The Medusa Fora

Herb and Mahone are essential albums for me. OK, it is a less well known period of the Pogues legacy, but I was still attending the gigs at that time so these tunes are still part of the story!

Guest wrote:Herb and Mahone are essential albums for me. OK, it is a less well known period of the Pogues legacy, but I was still attending the gigs at that time so these tunes are still part of the story!

They're both good albums and of course an important part of the story. I meant no offence, andi know its an albums box. But still, a repress of Poguetry slipped into that box would have made it the proper,thorough career overview that such a great band deserve.

Sad to say so, but this is getting really ridiculous. This is milking and exploiting label rubbish at it's finest, and this is coming from one of the biggest Pogues fans you could ever meet. How many friggin reissues and album compilations do they want to release? Sorry but I have to agree with the many disappointed fans on facebook on this one...don't even like the cover artwork, reminds me of this:

http://www.wrigley.de/images/brandpics_ ... gum_02.png

No offence to anyone...if you'll buy and enjoy it, fair play...but I'm out on this one...they could easily record a new album...doesn't even have to be original new material, they could interpret great trads or something, would be way cooler. Or just leave it as it is, with that fantastic Live DVD...but this is getting on my nerves.

Would have made more sense to release the Strummer album alone, but I'm betting the record company knew there are gonna be plenty of loyal fans who already own the CDS and will still buy the collection for the live album.

I think we should keep in our heads this probably isn't a Pogues decision...it's the record company...

Total crap, really, packaging it all together and in non-definitive form to boot (ie: without the bonus tracks of the 2004 editions). I honestly don't see the point. This is clearly a pathetic cash grab. If i want the remixes and the live one, but want to have all the songs, i need two complete sets of CDs?!

Very disappointing.

To be quite honest, I never understood why the band made such fuss about recording something new...musically they are probably better then ever, Shane's voice might be ravaged but it's still got loads of character and some of his new recordings like Leaving of Liverpool with Johnny Depp (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebfsOs9jRkk) show that he can still sound cool and brilliant. Well now with Phil gone, God bless him, it might be difficult...but it could have been done, or it could be done now as a tribute to Phil and the fans...well obviously some of the band are not interested and I respect that, of course, but there are actually many fans screaming for something new...so this constant re-releasing bullshit does get quite annoying, for me at least.

The only thing I'd say is let's wait and see what the retail price is. Personally I'm only really interested in the live disc, and maybe the 2 remix discs depending on how they sound. So if this retails at say £25 or less I might be tempted, working on the basis I'm paying £10 for the 1 disc I really want and £7.50 each for the 2 I'm vaguely interested in, and the others can gather dust on a shelf somewhere. Sadly I suspect this'll go for at least £30 and closer to £40, in which case count me out. I hate to say it but this is exactly the sort of release that encourages illegal downloading - just about the only people interested in it will be long time (as opposed to casual) Pogues fans who have already brought the majority of these tracks many, many times and don't want to do so again. Rather than fork out £40+ for all 8 discs I'll probably just grab the ones I want where I can. Sorry guys, but release the live disc separately and you might make a bit more money...

Or, you know, see if the tracks are purchasable from Amazon or iTunes.

Jeez. Wait to see what the options are before you get too worked up.

DzM wrote:Or, you know, see if the tracks are purchasable from Amazon or iTunes.

Jeez. Wait to see what the options are before you get too worked up.

Aw come on. Never mind your simple, sensible and straightforward solutions. Can't I just be outraged, devastated and inconsolable instead? You're no fun any more.

soulfinger wrote:

DzM wrote:Or, you know, see if the tracks are purchasable from Amazon or iTunes.

Jeez. Wait to see what the options are before you get too worked up.

Aw come on. Never mind your simple, sensible and straightforward solutions. Can't I just be outraged, devastated and inconsolable instead? You're no fun any more.

Yeah, way to rain on our piss parade!

Although, on an aside, i hate the downloads. Not avail in losless form, and no digital versions of cover art, liner notes, etc.

DzM wrote:Or, you know, see if the tracks are purchasable from Amazon or iTunes.

Jeez. Wait to see what the options are before you get too worked up.

Well, I did say let's wait to se the price before we decide...

As for iTunes, they'll almost certainly make the exclusive tracks (i.e. the live ones) available as a"album only" so you'll have to buy the whole set anyway. Amazon downloads are piss poor quality in my opinion. I'm no audiophile, but lossless is really the only way to go.

BTW, I thought this was a forum where we were, you know, supposed to express our views. Jeez.

Kilmichael wrote:

DzM wrote:
As for iTunes, they'll almost certainly make the exclusive tracks (i.e. the live ones) available as a"album only" so you'll have to buy the whole set anyway. Amazon downloads are piss poor quality in my opinion. I'm no audiophile, but lossless is really the only way to go.

I actually rip all my stuff to MP3 V0 at "very good" quality and am amazed at how much better even those sound than the crap from amazon or itunes. Don't know what's up with that. I notice Gillian Welch sells mp3s OR flacs, why an independent artist can handle it but mighty coorps can't is a mystery.

Kilmichael wrote:BTW, I thought this was a forum where we were, you know, supposed to express our views. Jeez.

Express away. It seems like little more than whinging, though, until you know what your options are. My point was (and is) that you should know what options actually exist before complaining about how limited they are. That feels as though it's just unproductive.

Me? I have no idea if the set will be available legally online a la cart. I really hope it is. I honestly don't care if it's available in lossless format. 256kbps VBR encoding in MP3 or AAC form is far better than any of my common listening environments pander to (ear buds on bicycle, or Bluetooth to car radio while driving). I'll happily drop $10 for a digital copy of just the Strummer content if that option is available to me. If the only legal way I can get that media is to purchase a box of silver disks then I'll give this release a skip. Vote with your wallets gang.

DzM wrote:...Vote with your wallets gang.

Well I won't decide till the price becomes clear. Though if there happens to be new artwork and stuff with the CDs, I may not be able to resist.

Though a while ago I decided that the money that wouldn't be spent on a Pogues Christmas gig would be set aside for the new box set. Then they went and announced Christmas gigs, which I hadn't been expecting. Not that I'm complaining about that at all, but it's blown that cunning budgetary plan apart.

From the marketing point of view, as they're touring RS&L, it would've seemed to make more sense to release something associated with that album. Maybe a live recording from the tour back in the day? But what do I know?

Sorry for whinging everybody. I assure you it won't happen again.