a bit of a curates egg. Amazing music but something sounded off on some tracks. Investigating further, I read that not only did the old compression thing rear it’s ugly head, but some of the mixes aren’t the right ones. I’ll stick to my Japanese CDs. Such a shame. Acts like this deserve the works.
    Even my AOTY the TFF one was slightly spoilt by the crushed audio. I don’t have a 5.1 system here so, tempting as it was, that Blu-ray release wouldn’t have been much use to me :(. I’d love to hear that album mastered like, say, the 80s Big Chair CD.
    Anyway, happy new year to all. My wallet is already dreading what 2023 is going to deliver. As a Bowie fan I’ve already got the Divine Symetry album on pre order. Then there’s the Moonage Daydream vinyl. And I suspect a Ziggy box/book thingy, and maybe the sixth box in the ongoing career releases.
    Plus, new Depeche Mode. I uneasily suspect that will be on my disappointments of 2023. Prove me wrong, lads !

      1. I’ll see if I can find out. My source was that Hoffman forum – which I appreciate is not 100% guaranteed – but then again those people over there seem to notice if there’s a note missing or a beat out of place.

        1. Repeating something someone might have said on the Hoffman forum – without specifics – isn’t my idea of factual information, so probably best not to do that on SDE comments, unless you have verified it yourself.

      2. Hmmm. The original thread has been edited profusely. I do remember there was a lot of arguing going on over there about it so looks like the mods got in first. They were definitely going on about vinyl rips, and some tracks appearing twice but with different names. Regardless, it still sounds far too loud.

        1. Nothing has been edited on the SDE comments. There are vinyl rips in the SOS box which are acknowledged in the booklet. As far as I am aware there are no ‘wrong mixes’. If you think there are then let me know which ones, or are you just repeating something you read somewhere?

          2. @pauls – yes, there were two mixes on the Swing Out Sister box that were not included as indicated on the box label:

            https://www.discogs.com/master/2799218-Swing-Out-Sister-Blue-Mood-Breakout-Beyond

            The two I am referencing are:

            Not Gonna Change (edit) – the O’Duffy 7″ mix was duplicated on disc 8; the edit mix that should have been included on disc 8 was only on a US promo cd, which was apparently just an edit of the album version. I don’t have that mix so I can’t confirm what that mix actually is.

            The other one is the Circulate (live) edit, which is not the version from the 3″ cd, but the version they included is unreleased, which is kind of cool.

            In any case, the boxset was a great effort, but there are still some rarities to hunt down if you are an SOS collector like the Surrender alternate mix, Twilight World instrumental, You on My Mind alternate mix from UK 12″, Breakout US Hutchinson mixes, and so on….

    2. As curious as I am to hear the Go West remaster, it’s far too expensive in the states for what they are offering, especially when I’m perfectly content with the original releases.

  23. Great to see the Inspiral Carpets albums reissued on vinyl, but they should have been given the deluxe treatment. There is welath of Inspirals B-Sides, remixes, outtakes and the like. Moo!

    1. I feel they missed the boat with deluxe editions. The one for “Life” was nonsensical – the 210790 video on the DVD was a great shout but leaving off all the b-sides and surrounding tracks in favour of the Planecrash and Trainsurfing EPs wasn’t right – they were just being petty against Tom with that. However, I also hope that the vinyl reissues aren’t the end.

  24. Still no Small Faces ‘Autumn Stone’ deluxe. But I suppose it’s to be expected with Rip Van Caiger in charge…
    The first two Humble Pie albums were also promised, but sadly nothing came of it.

    And one of the biggest disappointments in the reisuue industry is still the lack of any deluxe reissues of 1960s Rolling Stones albums. While the Beatles put out one great deluxe set after another, Jagger/Richards and ABKCO feud and bicker while rare and unreleased material rots and first generation fans get older. ABKCO have wonderfully restored some rare Stones promo films recently on Youtube. But it’s unlikely that they, or any audio will be released in any other way.

  25. Pink Floyd walk off the beaten path. While other bands are leaving 5.1 mixes off their releases, Pink Floyd leave everything else out and just release the 5.1 mix of Animals – albeit 3 years late!

  26. Hmm. I’m not too bothered about the lack of interesting product for me over the year. It’s saved my wallet melting and made sure my wife didn’t get too upset when another package arrived so bonus all round! 2023 may be different with the 50th anniversary of Dark Side of The Moon in March, but that depends on what, if anything, is planned! A lump of moon rock from the dark side in a crystal pyramid perhaps sat on a bed of marbles….oh and a cardboard coaster? Sam Brown has a new album coming out and I’m sure there’s more stuff to come that’s going to mean my IKEA Kallax shelving will crash through the floor with the added weight!

    1. It looks like the only release maybe an officially sanctioned book about the album, though how much more can be written about it, I’m not sure.

      Too bad they didn’t celebrate the 50th anniversary of Obscured by Clouds this year!

  27. Hi Paul, regarding the Revolver box, from what I’ve read in various places there probably wouldn’t have been a Revolver box at all if it wasn’t for the technology used by Peter Jackson to extract separate audio tracks from the mono masters to allow a new ‘proper’ stereo mix to be created. I’m wondering if given this situation a full blown surround sound Blu ray mix just wasn’t feasible? I seriously doubt we’ll see anything similar to the Pepper/White Album/Abbey Road boxes for Rubber Soul or anything prior for the same reason?

  28. Not many huge disappointments for me this year, to be honest, with the embarrassment of riches there WERE…but if I had to pick something(s), it would be…
    1… the lack of Prince activity, hope something is in the works…and someone said that Prince did not want his unreleased vault stuff released?? Ummm nope!! He DID want it all to come out at some point, which is why he kept a vault to preserve it, which is weird that he kept it unorganized and that only he had the combination…and odd that the Prince Estate is being all tight-lipped…hopefully news in 2023…
    2… The lack of “spatial audio” in physical form, in boxsets, so in that case, thankful for Paul’s Blu-ray Audio series…
    3… That pathetic INXS Shabooh Shoobah reissue & live album…we were promised a full campaign by Giles Martin & thud…

    Had no prob with the Older box (will buy at pricedrop) cuz I don’t have the original album (not since the 1996 DreamWorks CD) or Upper or the singles, and it does look nice… Other things this year are just nitpicking, so I’m quick to just drop it & move on…looking forward to 2023…

    1. You make a good point about Prince. If he didn’t want it released ever, why did he build and keep an entire vault of unreleased songs? Of course he wanted it released at some point.

      2. I think Prince himself was just a machine and did and didn’t want stuff released depending on his mood. He’d tease songs and say he doesn’t give the labels the best songs, he’d play whole unreleased songs or brief snippets for interviewers at Paisley Park and then we’d never get them! He’d grab stuff and overhaul it, redo it and release it or just put it out as-is if it fit his vision for that moment. But he did acknowledge on The View that someone would release his vault after he was gone, so he wasn’t opposed. As the song from Graffiti Bridge said: “release it”!

  29. The George Michael archive is an absolute mess and as for Wham! don’t even get me started. I’ve been saying for years that the estate need to get someone external in – like Paul – who knows what fans want and compile an ultimate Wham! box set with every b-side and remix that was officially released plus rarities if they can be found. It’s hardly rocket science and these would sell like hotcakes so what is actually stopping them?

    The atmos situation is also utterly perplexing. I dabbled with Tidal this year and really struggled to find much that compared sonically to the stuff I physically own. Streaming a surround mix just isn’t the same as owning it in a high resolution format. I’ve bought every SDE surround release so far and will continue to do so to support Paul and the physical format.

    I wish the record labels would take note because I am far from alone on this matter. I wonder if the Seal and Revolver atmos situation is reversible and whether SDE has offered to put out a physical release of these discs?

    Meanwhile I’d like wish Paul and everyone at SDE a very happy new year. And, as ever, keep up the brilliant work.

    1. I too hope certain sets are adaptable with missing stuff coming out later, like Atmos mixes or Blu-ray discs with audio/video content…what fears me is that once these sets are done, it’s permanent, and too late to change or update & if they get it wrong, fans are screwed…

    2. My understanding is that if Apple pay for the Atmos mix, it’s theirs and they choose to exploit it via streaming on Apple music. That impacts the box sets and I think that’s why Seal, The Beatles and many more had no 5.1 physical disc. I’m interested to understand if this is the case, most of the reports I’ve read seems to suggest that Apple have an exclusive for now…

      1. This is the only thing that makes any sense, confirmed or not. Why not exploit every income avenue to finance a project …unless someone lays down the money for an “exclusive.”??? I’m not very interested in Atmos…but if it’s a favorite group or album I’d buy a surround disc. Those types of things are for the “big stereo” nit the headphones.

  30. I think the physical music buyer should keep expectations at absolute rock bottom and be ecstatic for any good release we manage at this point.

    So many big name artists with so much material and yet the record companies complain about revenue when they sit there doing nothing with the opportunities they have.

    The way MJ’s estate has fumbled what should be an easy slam dunk is astounding. The Thriller reissue was nothing short of a total embarrassment, even in sound quality. The best selling album ever, and tracks that fans have been patiently waiting for and you can barely fill two discs with subpar audio quality? And not even release the best unreleased tracks?

    The Pet Shop Boys reissues were woefully incomplete and contained unfixed audio glitches to boot (‘Please’ specifically).

    Madonna’s reissue campaign has proceeded at a pace which makes snails and glaciers seem rapid.

    The B-52s have mustered one laughably pathetic deluxe for Cosmic Thing.

    Prince started out so promising, but instead of just releasing things in a (chrono)logical order, they apparently feel the need to skip around and twiddle thumbs.

    Peter Gabriel should have named his self-indulgant So deluxe, ‘So What?’

    The Eurythmics reissues were, major surprise, anemic and incomplete.

    With tons of unreleased on CD content, a Born In The USA multi-disc deluxe should have been a no-brainer from Bruce.

    When you see truly impressive sets from a-ha, Art of Noise, Bananarama, Howard Jones, Tears For Fears, Fleetwood Mac… it really makes you wonder how the majority of prolific artists and albums with tracks that fans have waited to have on disc… some 40 YEARS after the fact… still get completely ignored.

    1. I love the a-ha sets & it’s both cool & odd/different that the box of latest “True North” had the film on an MP3 flash drive (along with the album on CD & vinyl & prints in a 12×12 box for a decent price…like who does flash drives & not a DVD or Blu-ray anymore??

    2. I give up on any Madonna deluxe editions. She just doesn’t want them she even said in an interview earlier this year she was done with looking back. They promised this time last year exciting news was on the way and all we got was a few things that wasn’t even very interesting. A shame really that she doesn’t seem to give a crap about her catalog. She’s too busy posting weird pics of herself pretending she is still a teenager.

      1. So her deluxe editions aren’t happening now? Swell. We can look forward to another autotuned album featuring artists no one’s ever heard of and never will again…

  31. The biggest disappointment is not so much the lack of re-issues by certain artists, but just the general lack in general. Surely the music biz (evil empire to you!) hasn’t exhausted fifty years of multi-track albums already? Yes, we know that the poor condition of many of the tapes rules out (even after baking) a lot of material from the mid sixties to the digital age. Yes, a lot of the smaller studios had a half arsed method of storage which has seen multitracks, and Masters either lost or detoriated beyond repair – but by no means all of them! Even then, cleaners pull out tapes from cabinets heading for the dump, from elevator shafts etc (I wish I wasn’t joking, they really have), so there ‘is’ plenty of material potentially waiting to be rediscovered out there. The problem, as allueded by our elegant host, is also that producers are not going for physical releases when they could and should. Although this is an evil empire decision, as is the phasing out of CD, streaming’s the future you know!

    Every week I come over to see if Paul has some new boxset to unveil, some new announcement to make, but this year, indeed from the end of last, I’ve drawn more blanks than good news. Is there a bigger picture? Costs rising in business due to energy bills may be putting the biz, and individual artists and producers off? Are artists more interested on getting out on the road than getting their ‘teams’ rummaging through the archives for a hefty re-issue? As people on here have said, there is also a real theme to newer boxsets, a clear 1980’s revival. Fine, but there are several artists even from that period not seeing re-issues or boxsets of major releases.

    As ever, its likely to be a combination of factors, with costs, the evil empires latest direction, and artists priorities liable to be the top of the list. Will it get any better in 2023?

    To do so we would need :- 1) an end to poor quality production control. Complaints of flimsy packaging, poor pressings, and insufficient material has been aimed at many boxsets.
    2) More albums released in physical surround format including 5.1 as well as ATMOS.
    3) A (much) wider spread of artists seeing re-issues and boxsets.
    4) Less use of poor quality formats in surround albums, DTS just doesn’t cut it, regardless of bit rate.
    5) People to stop bitching about media. We are all under pressure from the music biz to end our physical media habit, so sad comments in posts along the lines of, ‘well, I’d have bought it if it hadn’t had vinyl’ just get on your pecs. Whether it be CD, DVDA, Blu Ray or vinyl, support physical media!

    Happy new year to everyone, and keep collecting!

    1. Frankly i dont see the industry getting any better. And if the younger generation ( under 30) that I work with are any indication, forget it. All they do is stream. And a lot of them actually aren’t even all that interested in music to begin with, they rather listen to podcasts. They look at me and think I am from the stone age sadly!!!

      1. From my experience, and I freely admit that’s based on my kids and their social groups, that’s very much a generational thing. My oldest has no interest in music bar for her phone and listening to when on the go. She has no physical media, and streams everything. My sons and youngest daughters generation, do a mixture of both. They all have physical media, (they like vinyl, but have CDs etc as well) but are also happy streaming and using podcasts. Sadly, I suspect they may be the last generation to do so if the music biz has its way. The music biz is only interested in balance sheets, quantity over quality. They’ve had years to bring downloads and streaming up to CD standard, and dragged their feet the whole time. Hence we see industry talking heads telling us, ‘no listener can tell the difference between low bit MP3 and CD standard’. Uh huh. Then of course (no offence to Paul) music reviewers, in particular in the USA, telling us that its all down to the public to decide, and the market is just soooooooooooo healthy these days. Indeed, one particular luvy was banging on that we should be paying more for gigs, ‘because they’re just so life affirming’, not less! The music industry has become like politicians, seedy, corrupt, always looking out for more ways to wring another buck out of the public, and defended to the hilt by its acolytes in the music reviewing (again, with exceptions!) and promotion business.

  32. For me it’s the non release – again – of the Cure’s long promised 14th album..
    “We will be playing from October and the new album will be out before then” was the comment from Robert Smith. That didn’t happen.
    Instead we got the Wish reissue that had been promised for what? 5 years? which was very welcome. But come on just release the new album!!
    The 5 new songs played suggest it could be an epic album but I’m worried that now they have played some songs live they’ll go back in the studio and tweak them some more and we will never get it!

    1. I remember reading a Robert Smith interview around the time of their last studio album. The Cure wanted to release a double album but Universal would only release a single album, so a single album it was. There seems to be a stand-off going on.

      1. They were in dispute with geffen until about 2014 I think. Then when they did the teenage cancer trust gigs at Albert hall in 2014 it was announced that they were going to release the rest of the songs recorded as 4:14 Scream but that never happened… Since then they have had no label but have recorded (supposedly) 2 albums worth of material with the current lineup. Robert has promised us a new album since 2019. It’s never wise to hold your breath with The Cure….

  33. Dissapointment for me is the still not released reissue of Duran Duran ” The Wedding Album” on double vinyl and A-ha ” Memorial Beach” and ” Analogue” vinyl versions

  34. Echoing the Paul, Prince, George, and Seal comments. Would have bought the latter two had they come in a no vinyl configuration.

    I will repost my annual wish list of SDE/expanded editions. Sadly it mostly unchanged from last year – and thus my 2022 disappointments…

    Prefab Sprout – Steve McQueen, Jordan, From Langley Park, and Andromeda Heights are begging for Spatial Audio
    OMD – Crush
    Nik Kershaw – Radio Musicola
    Kraftwerk – Computer World
    Mike Rutherford – Smallcreep’s Day (mirror Tony Banks solo reissues)
    Bruce Springsteen – Born In the USA era box
    Scritti Politti – Cupid & Psyche ’85 (can’t even imagine how cool this would sound in Spatial Audio)
    Simple Minds – Real Life
    The Housemartins – The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death
    Propaganda – 1234
    Christians – Happy In Hell 
    Nick Heyward – Postcards from Home, I Love You Avenue
    Steve Winwood – Back In The High Life, Talking Back To The Night 
    XTC – English Settlement, Mummer, and Apple Venus CD/BR
    Yes – Going For The One, Tormato, Drama CD/BR

    Catalog Reissue Campaigns
    Steely Dan – serious audiophile reissue campaign (Atmos/5.1/Quad Remasters) of Can’t Buy A Thrill through Gaucho
    Beautiful South, Sting, The Police, The Psychedelic Furs (Columbia/CBS era), and Michael McDonald (WB/Reprise era) – reference the XTC/Marillion/Deacon Blue/Jethro Tull reissue campaigns

    1. Regarding Prefab Sprout – Steve McQueen: there is a limited edition of that album on double cd including the acoustic rendition by Mr McAloon that was issued by Sony in 2007 (vinyl only version of just the acoustic set released issued as a part of RSD in 2019).
      The acoustic renditions are truly a joy to listen to and easily enhance the emotional charge each song brought/brings.
      This release could enjoy a re-release.

      https://www.discogs.com/release/990766-Prefab-Sprout-Steve-McQueen

      Regarding Cupid & Psyche ‘85, easily in my top 3 of the decade: this past year they re-released this on cd and vinyl without ANY additional material and as insult to injury, turned up the loudness to make it unlistenable. Mr Gartside has said that he is interested in looking in the vaults but I would hold my breath for a re-re-release and even less for a surround treatment.

  35. The biggest disappointment to me is definitely the Use Your Illusion box set from G’n’R. 7 CD’s for 270 € is usury! For that reason I’ve left it for others to buy.
     
    There are some anniversary re-releases missing as for instance the debut from Audioslave. Candlebox and Coverdale/Page have announced such releases for 2023. There are also announcements for super deluxe editions of Who’s Next and Regatta De Blanc. Rush should be reminded of Counterparts‘ birthday.
     
    As far as box sets are concerned I’m still dreaming of proper live boxes of The Who, Van Halen and Cheap Trick. Macca should revisit Back To The Egg and London Town. And last but not least I wished, U2 would release a 35th anniversary box of Rattle And Hum. That should feature 3 live audio discs + a studio CD featuring all the songs from the movie + a DVD/BR feat. The film + outtakes.
     
    Apart from these I’m waiting for The Kinks to reach Low Budget and the following records, the 1st 3 albums of Fischer-Z and all of Tesla’s records with bonus material.

    1. There WAS a killer Cheap Trick 4CD live box “Live @ the Whisky 77″…that GNR box was a joke (not that I’m a huge fan of them, but it was like a jewelled turd, does everything wrong & dropped on us like a big rock, THUD, and hugely overpriced)…and not a fan of Who’s Next or Van Halen or Candlebox or U2 (a Rattle box would be a huge waste)…Tesla are OK & a box or reissues would have me curious, same with Fischer-Z…

  36. Not at all fussed about the non-appearance of a Diamonds and Pearls SDE. It’s a bang average (C-) album and I wouldn’t spring for it if it ever does see the light of day. However, I wish they’d open the vaults and release physical SDEs for the two albums before and the two after Sign ‘O’ the Times. The longer they leave it, the more likely they’ll end up as streaming only affairs.

  37. Biggest disappointment for me was the Madonna re-issue deluxe sets, weren’t we promised some big surprises? Finally love set was ok, erotic pic disc hmm, everybody 12” all a bit overpriced and underwhelming, erotica deluxe was mentioned but nothing, hopefully some announcements early next year.

    1. I’m not 100% that the situation is what I think it is, but I was under the impression the Finally Enough Love was meant to be a bit like the Bowie Sound and Vision box: a precursor to the start of the full campaign that was meant to showcase/sampler a taste of what’s to come. I think we’ll begin getting the actual album reissues this next year.

      Again, this is predominately conjecture on my part, but Madonna is known to be a massive Bowie fan, and the Sound and Vision/Ryko reissue project was a landmark event back in its time. It wouldn’t surprise me to know that she’s adapting that model a bit for her own campaign. I just hope the albums get full-on SDE treatments rather than just the “slightly expanded” versions that Ryko did, which were remarkable during their time but wouldn’t seem particularly impressive now.

  39. I wish the Pet Shop Boys would release their back catalogue properly. The Further Listening stories were not the best of luck for die-hard fans. I know that there are probably a few legal problems, especially concerning the Bobby O. era, but one can dream, can’t one?

    1. At the absolute very least, I would love to see the extended versions from the fist decade get a proper release, rather than just ones the Boys did themselves. There are some excellent extended versions of their classic singles that are still difficult to find unless yu can get your hands on the original CD singles reissues from the 90s.

  40. Worst for me
    Joni Mitchell’s 1972-1975 box with the appalling error on Court & Spark (repeated track)
    Japan’s Quiet Life with the awful live recording and the inflated cost (plus heavy UPS charges) when ordering from Townsend for the exclusive CD.

    Non-appearance of London Town, Back To The Egg, The Go-Betweens Volume 3 and Horslips sets also disappointing.

    The Go West set is very loud – can only listen in car. Older was overpriced but nice to have everything in one place (I only previously owned the LP – never bought the singles)

    1. Did they even acknowledge the error on that Joni Mitchell box? I’ve held off from buying that but never heard anything about a repress. Some of the errors on these releases makes me wonder what QC even means these days.

      1. Someone on Steve Hoffman forum emailed Rhino about it. They said they got a reply along the lines of “we’ll look into it” but I haven’t heard of anything more. I emailed Rhino myself and got no response.

      2. A lot of people have contacted the label about the error.The label has made no commitment to fix it unlike the BBC DVD in the Harvest box where they committed to a replacement program within days.
        Both released by the same company.

        1. Very annoying considering how high-profile/ prestige they like to claim the Joni Mitchell reissues and archive boxsets are. It’s certainly cost them one sale at least (mine). I won’t be taking a punt on it unless it’s reduced in price in an eventual sale that reflects it’s compromised quality. Worryingly, they never seem able to make assurances this won’t happen again.

      1. Oops. I spoke too soon. The error is there. I emailed Rhino and received a response within an hour stating that replacement discs will be mailed out soon.

  42. Hello,, dissapointments on actual released products, well I must say, the ones I have purchased (Blondie, Wilco, Joe Strummer, Ultravox etc) are satisfactory. The dissapointment lies more in the artists that never release updated versions of their back catalouge. My foremost wishes are – Roy Harper Complete on Madfish, Van Morrison – a set of boxes covering his 1960-s to 1990s (at least). I would love to put on St Dominics Preview or Weedon Fleece again with bonus tracks. A complete Blue Nile box ( I think this is coming), Talk Talk – a complete set and at last for now – a full live release of Yes “Tales of topographic oceans” in good sound quality. Best regards and I hope for more exciting relesases in 2023. Best regards Hans

    2. A Blue Nile box set would be amazing. I wonder how they overcome the obstacle of having the first two albums on Linn/Virgin, Peace At Last on Warner and High on Sanctuary. Maybe it’s all under one roof. Furthermore, how do you get PJ Moore to play nice?

      The re-releases were good too but I’m not a completists so don’t know what was left out. What I do know is that there’s no formal Live recording. Their albums would lend themselves beautifully to a surround mix.
      Anyone know of a release date?

      Same for Talk Talk. Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock vinyls were re-released a few years ago with a dvd audio disc included. Putting all that in a box would be worth more to me than the GnR release.

        1. I’d do anything for a proper Talk Talk campaign. Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock apparently were made up of 100’s of hours of sessions, although the suggestion is that Mark Hollis destroyed everything that was not released. But there must be something. For 2 such genre defining and stunning albums they deserve something.

  44. The continuing farting competition that is Pink Floyd is still disappointing. It was good to have the 5.1 “Animals” at last but there’s always going to be a gap on the shelf where the Immersion box should have slotted in. No thaw means we’re unlikely to get anything more ambitious from them regarding ANY future archive project– no 1977 live audio, no proper “Meddle” reissue, no comprehensive “Wall” live box, no nothing. And I’m always going to be missing those “Animals” marbles.

  45. It was a shame to see The Residents “pREServed” series grind to a halt. I hope the move to (yawn) vinyl reissues doesn’t mean those comprehensive, great value multi-CD sets are over.

  46. It seemed after many years of waiting, Win “Uh! Tears Baby”was going to come out this year in a deluxe edition. Still seems to be stuck in licencing hell.

    Really hoped for Volume 3 of The Go-Betweens “G Is For Go-Betweens” box set. Surely it can’t be much longer!

    Finally, as with most years, I keep hoping for a Paisley Underground reissue programme. Would love to see bands such as Rain Parade, Green On Red and Let’s Active getting the deluxe treatment.

    2. Hope you didn’t miss the limited edition reissue announcement for _Uh! Tears Baby_ back in August? It’ll be out on spatter vinyl and CD in early 2024. I missed the general availability sales period, but since it’s coming from Last Night From Glasgow it’s still available to people who buy LNFG membership. LP has enhanced packaging and an unreleased mix of “You’ve Got The Power”, CD has all the tracks from the ‘87 CD, plus the extra “You’ve Got The Power”, the “Super Popoid Groove” 12” mix, and “Peel sessions”.

      Except they never did a Peel session, so I’m guessing it’s the Janice Long session from 1985.

      https://shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com/collections/last-night-from-glasgow/products/win-uh-tears-baby

      The page does suggest orders are closed, but right now that’s only the case for general retail, if you get LNFG silver (or above) 2024 membership you get the Win CD (or vinyl) when it’s released as one of the six CDs that you get sent as part of your membership.

      It’s not as Super Deluxe as it could have been (I reckon they could have filled a double CD) but it’s still great that they did it. I know that it was their biggest advance order ever during the retail period, maybe they’ll be inspired to get the rest of the unreleased stuff out as a follow-up.

      Oh, and since LNFG operates as a non-profit, all the $$$ other than the production costs go to the surviving members of the band.

  47. Several

    1. What looks like the fading days of the SDE, in the face of the vinyl onslaught
    2. Lack of Prince and INXS reissues
    3. NOW taking a good idea and then blatantly milking it with such haste
    4. Escalating prices across the music industry in what looks like blatant profiteering more than passing on cost increases
    5. The awful sound quality in the Go West set
    6. Not having another ‘Arthur Baker presents…’ set (yet)

    1. An “Arthur Baker presents” of Jellybean would be a good next but I am most looking forward to ones by Julian Mendelsohn, Francois Kevorkian, Gary Langan among others. The Kevorkian one may be incomplete as I doubt Kraftwerk will allow their music to be included in a box set that’s not their own.

      1. A Jellybean Benitez one would be cool, as would the others…what about Justin Strauss…he formerly of NYC powerpop band Milk N Cookies…turned 80s 12″ remixer…

        1. I do recall some of Justin Strauss remixes but they were all of the same “House music” ilk. Shep Pettibone had a similar sound but added a bit more variety (Madonna’s Erotica was one of his productions with a different sound than Vogue). He also gave DD’s “I Don’t Want Your Love” the same house music treatment.

          The reason I mentioned the ones I did was cause they crafted masterpieces out of the originals, for example, “Suburbia (The Full Horror)” by Julian Mendelsohn is in my books the best remix I’ve ever heard: it not only expands the song, but also retains all of what made the song good and then adds to it. Same for “ What Have I Done To Deserve This” by Mr Mendelsohn.

          François Kevorkian did that too and it is exemplified in his work on several remixes of tracks off of Electric Café (Kraftwerk), So Red The Rose (Arcadia) and the Violator (DM) singles.

          In my opinion, most remixers destroy the original which after the 90’s became all too evident. The stab in the heart usually came when the drums were altered for cheap drum machines even if they weren’t real drums on the original. For example, Day In, Day Out by Bowie was butchered in its remix. The Extended mix of Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac was robbed of its beauty by none other than Mr Arthur Baker himself. Speaking of him, he did do a lot of good work, Freeez – IOU and Dragnet- Art of Noise amongst others.
          I’ll shut up now otherwise I’ll go on for forever.

  48. The omission of the Blu-ray in The Beatles – Revolver CD box set is a big disappointment. Still can’t believe they did that. But we used that money to buy The Band – Stage Fright and John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band SDE box sets (half priced a few months ago). Both with Blu-ray and surround mixes. Not a bad alternative.

    4 years ago in the tour book of his farewell tour, there was an announcement of a forthcoming Paul Simon rarities collection called “Alternate Tunings”. A download code was included for six songs from that collection. But to this day, nothing else. As his first solo album after the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel celebrated it’s 50th anniversary this year you would think they would use that … but no. Nothing. I read a few times Paul Simon is recording a new solo album. That’s already one album I’m going to buy in 2023 (when it is released next year).

    1. Also old quad mixes (e.g. “Bridge”, early Simon solos) are still unavailable physically or on Apple spatial but a few have been released on the Tidal platform…who knows why?
      Thanks for mentioning “Alternate Tunings”. I enjoyed those downloads and it’s so strange to have that official of an announcement be followed only by silence. Does that mean he’s considering keeping them for future deluxe boxes?

  49. I’m really surprised that you managed to write about the biggest disappointments of 2022 without even mentioning the Guns n Roses set – as far as I remember the worst SDE of 2022 in the reader’s opinion.
    I know that other comments already mentioned similar things, but this set and The Beatles’ Revolver really makes me think that my collector’s days might be over very soon. I love to hold the “spatial” audio in my hands and the lack of that makes me not buying the sets at all. So many missed opportunities there…
    I just hope that there will be a lot more of your Surround Series coming next year! Then you will get all the money I would have spent on proper box sets otherwise…

      1. I’m kind of curious, on the G’n’R front, about the sudden small spike in press I’ve seen abut their efforts to battle the leaks from the Chinese Democracy sessions. Those have been going on for over a decade, but suddenly there are articles about it in mainstream media sources, which makes me wonder if it’s part of the beginning PR for something coming out regarding that era. I doubt they’re going to pay much attention to The Spaghetti Incident (rightfully so), which really only leave Chinese Democracy, which also isn’t exactly the foundation for a massive legacy project. My suspicion is that, with the band reunited (mostly) in their original form, they’re going to try to revise the Chinese Democracy era in some form with the original members as opposed to an Axl solo album in disguise–either through complete re-recordings, new mixes with the original members dubbing over the session and temporary replacements, or (unlikely, I would think, considering it is such an Axl-only project) some sort of expanded edition that collects the unreleased material together into a compilation. If we’re making predictions, I would predict something along this lines gets released within two years.

    2. Like Paul, I too am not disappointed in a set I knew would be an outright bloated disaster from the getgo…was like a jewelled turd that landed on us like a meteor!!

      1. I don’t know where you guys had gotten your information from before the release of the Use Your Illusion SDE was actually announced, but I in my naivety expected it to be comparable to the Appetite For Destruction SDE.

        That one I enjoyed a lot (after a serious price drop and of course ignoring the Locked And Loaded-Edition), because to me it was quite a nice box concerning content and presentation. That’s why the UYI-set was a big disappointment to me.

  50. What happened in Beatleland?

    What a disaster of a year. So much potential promise and so little to celebrate.

    Get Back, in spite of amazing work by Peter Jackson was embarrassing. It was stuck in Disney hell while the physical edition basically rotted in the earth. Why all the delays? Why a complete vanilla release when even the director was frustrated that the masses of work he had done has now been buried, probably for another 50 years? Where is the promised Let It Be film? This project should have been an absolute treasure trove. Yes, we got a lot more than we perhaps expected, but this should have been a solid gold triumph, not be languishing unloved, unprompted and discounted in HMV. It should have been left with Peter Jackson to prepare. He loved the material and its potential more than those who employed him. He would have known what to do. What happened? Grrr!

    Revolver. What happened? A huge price hike, a ditched hi-res and surround disc and a pretty stingy set of outtakes, given that it is perhaps one of the greatest albums every recorded. Since when did The Beatles skimp? And that is what it felt like again.

    London Town Archive – AWOL!

    Back To The Egg – AWOL!

    Some Time In New York City SDE – AWOl!

    Concert For Bangladesh deluxe – AWOL!

    McCartney I, II, III box. Oh dear! What is going on? This is just a waste of resources. Shame on you Paul.

    Paul McCartney Singles Box. Why? If it had been a complete set, just maybe it could have had a pass. But it is not and it seems to be a vague birthday present for Paul. I just don’t understand the philosophy for any of this.

      1. It is only disappointment, not fury!

        The thing is we do all need to express our opinions. It may or may not have any effect but it must be be difficult to avoid such widespread condemnation of a Beatles release (or at least the completely unnecessary shooting oneself in the foot that we have here with Revolver).

        I have hopes that I can offer some praise in 2023 when we get all of the releases that are AWOL!

        1. I’m only pulling your leg mouse man!! Thanks for letting me know that you can get the let it be Blu-ray for peanuts now,I will buy it to put in my Collection, it’s a bit of a hard watch but if it’s cheap enough!!
          Saw the 8 day a week Blu-ray for £1 in a shop called one below in Glasgow

          1. I preordered the Get Back set ages before it eventually appeared, so in reality I got what I ordered. However, it should have been packed with extras.

            It was about £25 in HMV for the blu-ray. Not peanuts, but less than I preordered it at! A very enjoyable watch as I did not subscribe to Disney. It could have been so much better though.

            And feel free to pull my leg any time!

    2. It’s just a theory, but Jackson’s films over the last few decades have typically followed a cycle where significantly expanded editions arrived in a deluxe package within a year or two of the original coming out. I think the original plan was to have the documentary that we saw, and then a vastly expanded edition with bells and whistles and extras released at some point in 2023 or 2024, likely with the original Let it Be. But I think things were derailed by COVID and then the positive but not overwhelming reception combined with Disney’s current financial struggles (the MCU might be what’s keeping things together at the moment) and whatever complications might have come out of Apple and Jackson’s camps. It might still come through, but the press during promotion made it seem like the working relationships became strained by the end, and the full experience was dumped in favor of moving on.

      1. I think the plan was a 90 to 120 min film with an expanded set to follow. If they had done a single episode for TV then released an 8 hour expanded set later, then Beatles fans would been over the moon. Its already too long for all but diehard fans. The only worthwhile extras they can offer are a “clean audio” recut of the rooftop concert, and the original movie which includes the final studio session.

    3. “Since when did The Beatles skimp?”
      This. This right here. I know Revolver wasn’t the only SDE to skip over the Blu-Ray disc, but it was the highest profile, and broke ranks with the 4 prior Beatles SDEs.
      And why did they have to depend on Peter Jackson’s demixing tech? What happened to the multitracks that existed back in the 1990s and were used for the Anthology tracks and singles remixes?

  51. Biggest disappoint is reissues being given Dolby Atmos mixes but only available on streaming sites.
    Some of the titles:
    Michael Jackson Thriller
    Sting Dream of the Blue Turtles
    Coldplay A Rush of Blood to the Head
    John Cougar American Fool
    Seal Seal I
    Amy Macdonald This Is The Life
    The Beatles Revolver

    Looking forward to hearing Steven Wilson’s Dolby Atmos mix of Who’s Next, hopefully on blu-ray.

  52. Cat Stevens Catch Bull at Four was completely disappointing… a case of Bullshit at Four. I hope who’s next will not disappoint when it makes it out.. starting to lose interest in these box sets, to many have something lacking and no wow factor.

  53. Partly because i don’t know where else to post this and partly to show that even massive cock ups sometimes have a happy ending i’d like to mention that, regarding to what IMHO must be the Mother Of All Disappointments concerning music box sets i today received a not very large parcel by Warner Music UK that included a T-Shirt, six different cds and an empty but nevertheless shrinkwrapped box:

    Hooray, the Brilliant Live Adventures set by the late great David Bowie can finally be looked at on my living room shelf.

    Thinking that it must be almost two years now that this series has originally been announced the problem was in the end solved as if there were now people at Warner’s in charge that actually care about their customers…

    The reprints were announced in August, i ordered each cd individually, the empty box and to personalize my shopping experience a little added one of the several offered t-shirt designs, went to the (virtual) counter, paid with PayPal, Warner took my money right away and only four months later the parcel was delivered.

    All in all about the same shopping experience as when i buy some exclusive surround mixes on blu-ray audio from Paul’s SDE-shop.

    The postman even collected German VAT and handling fee… ;-)

    The only question we’re left with is: Why on earth wasn’t an internationally operating
    corporation that does business with entertainment products for literally decades able to deal with that box set in said manner from the start?

    Regarding my biggest personal disappointment on the re-issue stage in 2022 that was, unsurprisingly, that the 10-cd box ‘Come Ride With Me’ by the also late great Australian band The Triffids has neither been re-released nor was i able to find a copy on the second hand market for a reasonable price (again).

    I’m kicking myself mentally for more than 12 years now that i haven’t ordered it right away for about 50€ when it was first announced.

    Somehow i supposed that 1.000 printed units of it would last longer than a fortnight (or that Domino would do a second run even if the release was announced as limited from the start).

    At least it’s available to listen to on Spotify (and possibly also on other streaming services) which sadly isn’t the case for my most wanted re-issue for a single album.

    That would be the ‘Rainy Day’ album which was originally released on vinyl in the early 80s.

    Members of several bands from the psychedelic underground scene in L.A. were involved, led by David Roback who also played in e.g. The Rain Parade, Opal or Mazzy Star.

    It has been released on cd around 1990 but is also very hard to find for prices sub- 70€. It seems that Roback wasn’t interested in another edition of the album but since he has passed several years ago i hoped that maybe his heirs would be more open to proposals from re-issue labels.

    It seems not…

    Oh, and thanks to Chris Squires for sharing the story about literally molten jewel cases of Kate Bush’s ‘Never For Ever’ album finding a new home in freshly produced boxes of the ‘This Woman’s Work’ set. Haven’t heard that one yet.

    Glad my second hand copy seems to be from the second run they made…

    1. Thanks Klaus. It was the vinyl LP version that had the spotty / mouldy album covers. I’ve not owned the CD version so couldn’t comment on that edition, just two of the Vinyl versions and they were both the same. 2x “Fame” edition Lionheart and 2 x mouldy Never For Ever.

      1. Hi Chris.

        Sorry for the misunderstanding.

        Have now looked up “mouldy” in the dictionary… :-)

        Yikes! I guess you returned both sets.
        Did they say anything about how that could happen or are you just guessing?

    2. Luckily I have the Triffids box as I was quite active on the site at the time and Graham was very chatty which made me pre-order it despite the price which felt high at the time. I was quite into the Paisley Underground in the early/mid eighties and had all of the early Green on Red albums, as well as Rainy Day, all of which sadly went with my vinyl collection. I have MP3 versions of them but that’s all. I chatted to Dan Stuart a few years ago and he didn’t have any of the old Green on Red albums in any format!

  54. I’ll just leave the comment where I say you said everything that frustrates me and that’s the McCartney Archive collection. I love London Town and Back to the Egg and really want to bookend my Wings collection allready! Would love to see Press to Play as well, but please McCartney, London Town and Back to the Egg before you start faffing about with any other distractions.

  55. 3 big disappointments for me this year are:

    (1) The absence of Cat Stevens’ Catch Bull At Four SDE. I was so looking forward to this. My favourite Cat album.
    All we got was a single CD to mark it’s 50th Anniversary. So disappointing!!!
    (2) The “stupid” high prices now being charged for SDE’s (many with questionable or very little content).
    (3) The trend to now start excluding 5.1/HD audio from physical releases. I just don’t understand the reasoning. The people who want/listen to these spatial mixes/HD quality music are usually the ones who don’t use streaming services as their “go to” listening source. I never did understand marketing??

    1. From a cynical perspective, my bet would be that you inadvertently state the reason right in your post: the market for physical versions of spatial audio typically don’t use streaming. So you take the carrot that gets them most excited about the big box, and you make it streaming only. The diehards skip the box out of anger, but go to streaming (grudgingly) and the process of acclimating us to viewing streaming as just another legitimate source we go to to listen to our music begins. Records company releases statement about the disappointment of the dip in sales in physical boxes, uses it as a “reason” to cut back on physical sets, driving more people to streaming. Record companies release statement about how “even the collectors market” is beginning to embrace the “ease and availability” of streaming over “old, clunky, wasteful practices in physical media” and appeal to the populists by pointing out (not incorrectly, but disingenuously just the same) how this is so good for “real music lovers” because the physical product market does something like “increase the value of scarcity and the exclusion of non-affluent fans” from being able to hear the media. The record company keeps the vast majority of the streaming income without the outlay of producing the physical versions or the overhead of warehousing, so for them it’ a great big win. And they win again, because they can cast the manipulation of the market as being about “including ALL the fans,” which is a much better image than what they had during the rise of downloading, where they were the evil corporate monsters trying to bleed everyone for all the money. They’re still the evil corporate monster, but they’ve regained control of the situation, regained the profits they were losing, and have marketing in charge of making them look incredibly generous and costumer-centered.

      In essence, they move into the phase of villainy where Lex Luthor gets elected President of the United States.

      That sounds paranoid, I know, but look into “the death of the physical single,” and realize the big lesson the labels learned from the loss they took when illegal downloading stepped in to fill the void left by the death of physical singles is that if you do it deliberately and you control the “alternative method,” you can manipulate the exact situation that almost destroyed your industry to maximize profits without having to include the artists in the equation. It’s disgusting, but it’s how corporations who thrive off exploiting commodities they have no role in producing (where’s Clive Davis’ album of standards?) become multi-billion dollar industries. If you want to see the last time there was a MASSIVE cultural shift (bigger than vinyl to cassette, or cassette to CD), look at the efforts recording companies made to recast the physical audio recording as superior to live performance or sheet music. That was a textbook example in how corporations will completely cannibalize each other for the sake of increasing their share of the market.

  56. Not sure if this counts (I think it does, which is why I’m leaving this comment), but for me, the biggest disappointment has to be the Z2 Comics series of Rock & Roll comics. I bought the hard cover Blondie: Against the Odds graphic novel with the 12″ Sunday Girl & a bunch of prints over a year ago, and it never shipped. I’ve gotten a couple of BS excuse emails, but the whole thing is clearly a scam. Unfortunate…

    1. Yes they kept forgetting to tell me about the Blondie book delays until I wrote them. Something else is going on there too as I bought a Public Enemy 2LP from them on their Black Friday sale and it has still not shipped a month later with 3 different attempts to contact their Support totally ignored.

  57. Echoing some of the prior comments my biggest disappointments were the deluxe reissues that were digital-only releases. Specifically Sting’s Nothing Like The Sun and INXS’ Shaboo Shoobah. Especially INXS as the album-era bonus tracks for the Sting album are all already available on CD. Agree it would have been great to get a live show released from the Nothing Like the Sun tour which was a great show. Re INXS, the sad thing is that this likely means we won’t get physical deluxe reissues of the other non-Kick albums either. The desire for these has been discussed for years on SDE. Major fail.

  58. I could not agree more on the Seal box.
    I would have bought it in a heartbeat if it contained a disc with the (already existent) Atmos mix. Without it?
    Meh…
    Pass

    1. I noticed that myself, and was going to make a comment of “very well done” until I saw yours. So I will simply second your comment. Very nice writing flourish, Paul. If only all music journalists had such flairs in their work.

  61. I was looking forward to Joni Mitchell’s Archive Vol.3, but at least I can be confident we’ll see it next year. Regards Prince, though, I really fear the worst. We had it so good for awhile.

    I appreciate I’ll sound like a glass-half-empty guy, but I always think that time is running out regards physical media, an ever-shrinking window of opportunity for great affordable SDE releases. It’s like the good old days of exhaustive special editions of films on DVD and Blu-ray, like the multi-disc, multi-cut Blade Runner, which is something that simply would not happen today. All that’s gone. With films we’re lucky to get barebones physical releases at all.

    So is the sun setting on the SDE within this decade? Is time running out for the Prince Estate to sort itself out and see sense and release something? So yes, for me the no-show of any Prince SDE is the biggest disappointment.

    My biggest hope for 2023 is a posthumous Vangelis release. It’s likely too soon, maybe 2024 is more realistic, but it would indicate at least the possibility that his vault of unreleased material might see the light of day. A release of The Bounty soundtrack in particular would be fantastic.

    1. As much as I’d like to believe you are wrong, the trend seems to indicate that physical SDEs are on the way out. I am disappointed in pretty much all of the SDE album content released in 2022. And most 2022 SDEs that were good are outlandishly priced – I think the only two I purchased this year was Ultravox and Toyah (unless the 4-CD version of Blondie’s unreleased content counts). I’m still holding out some hope that I will be able to complete a few wants in 2023 – the last Bowie vinyl box set, the fourth Def Leppard vinyl box set, the rumoured Lexicon of Love SDE, and any rumoured Prince SDEs / unreleased content – even the fanclub-only albums reissued would be appreciated, perhaps as a collected set.

  62. I was very disappointed there was no Back To The Egg and no Diamonds and Pearls, but even worse than something not done – is something done wrong. Older was bad, but Guns N Roses was even worse! At least Older had the full original album in it, Guns N Roses replaced November Rain with a new orchestral version. If they really felt the need to do that version of November Rain they should have just added it as a Bonus track, not replace the original. And I can’t believe they didn’t put any unreleased studio stuff on either Older or Use Your Illusion.

  63. The single biggest disappointment for me was the godawful mastering of the Go West SDE, which rendered the box set largely unlistenable. No spatial audio option either.

    If the Lexicon of Love SDE scheduled for next year is similarly effed-up I will NOT be a happy chappy.

    1. Not being an audiophile I’d love a section or article where someone could go into the various bad mastering releases by various artists. Several have remarked on the Go West release so imagine it must be godawful but would like to know of other potential releases I may have picked up without realising they are ropey…

  64. This fine website reported in March 2021 that Sananda/Terence Trent D’Arby had finally agreed to a reissue program. Hooray, I thought. Finally an SDE of Introducing the Hardline was in the offing, which for me was one of the best pop albums of the decade.

    Since then? Crickets, other than the release of a streaming-only Atmos mix of Introducing the Hardline this past summer.

    Color me disappointed.

  66. I find it annoying when companies release a Super Deluxe Edition of something and the vast majority of the music is just the lower 3 or 4CD set chucked into a bigger box.
    This year I’m thinking of the John Hughes / Tarquin Gotch box, Life Moves Pretty Fast SDE. Previously it was the two Howard Jones big boxes. It’s just bloody lazy. I can go right back to the Kate Bush This woman’s work 9 LP box from the late 80s which goes for a fortune but contains off the shelf albums, which in some boxes turned out to be the “Fame” label budget reissues. The Never For Ever albums had been hanging around a warehouse so long the covers had actual mould on them.
    It’s cheap. Stop it.

    As for releases that didn’t happen I am getting quite pent up waiting for Cocksure / BWLY and Astronauts by Stephen Duffy / The Lilac Time. Particularly as Needle Mythology are (I think) involved and they have been nothing but excellent so far.

    As far as stopped and disappeared series are concerned I am still hoping that Mike Oldfield gets up and running again. Everything was going so well and then it just stopped. So Islands and the brilliant but unloved Earth Moving please. It was not that successful but (IMHO) it’s still his best batch of vocal, single length tracks. Feeling the love for Earth Moving…..

    1. Posted on the Lilac Time’s website on December 14, 2022: “The new album has gone off to the pressing place today the 14th of December 2022. The earliest you can look forward to hearing it is next August. If only we’d had the foresight to buy a pressing plant when we had the chance. I think it’s too early to even talk about it yet. As Astronauts hasn’t gone to press I think that will be October next year at the earliest. The book we spoke about in the last post will now be spring 2024 as I underestimated the amount of gassing, transcribing and editing involved. I didn’t expect everyone to be quite so oral in their history. But to my amazement it’s actually very absorbing. As was stated last time it will be available only from the fancifully designated lilactimebook.com You need to sign up at the site to procure it. The ROCKET 88 publishing house promise to not spam you. We’re working on some retrospective releases to accompany the book. Who has the Borderline tape of when we played The Lollipop Man?”

    2. Chris, I think you may be waiting a little longer for Cocksure, but I’ve heard the words ‘boxed set’ mentioned in relation to Astronauts, as well as a Lilac Time autobiography.

    3. Regarding Mike Oldfield’s back catalogue, it looks like an LP called ‘Opus One’ will be released for RSD 2023 and will contain an extract from his (hopefully) forthcoming album Tubular Bells 4.
      Tracklisting is as follows:
      1. TB4 – 08:34
      2. Peace A – 06:57
      3. Peace B – 04:16
      4. Tubular X – 03:55
      5. Tubular Beats – 10:39
      6. Theme from Tubular Bells – 03:56

      Cheers !

      1. Thanks Le Baron, As much as I despise what happened to the remix singles of TBII and The Songs of Distant Earth, I really liked Tubular Beats. To quote Paul…. “You could tell what the fucking song was supposed to be” (maybe paraphrasing) and Never Too Far is just immensely beautiful.

  67. Biggest disappointment for me is Bruce Springsteen. His soulless covers record reminded me of Rod Stewarts swipe at the American songbook. With so many great musicians and singers from his journey still active, choosing a paint by numbers muzak approach was just lazy. Worse was his response (when he finally got around to it) to the dynamic pricing approach to ticket sales. His self centered comments undermined the integrity of the connection he’d built with his audience. Sad as he always appeared to be one of the more ethical people in entertainment.
    Runner up for me are the continued exorbitant deluxe reissue prices from legacy artists that are scant on content. The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Beach Boys and Neil Young all fall into this category. Studio chatter, previously issued tracks/live recordings, random jams/instrumentals, or 4 songs on a single cd doesn’t justify a price of $130-$150. We understand that every reissue doesn’t necessarily lend itself to a wealth of content as say The White Album or Sign of the Times did. However, bands shouldn’t be utilizing their “brand” as a method to inflate prices. Simply align the price with the nature and value of the content. Reissues from The Replacements, Flaming Lips, John Lennon, Elton John, and Ultravox have all done an excellent job in this regard.
    On the positive side, great new music this year from Mistski, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, Both Orton, Spoon, Beach House, and Bjork. Also saw excellent reissues from The Smithereens, Marshall Crenshaw, The Cure, John Coltrane, Joe Strummer, Marianne Faithful, and Ultravox. Hoping for a great 2023!

      1. I don’t think he meant that the Stewart albums are bad (though that may just be my interpretation). I think the comment was more about a living artist who still produces vital work of their own going off on a much easier path of recording a series of covers albums, which sometimes don’t even require that much involvement from the artist outside of vocals. As much as I DO enjoy a good covers album, when they come from an artist who I feel is still producing worthy original work of their own, I find myself wondering what we’re not getting while they are doing karaoke. In Springsteen’s case, he’s the artist I have MOST expected to produce a commentary on the Trump years as an album, and it hasn’t come. While I’ve enjoyed his dives into covers, tributes, and revisiting and re-recording some of his own vault work, I’ve been wanting a Trump-era Born in the USA, and nothing. The covers album is alright, but I don’t think I’m going to be spinning it much more than the few listens I’ve had of it. It’s technically good, but doesn’t speak to me at all.

    1. Really hate to say it but I think the lost multi-tracks mean the XTC reissues are now done. Unless more turn up I think they’ve done all they can.

    2. Haven’t they run out of XTC albums to release in 5.1 as the remaining albums have missing original master tapes? Shame if that is the case.

      1. Unfortunately I think that is the case.
        At this stage I would be content with decent reissues of the remaining albums that contained b-sides. demos and any contemporaneous unreleased tracks.

    1. Later this year.Probably after the release of the new Tull album.
      Delay mostly due to the fact that they are doing a vinyl version of the Broadsword box.

  70. The George Michael deluxe sets have all had flaws, but they have managed to get a few things right. The mastering has largely respected the dynamic range of the original masters, and mixes that were originally scattered over several discs (especially once “two-part” singles became a trend) have been collected in one place (which is kind of the point of a deluxe edition in the first place). For me (because I don’t care as much about videos, or surround mixes that were never among the original configurations), my biggest complaint (and a minor one, at that) would probably be that the packaging varies so greatly, from the typical “deluxe edition” digipak (minus the slipcase that Universal favored) for Faith to the LP-sized box used for Older (because of the inclusion of vinyl). No way will those three albums ever share space on the same shelf.

    I would also like to see reissues of London Town and Back to the Egg. The Venus and Mars installment was the first time anybody’d gotten it right on CD (on previous issues, you could hear the auto limiter kick in on the opening riff of “Rock Show” as it transitioned from the opening “Venus and Mars”), which gave me high hopes for what would follow.

    As for Prince, I’d rather see deluxe reissues of Around the World in a Day, Parade, The Black Album, Lovesexy, and Batman (I’d include Graffiti Bridge in that list, but the release of early versions of some of the songs on what’s already been issued doesn’t leave as much room for extras—though an official video of the Japanese Nude Tour broadcast would be welcome). Despite the presence of “Gett Off”, “Cream”, and “Money Don’t Matter 2 Night”, Diamonds and Pearls was a weak album—the obvious beginning of Prince’s early 90s decline. Whereas the other albums I mentioned cover the rest of the period responsible for his classic B-sides (and the full 21-and-a-half minute version of “America”)—several of which have appeared on CD only in their abbreviated, 7-inch versions. But with all those albums now apparently licensed to Sony, I don’t see those happening any time soon.

    If Sting ever decides to curate a reissue of his back catalog, I would hope he’d start with a proper remix of The Soul Cages, without the Qsound crap.

    In any event, it seems to me that 2022 was a missed opportunity for a lot of 40th anniversary sets: Avalon, Imperial Bedroom, The Lexicon of Love, The Nightfly, Mesopotamia, The Nylon Curtain, Nebraska, Night and Day, English Settlement, Forever Now.

    1. I beg to differ.
      I am fully on board with lost opportunities on Sting’s golden age releases being supplanted by the My Songs and its various versions. I hope to one day have individual SDE’s of his first five albums with, when/where appropriate, live albums to accompany. Surround would be a plus.

      Where I disagree with you on is your assessment of the Qsound. With Mercury Falling the trend had already started but the loudness war was in full display by the time Sacred Love came out by which time his popularity was declining. In comparison, Qsound sounds like an aural high and I’d take that any day over the loud torture (I believe that there are some of his songs that would qualify as war crimes due to the torture they inflict on the listener).

    2. A deluxe Mesoptamia would have been wonderful. The B-52’s haven’t had any sort of decent reissue programme, aside from the rather indifferent Cosmic Thing 30th. All we seem to get are vinyl repressings on coloured vinyl. Surely anyone who wants the first album or Wild Planet on vinyl has them by now?
      Although they are far from the most prolific band, we know there were unreleased songs from the Mesopotamia sessions, some of which were re-worked for Whammy! in 1983.

    3. I had begun to think I was the only person on the planet who thought Diamonds & Pearls as an album was a huge disappointment. I’m praying there are miracles in the vault for that era, otherwise the SDE is going to be disappointing.

      1. I prefer Diamonds and Pearls to The Gold Experience. I bought the RSD double version of the Gold Experience, played it and thought it was very poor. Not sure why it has some great reputation, to be honest.

        1. I really like Shhh, 319 and I Hate U off The Gold Experience, it’s a fun listen but it took a few listens to grab me initially. Maybe go back to it every now and then

        2. I think the reputation was linked to the scarcity. It’s not an awful album, but it suffers from the same thing a lot of 90s Prince suffered from–the feeling that he wanted very badly to have some hit singles, but he’d kind of stopped pioneering and was noodling around with current trends. For many people, it’s a classic for having his last big hit on it (Most Beautiful Girl), but that feels like a really sad note for his singles career to end on. Kind of like if the Beatles last hit had been Yellow Submarine. I love the title track, though. Even in the 90s, there was always at least one song that was bullet-proof, even if they weren’t charting like they used to.

  71. A lot of spot on comments for me here Paul. I think but hope I’m wrong that there is a record company agenda to stop the DVD , Blu ray content in these boxsets that we love & try & get more people to stream the stuff. For me, this is disapointing & does’nt really cut it, it’s all about the physical for me, chortle…

    Like Duran Duran, you don’t have to be a genius to work out fans who bought music in the 80’s & decade before & after are collectors! I / we love this stuff, when it’s done well, it’s amazing, it’s perfect ( Prince’s “SOTT” was astoundingly brilliant, content wise, presentation wise ) So, where is the “Wedding Album” SDE? It has to be physical, it must surely be on the agenda. I can’t see there being any new recordings from them for a while, unless they do an EP with that Lykkie Li song on & the Las Vegas Halloween gig will be out so surely the time is right to release the physical release of the “Wedding album”. They would sell thousands upon thousands of copies, & all the related Merchandise that would & should accompany it.

    Same for U2’s “Pop”. they’ve reissued some albums twice in SDE’s but ignored this gem! I don’t get it, I know they were’nt happy with some of the mixes & they never finished it to their satisfaction as they had to gear up for the “Popmart” shows they booked before completing the album but this is a proper treasure trove of Audio & Visual content! Come U2, Sort your s**t out!!

    I hope 2023 is much more inspiring than what 2022 offered.

    1. Personally i don’t think it’s the Labels killing DVD/BR content (e.g., Spatial Audio) in these boxes. Unfortunately I think it may be Apple. I don’t know the payout details, but I would think it is more profitable for the label to sell you the physical media at a premium price point vs rely on the streaming revenues from demos/b-sides/studio chatter that will likely get one stream. My theory is that Apple is paying the labels for “Spatial Audio exclusivity” in an attempt to drive more users to its streaming services/achieve competitive advantage over Spotify. Less of a conspiracy theory than business strategy. I also believe the world is round, we landed on the moon, and there is no Bill Gates microchip implanted in my arms due to COVID vaccines. Your mileage may vary…

      1. What you say does make sense, However, it is very disapointing that the trend does seem to be journeying away from what we all here seem to want. I’m sure there’s room for both “Spacial audio streaming” and physical content in the boxsets that we clearly want. It’s just very disapointing!!

        I have a lot of Apple products, fortunately / unfortunately & i think they are absolute b@stards for a lot of what they do!!

  72. My big disappointments
    -Bruce Springsteen Only The Strong Survive-Karaoke musical replicas of the original arrangements.Singing performances just average.If you want proof of the latter compare Bruce’s take on I Wish It Would Rain which is close to the best track on the album with the Rod Stewart/Faces version on the Faces box set.Rod makes Bruce seem like a failed Idol contestant in comparison
    -Neil Young Noise And Flowers.A big contender for the worst sounding live album of all time.Neil decided to make it sound like the venue so jacked the reverb up until you thought it was recorded off microphones in the toilet or car park.Muffled and echoed.When it came out people inundated his web site saying they must have a faulty copy and wanted a replacement.It took a week for both sides to realise it was actually meant to sound like this.
    -Eddie Vedder Earthling.Some good songs here but music is generic rock sludge.If you ever wondered how much the other members of Pearl Jam contributed to Eddie’s songs this album showed the answer is a lot.
    One traditional annual disappointment that seems to be dropping off the list is that combining vinyl and CD in the one package is becoming less of a thing.
    Personal disappointment is Ryan Adams failure/inability to get a physical distribution deal on the back of the NYT story so that the 6(!) albums he has put out this year are all streaming only.

  73. I was disappointed not to get The Sound of Philadelphia International Records volume 3.
    And of course the two McCartney archive collection in question.

  74. Japan Quiet Life was a poor reissue.The live CD was a barely listenable bootleg. If universal wanted to include a live cd there are better quality, “mixed for radio” bootlegs they could have used. Whilst not ideal it would have been more preferable than the “recorded from the crowd” content they went with.

  75. Ditto London Town and Back to the Egg. It’s got to the point this year of thinking anything can be put in front of the queue and delay those two. I wish they would come clean and say that there are no plans for those two (although there are rumours London Town is complete and BTTE is held up for some legal reason) or just say the Archives are over and we can move on.
    The other disappointment was no Lennon box set. The rumour on this one suggests that STINYC was halted because of THAT song… Just wrap it up as a Lennon NYC 72 box and be done with it.

      1. I don’t think he means Happy Xmas. I think possibly the current climate regarding sensitivity and the “Woman is the …” song, methinks.

  76. It must have been the deluxe of Sting’s Nothing Like The Sun, which wasn’t even a deluxe but a “digital only” piece of cr@p. It was the same treatment as The Soul Cages, which was not even complete if you search carefully on Spotify as the creaters overlooked a number of B-sides on that release.
    Sting is thought to not care at all. But I always understood he likes re-inventions of his old songs. So that should be a starting point? A full remix, dolby atmos version and perhaps a full re-recording of his classic 1985 and 1987 albums. Filled up with a complete 1988 live show which still lies on the shelf in his vault.
    I just woke up…..it was a dream.

  77. I was so sure the SDE of Diamonds and Pearls would be released. Disappointing there was no significant Prince release this year. Hopefully something for 2023 will be announced soon. A Parade SDE would be the dream

  78. Totally agree about the state of the McCartney Archive Collection. Fans didn’t want a “McCartney I-III” box set, we already had the albums and CDs. The Singles Box was too overpriced for most fans so we couldn’t get excited about that either. Every year he wastes our time (and some people’s money) on releases fans really want. Finish the 70’s by giving us “London Town” and “Back To The Egg” collections. I would imagine these are already finished and just waiting for the “thumbs up” to release them. Here’s hoping it happens in 2023. Then we’ll be waiting on “Give My Regards To Broadstreet” and “Press To Play” and “Off The Ground” to hopefully finish off the collection.

  79. The sole INXS release this year was such a disappointment especially when you see what they released digitally. That would have made such a great deluxe edition. It makes the 9 track live CD seem like a damp squib (even though it’s a great live recording).

  80. Guns N Roses Use Your Illusion for me. It’s one of the most bloated, interesting and down right excellent albums of the 90’s and to be celebrated with nothing interesting nothing to explain the sessions, nothing to expand the story behind the album further is just such a waste.

    Add to that the duplication of live material and having to buy even more formats to get everything it really was the most disappointing release for me.

  81. On a personal level, as curator, it was a slight disappointment that, despite the best will in the world from all involved, the Horslips 33CD/2DVD/2 Book ‘More Than You Can Chew’ set just couldn’t be realised this calendar year – the mid-December release date slipped to mid-January (supply chain issues). Happily, fans on other forums have been quick to acknowledge the ‘first world problem’ aspect of any frustration they may feel about this. Again wearing the curator’s hat, I’ve been disappointed not to have placed – thus far – a stunning Duffy Power-backed-by-Argent 1970-71 2CD set, more than half previously unreleased, all from pristine studio masters and multis owned by the very amenable production team of Chris White & Rod Argent. Ironically, there is no lack of interest in Duffy Power as an artist – I was happily involved in two projects for Repertoire in 2022 (a definitive edition of his 1971 album ‘Innovations’ and a 3CD ‘Live at the BBC…’) and as I type, I’m working on a definitive edition (with some unreleased tracks and mixes) of Duffy’s 1972-73 sessions with producer Adrian Millar, for Talking Elephant. Co-curator Jamie White and myself have pitched the 2CD set at four labels without luck (for various reasons). Perhaps that will change in 2023. .

  82. Totally agree with the frustration surrounding Mr McCartney releases
    Must as I love band on the run do I really need another reissue with (surprise surprise) newly discovered unreleased tracks?
    Please release London Town and Back to the egg SDE’s (they’re both imo great albums) to complete the wings box sets!

  83. The big disappointment for me this year was Neil Young’s “Harvest” 50th. The “Harvest Time” DVD was great, but we didn’t need the BBC show duplicated on CD and DVD, and an entire CD for three outtakes (one of which was previously released as part of Archives Vol. 1), totaling 7 minutes of music?! And not including an already-done surround mix? At least it wasn’t ridiculously priced, but for an album this iconic, it deserved much better.

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