Having Equinox being remastered again?? Bad or Good idea?

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Shoobs

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Having "Equinox" being remastered again on CD, to me...I think it's kinda stupid. I mean we all know here that ALL of Brasil '66's album's have been re-released on CD...yes, exept Stillness...so, why didn't they put "Stillness" on CD so the viewers could have something different to listen to? And Equinox was already on Cd before!!!! Well, obiously the question we've all been wondering is "Why isn't Stillness on CD?!" None of us get it... :) Anyway, add on to this message if you can, and tell me what you think about it.
 
EQUINOX was a big seller. STILLNESS was not...that's why it's not on CD (unfortunate but true!)

As for the remastering, it is a big improvement over the previous CD edition, so I say it's great. The only thing I quibble about is the price of this issue...it's the same as a new release, and in non-deluxe packaging to boot. I mean, the mini LP sleeve is cool, but it should have been a $9.98 list.

The ideal release as far as I'm concerned, would be:

- The CD as issued
- Jewel box packaging with all original artwork intact
- Booklet with interviews with the band members, full musician credits for each track, photos, etc.
- And the ultimate enclosure: Flyer detailing future A&M reissues!
 
I thought the packaging of the new EQUINOX was sort-of cool at first, but quickly realized that it was not durable at all and would soon get rather beat up with any kind of normal use. And carrying it around in the cellophane outer-wrap was just out of the question. So I did the logical thing: swapped cases with the Japnese version. The artwork and track listing are the same -- so why not!? Now the older Japanese disc is securely housed on the shelf inside the mini LP jacket, while the newly remastered and favored copy is available for transport securely housed in a jewel case.

Harry
...preserving the jacket AND the disc, online...
 
The possibility of having a CD get scratched from being housed in a cardboard sleeve has existed quite a while. One of my most scratched discs is that Chicago big-band album from a few years back.
Fortunately, some CD reissue labels which use LP-style cardboard sleeves also have an inner sleeve. The Siwan label of Korea, which reissued the first Strawbs album, has a gauze (or soft cotton) inner sleeve to protect the disc. Quite an innovation.
JB

NP: The Who ODDS & SODS
 
Cardboard sleeves are OK for cheap CD singles, but not albums. I think what still irks me about this release is how cheap Univer$al got off making it, but charged premium price. Under Verve's old scheme, this would have been a Verve By Request title and listed for, what, $11.98?

I can only guess that Tjader's Soul Bird: Whiffenpoof will get the same packaging and pricing. :sad:

-= N =-
 
I'm sure Bags Unlimited and other suppliers will soon be providing both types of mini-inner sleeves for our little mini-LP jackets -- and the little durable plastic outer sleeves we can slip the jackets into. And, if enough of us ask, they'll also have mini LP crates for holding units of 50 of them. Think of it!
 
Strange that the first generation CD crates from Napa Valley could handle these CDs when they were rare to consumers(cardboard sleeves seemed to hit big when single CDs were in greater manufacture) but, with the crate style design, there was too much of a gap between the slats so the crate needs to be full or stacked on its side to keep the CDs from falling out. I keep my promo cardboard sleeves in one and it can hold about 60 in a 10" area. As CD collections grew the box seemed to have fazed out and/or Napa Valley shut down. Mac,who is not immune to using 30 CD cardboard shipping boxes for storage.
 
Harry said:
I thought the packaging of the new EQUINOX was sort-of cool at first, but quickly realized that it was not durable at all and would soon get rather beat up with any kind of normal use. And carrying it around in the cellophane outer-wrap was just out of the question.

I haven't gotten Equinox yet, but I noticed the same problem with the Brubeck/Desmond CD Duets. I also notice how the size of the disc "package" is a bit larger as well. It sticks up about 1/4" more than the regular jewel case.


Capt. Bacardi
 
Fortunately, height isn't a concern in my CD storage...it just looks strange to have something stick up.

What's also bothersome about these silly "mini LP" cardboard sleeves is that there usually is no "spine" on which to read the contents. Good thing this silliness hasn't gone on since CDs first came out--how the heck would we be able to find anything?

-= N =-
 
Ah, but there IS a spine -- two of them in fact. One on the 'Obi' reads:

Code:
Verve     SERGIO MENDES & BRASIL '66 Equinox      828 394 122-2

while the one on the actual jacket mimics the old LP with:

Code:
EQUINOX * SERGIO MENDES & BRASIL '66 * A&M RECORDS       A&M 122

Still, the spine is not easily readable on the shelf, certainly not as easy as LPs are.

I'd rank these mini LP sleeves a big notch below the digipaks. Give me a solid jewel-case any day.

Harry
...wishing they'd stop coming up with invetive packaging and just release the 'good stuff', online..
 
To answer the question posed in the first post: releasing Equinox again was a good idea. Having any of the original Brasil '66 albums on widely-distributed domestic CD's is obviously a better situation than having to search high and low for Japanese imports. (...Imports which don't sound that great anyway!)

As for the packaging... I've been extolling the virtues of jewel cases ever since I first ran into digipaks in the mid-'90s. The mini-LP's are worse; they don't even fit (vertically) on my CD shelves. I keep the discs in those "slimline" jewel cases, and stash the paper sleeves in a drawer somewhere.

As with anything in life, you take the good with the bad...

- William
 
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