NewsSuede resolve Bloodsports bonus tracks but fan grumbling persists
Suede and their management have responded to criticism from fans and from this blog, by offering purchasers of the £100 deluxe version of their new Bloodsports album download codes for three bonus tracks.
We had pointed out last week that the bonus track Howl was unique to iTunes purchasers and should really have been offered as part of the expensive box set. Two further ‘bonus’ tracks Dawn Chorus and No Holding Back appear on the seven-inch vinyl record supplied with both versions of the box set, but weren’t on the USB stick supplied with the £100 version (as they were supposed to be).
Purchasers of the £100 deluxe bundle should now have received a download code for all three tracks mentioned above, plus two music videos. The only commercially available bonus track not available digitally or physically to buyers of the premium set is now the Japan-only track Nothing Can Stop Us.
This news will be very welcome to the Suede fans concerned, but worryingly for the band and their management, complaints still persist about the overall quality of the Hardback book deluxe bundles – quite a few buyers have taken to Suede’s official forum and to SuperDeluxeEdition to highlight the following:
- The advertised 180g ‘audiophile’ vinyl is apparently only 140g
- Labels pressed off centre on side 2 of the LP
- Some reporting ‘very poor’ sound quality on that side 2 of the LP.
- Labels reversed on the seven-inch vinyl
- Seven-inch in very poor condition
- Tears where the CD and vinyl ‘slot’ into the book, dinks and rips in the book.
It should be said that many are very happy with the product, although the number of people complaining suggests that it is more than a few isolated cases, and at least numbers 1, 2, & 4 listed above appear to be a point of ‘fact’ rather than opinion.
A look at how the deluxe sets house the seven-inch single (see photo below) may explain why so many of them are scratched or in poor condition. Incredibly, someone thought sliding the vinyl single into a ‘pocket’ in one of the inner covers of the book with absolutely no protective sleeve of any kind, was appropriate. Wholly inadequate for delicate vinyl. Other ‘super deluxe’ box sets that come with seven-inch records – such as The Who‘s Quadrophenia Director’s Cut from 2011 or last year’s Sex Pistols‘ Never Mind The Bollocks… tend to house the vinyl in a protective sleeve, and then put the whole thing in a separate wallet.
At the time of writing there is nothing on the Suede Facebook page or website that makes any reference to these issues, or indeed apologises to fans about the USB stick not having the correct content. The Stereo Boutique website continues to sell the cheaper of the deluxe bundles and continues to advertise the vinyl LP that comes with the set as 180g ‘audiophile’ vinyl. Queries from fans to Suede via twitter have gone (publicly) unanswered.
Photos above all courtesy of Edd Donnelly.
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Having read that forum, I am glad not to be a huge Suede fan. What an attitude (excuse the pun!).
“this release has been mastered aggressively – aka “brickwalled to fuck”. Blimey what a patronizing message to send out to your most devoted fans – look all this complaining is annoying so most of these problems are your fault and those tracks are supposed to sound bad on purpose, have you NO artistic vision, sheesh!”
An interesting read and response from Site Manager Didz in the Suede forum regarding all the issues on this release.
http://forum.suede.co.uk/read.php?2,62471
That, to me, comes across as being very patronising of the customers who complained. Blatant cock-ups are not “charming” and sub-standard products like this “deluxe” set should not be allowed onto the market at such a ridiculous price.
Would Warner just make all this non-album-b-sides available in a digital/physical form? That’s so ridiculous…
the bloody industry insists on bonus tracks editions… what for? all cds should include all bonus tracks and that’s all!!! many formats of the same release confuses buyers a lot… put a fair price for the full release and everybody would buy it!
Now I know whey were not getting responses to e-mails about our issues, please see the automated response from warners below.
Hello,
Thank you very much for your e-mail . Unfortunately there are currently delays with our response times to Customer Service emails due to staff illness. We are doing everything we can to respond as quickly as possible and your patience is fully appreciated.
Your Warner Music Customer Service Team
Personally, I think they’d have been better off going with something like this:
“We are experiencing a higher than normal volume of customer service e-mails, therfore a longer than normal delay in response time is to be expected, we however still endeavour to reply to you within 5-7 working days, thankyou for your patience”
I’ve got a feeling this is going to drag on and on and…………….
Seems another example of the ‘idea’ of a deluxe box set for an excited fan base translating to sloppiness, misjudgement and a possible case of blind greed. I’m not a Suede fan, but as a fan/follower of box sets, this sort of incompetence generally irritates me, especially for AU$150. I am a Peter Gabriel fan though, so I sympathise with those shaking their heads!!
I find this method of packaging CD’s irresponsible and always put them in jewel cases for protection and ease of access. However, to package vinyl like this is ludicrous and whoever designs future deluxe packages needs to put the safe storage of the music before ‘arty’ presentation.
“Incredibly, someone thought sliding the vinyl single into a ‘pocket’ in one of the inner covers of the book with absolutely no protective sleeve of any kind, was appropriate. Wholly inadequate for delicate vinyl.” Yes, whatever designers they’ve hired probably have no idea what a record is. Even their concept of what looks good in print is terrible. “Let’s put the record where her head is and the CD where his is.” That decision probably occupied them for all of two seconds.