RECORD COLLECTOR’S PICK OF THE YEAR 2011
The continuing rise of vinyl… Lavish box sets… Extensive reissue campaigns…The best releases that money can (just about) buy… Well, it’s obviously RC’s yearly guide to the hottest titles that the music world has to offer…
Well hush my mouth… You may remember me banging on last year about how 2010 had “seen the release of some of the most lavish box sets in recent memory”; I’d truly thought things had peaked. But, what the hell do I know? Megadeth’s Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?, Pink Floyd’s Immersion editions of The Dark Side Of The Moon and Wish You Were Here, The Beach Boys’ The SMiLE Sessions (surely the most exciting Holy Grail release since Pacific Ocean Blue?)… are just a few bar-raising box set reissues from this year: CDs, LPs, remastered albums and outtakes – when you’re talking of definitive editions, you may as well look here. Ladies and gentleman, 2011 has been quite the year.
That said, interesting questions need be raised. After all, these ever-desirable releases are appearing at a time when people have less to spend. Have record labels cottoned on that, to keep the record-buying public interested, they need to pull out all the stops? In a post-Napster era, have they realised that we’re still willing to pony up for the physical goods, as long as they’re worth buying? It’s clearly something that’s been on your minds, too, judging by the influx of letters our Ed’s received about the pros and cons (pun considered and rejected) of these multi-disc audio …
by Jason Draper
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