LOST TREASURES Re-Issue

LOST TREASURES, the new version, arrived today. (Gee, if Dave Lewis had been involved, might it have been called LONELY TREASURES? Oh, never mind!)

As our good friend Steve S. has said, it is exactly like the Shout! earlier issue. The package is indeed a digipak, rather than a disc-in-a-pocket release like the other HAP discs. It does indeed contain the same booklet. The disc face is also the same. Seriously, the only differences seems to be the absence of the "Signature Series" banner on the front, replace and Shout logos with HAP logos, change the UPC code, and eliminate the Shout insert advertising the rest of the old series. Sound seems identical, however, Windows Media Player recognized the disc, but NOT as the old issue since it let me rip it. Usually if a disc is exactly bit identical, it won't let me rip two copies without merging them all under the same title.
I figured there wouldn't be too much of a difference since it was originally released in 2005 and there wasn't any need to really remaster or modify it being a newer master as opposed to the older ones
 
Incredible album. It's the best of old and brand new (then), very hip, very great sound. Steely Dan quality sound. A mash up in the best way..
 
(Yeah, containing one of those highly informative Josh Kun essays where he writes for the umpteenth time about how Herb wasn't trying to create a latin sound...)
I Agree I thought Some of Josh Kun's Essays were a bit Redundant in places
 
I Agree I thought Some of Josh Kun's Essays were a bit Redundant in places
Actually, Kun's work for the SHOUT campaign was sub-par: it's clear he was not intimate with the music.

He had a few comments that were strange for sure. For instance, stating that Bo-Bo "sounds like Vince Guaraldi scoring a Latino Charlie Brown", or, better yet, when he stated that Shades Of Blue is "vintage psychedelia complete with chiming, mystical guitars...", then there's his labelling Nic's drumming on Treasure of San Miguel as funk-rock. From such statements, it's clear his thorough understanding of '60s pop music is notably limited. As a Latino Charlie Brown would state, "iDios Santo!".
 
I Agree I thought Some of Josh Kun's Essays were a bit Redundant in places
Regarding the redundancy, what Shout!Factory did with the essays is not entirely uncommon in media when it comes to "re-issue campaigns." Whether it's books, music, TV shows or movies.

Quite often, the basic format of the essay in the packaging goes like this:
A - Introductory portion (usually generic to the author, the band or the director/creator)
B - Specific portion applied to the particular book the intro is applied, or the album in hand, or the TV season# or feature film in which it is contained.
C - Outro, or general comments about the body of work, the era in which it was created or other ephemera deemed appropriate by the reissue/package producer(s). Like "A" above, these tend to be generic across the entire range of the reissue program.

In the business, we call "A" & "C" a "donut" because they tend to be the same across all portions of the project. "B" is the "hole" to continue the "donut" analogy. The Shout!Factory reissues somewhat followed this method.

Be that as it may (I hate that phrase), Shout!Factory's Kun liner notes left much to be desired and he clearly was not as in touch with the project as a liner note writer should've been. I think Steve Sidoruk (or almost any of us Mods here) could've done a far better job, especially if we had access to Mr. Alpert if only a few moments of his time. Perhaps Mr. Kun was denied such access, but I doubt that, given the effort that went into the project by both the Alpert team and the Shout!Factory team!

--Mr. Bill
 
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Perhaps Mr. Kun was denied such access, but I doubt that, given the effort that went into the project by both the Alpert team and the Shout!Factory team!
If anything, the liner notes were an advanced version of PR (public relations). And yes, I totally agree with your donut analogy. I had the impression that the liner notes were made in a cookie-cutter fashion, much of it the same, with individual additions to personalize it somewhat to the album at hand. And I can't knock Josh Kun either--it could just be that the unfamiliarity with the albums, or perhaps a limited budget for the liner notes...anything, really, could have contributed to the way they came out. Some albums come out with exhaustive liner notes along with an interview with the main artist or key participants--that costs more time and money to produce, and would have inflated the cost of the product.
 
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