Note: There are photos available on Flickr of some of my Universal Deluxe Editions.
We collectors are suckers for packaging. It comes close to a fetish. You give us nifty packaging with glossy booklets, fold-out covers, interesting liner notes or interviews, stick the CDs into plastic sleeves, metal or cigar boxes, reproduce original covers and house the CDs therein ... you name it, we'll take it. Admittedly, some of those packaging extravaganzas are a royal pain in the neck, but in the end, we put up with the dysfunctional design team members that cook up things that looked great on screen but are practically worthless in real life, just because niftily packaged items give more head. I have cursed the design department of many a label, but in the end I love to pull some of those items out from my collection and show them off to casual listeners that usually utter plenty of "oohs" and "aahs", something that gives us collectors more head, to boot.
The Universal Deluxe Editions entered my collection pretty much the day the first ones came out and although many that have been released since then don't tickle my fancy that much, there are enough of them I just had to buy to merit a special section on my shelves.
Mind you, there are sometimes better remastered versions out there, but if you are anything like me - and you probably are, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this here - packaging is a major element of any desired item. Besides, my middle-of-the-road stereo can only expose so much faulty remastering and beyond a certain point, I'm usually quite happy with the items I'm presented with - that's why I bought a system that can "camouflage" some of the sometimes grave faults modern remasters suffer from.
One of the biggest problems of this series has always been that depending on where you live, you might have access to reissues in this series that other parts of the globe are probably missing out on. Add to that the fact that it is a pain in the neck to find an official comprehensive list of these reissues (the one I linked to is the incomplete official Universal US list), and what you have are hours of searching the few bookmarked sites to see what's new, might be about to be released or was actually released ... half-way 'round the globe. Because some of these have a knack of disappearing fast or becoming outrageously priced after a few weeks of availability, it is essential to keep track of them and jump on them whenever they become available.
Each double-CD in this series has some typical features, such as the characteristic plastic cover with the "Deluxe Edition" imprint, a digipack fold-out cover housing two CDs, an accompanying booklet, mostly original artwork, plus usually a load of bonus tracks which are, at times, superfluous and at times tons better than the original CD. Examples? Whereas the recent Level 42 "World Machine" issue, which has some extended remixes and live tracks on disc two which I simply couldn't warm to, Peter Framptons's "Frampton Comes Alive!" restores the original order of tunes and Bob Marley's "Catch a Fire", one of the best in the series, contains the original unreleased Jamaican versions of the released Island LP which are, in my mind, tons better and wonderfully remastered. At times, you are also presented with a hybrid SACD/CD disc or a DVD is added instead of a second CD. Whatever the labels cook up, the second CD usually adds either alternative tracks, live tracks or film material to supplement the main reissue on disc one.
There are simply too many reissues in this series to discuss them all, but I've tried to supply you with a somewhat complete list (to my knowledge) below so you can start hunting around the Internet for these and read up on them (which you should, as some of them are not the most desirable reissue around, expecially if you are one of these totally audiophile nutcases).. Many of these are well worth your money, especially if you can catch them at below list price which is, at times, a bit too steep for what is offered. I have kept many of these on my wishlist for months, sometimes even years, and whenever they went down in price, I pounced on them.
Check 'em out.
[This list will be updated once I 'm informed about missing items or new releases. Bookmark the page! Last update: May 28th, 2008.]
- 3 Doors Down: The Better Life
- ABBA: Arrival
- ABBA: The Album
- ABC: Lexicon of Love
- Allman Brothers Band: At Fillmore East
- Allman Brothers Band: Eat a Peach
- Beatles, The: The Beatles’ First! Featuring Tony Sheridan
- Beck: Odelay
- Blind Faith: Blind Faith
- Boys II Men: Legacy
- Brown, James: Live at the Apollo - Volume II
- Clapton, Eric: Eric Clapton
- Clapton, Eric: 461 Ocean Boulevard
- Cliff, Jimmy: The Harder They Come
- Cocker, Joe: Mad Dogs and Englishmen
- Coltrane, John: A Love Surpreme
- Cole, Lloyd & The Commotions: Rattlesnakes
- Cope, Julian: Jehovakill
- Costello, Elvis: My Aim is True
- Costello, Elvis: This Year's Model
- Counting Crows: August and Everything After
- Cream: Disraeli Gears
- Crystal Method: Vegas
- Cure, The: Faith
- Cure, The: The Head on the Door
- Cure, The: Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
- Cure, The: Pornography
- Cure, The: Seventeen Seconds
- Cure, The: Three Imaginary Boys
- Cure, The: The Top
- Def Leppard: Hysteria
- Dexy’s Midnight Runners: Too-Rye-Ay
- DJ Shadow: Endtrocucing
- Eric B: & Rakim: Paid in Full
- Etheridge, Melissa: Melissa Etheridge
- Etheridge, Melissa: Greatest Hits -The Road Less Traveled
- Fairport Convention: Liege and Lief
- Frampton, Peter: Frampton Comes Alive, Vol: 1
- Free: Fire & Water
- Gainsbourg, Serge”Aux Armes Et Cætera
- Gaye, Marvin: I Want You
- Gaye, Marvin: Let’s Get It On
- Gaye, Marvin: What’s Going On
- Gin Blossoms: New Miserable Experience
- Glove, The: Blue Sunshine
- Happy Mondays: Bummed
- Howlin’ Wolf: The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions
- INXS: Kick
- Jackson, Joe: Night and Day
- Jam, The: All Mod Cons
- James, Rick: Street Songs
- John, Elton: Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy
- John, Elton: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
- Kossoff, Paul: Back Street Crawler
- La's: The La's
- Lang Lang: Live at Carnegie Hall (classical music)
- Level 42: World Machine
- Lynyrd Skynyrd: Gimme Back My Bullets [+ DVD]
- Lynyrd Skynyrd: One More from the Road
- Lynyrd Skynyrd: Street Survivors
- Marley, Bob: Burnin’
- Marley, Bob: Catch a Fire
- Marley, Bob: Exodus
- Marley, Bob: Legend
- Marley, Bob: Rastaman Vibration
- Martyn, John: One World
- Martyn, John: Grace & Danger
- Mayall, John: Bluesbreakers (with Eric Clapton)
- Meat Loaf: Bat out of Hell II
- Moody Blues, The: A Night at Red Rocks
- Moody Blues, The: Days of Future Passed [Sacd/CD Hybrid]
- Moody Blues, The: In Search of the Lost Chord
- Moody Blues, The: To Our Children’s Children’s Children
- Netrebko, Anna: Anna Netrebko - Opera Arias (classical music)
- Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral
- Orb, The: Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
- Orb, The: U.F. Orb
- Parsons, Alan: Tales of Mystery & Imagination
- Pulp: Different Class
- Pulp: His’n'Hers
- Pulp: This Is Hardcore
- Richie, Lionel: Can’t Slow Down
- Ross, Diana: Diana
- Siouxsie & The Banshees: The Scream
- Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation
- Sonic Youth: Dirty
- Sonic Youth: Goo
- Squeeze: ArgyBargy
- Style Council, The: Our Favourite Shop
- Sublime: Sublime
- Summer, Donna: Bad Girls
- Tears for Fears: Songs from the Big Chair
- Trio: Trio
- Various Artists: The Commitments - The Original Soundtrack
- Various Artists: Easy Rider - The Original Soundtrack
- Various Artists: Grease - The Original Soundtrack
- Various Artists: Standing in the Shadows of Motown - The Soul Behind the Sound (soundtrack)
- Various Artists: The Big Chill - Music from and Inspired by
- Velvet Underground & Nico: Velvet Underground
- Weezer: Weezer
- Weller, Paul: Stanley Road
- Weller, Paul: Wild Wood
- Whiskeytown: Stranger's Almanac
- Who, The: Live at Leeds
- Who, The: My Generation
- Who, The: Tommy
- Who, The: Who’s Next
- Williams, Lucinda: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
- Zombie, Rob: Hellbilly Deluxe
List last updated: May 28th, 2008.
Note: Announced but not (yet) released:
- Earle, Steve: Copperhead Road (June 2008)
- John, Elton: Tumbleweed Connection (June 2008)
- John, Elton: Elton John (June 2008)
- Thin Lizzy: Vagabonds of the Western World (uncertain?)
Related Posts
- The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld (Deluxe Edition)
- Jazz in Paris (Gitanes/Universal)
- Fleetwood Mac: The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions
- The Siegel-Schwall Band
- Status Quo
- John Coltrane: “Fearless Leader” and “Interplay”
- Les Trésors du Jazz
- Where Are the Beatles?
- Tord Gustavsen Trio – Being There
- Jazz at the Pawnshop (30th Anniversary)
31 Responses to “Universal Deluxe Editions” Leave a reply ›
you should put your disks the right way up in their cases! why else do you think there is writing on them? for you to practise reading at weird angles?!
To that I can only reply with a Monty Python classic, which is taken from the blurbs on the back of one of their soundtracks:” We laughed until we stopped.”. ;)
P.S.: If you weren’t such a lazy sod and looked at the full-size images, you could discern writing on the CDs.Or do you have a Dutch monitor?
Thanks for checking out our new blog! Let us know if there is ever anything you’d want to see on the blog that we dont have covered!
My friends, I’ve found an Universal Chronicles page.
http://www.universalchronicles.com/
There you can list the collection’s, including the deluxe edition.
http://www.umeportal.com/browse.aspx
I think that list is complete.
Thank you guys!
Add these to your list
Pulp “Different Class”
Def Leppard “Hysteria”
Also Lynyd Skynyrd should read one more FROM the road
Also add
Various Standing in the shadows of Motown soundtrack
Pretty sure thats it
Steve,
duh, I even have the Motown one. Thanks. I’ll also add/fix the rest.
I’m a sucker for these, too:
A few more to add to your list:
Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True
Counting Crows - August and Everything After
Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Too-Rye-Ay
Fairport Convention - Liege and Lief
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Alan Parsons - Tales of Mystery…
The Commitments
Crystal Method -Vegas
3 Doors Down - The Better Life
Thanks!
Abba - The Album
Paul Weller - Wild Wood
Squeeze - ArgyBargy (out Jan 2008)
Yes, I know, I should finally get around to updating this list. I’ll get around to it this weekend, I promise.
Thanks for leaving a hint. ;)
great site-u read my mind--looking everywhere for complete list--us collectors DO have a fetish for getting packaging like this--thanks
Just got Beck's "Odelay" in Deluxe Edition (came out today), so add that one to the list.
Otherwise, thanks for the list. It's the first comprehensive one I've seen so far.
Add to your list;
Fairport Convention - 'Liege And Lief'
Pael Weller - 'Wildwood'
Mac,
thanks for the heads up.
This list is not complete anymore by a long shot and it needs to be updated ... which it will be, probably next week.
Right now health issues are keeping me from working on the site as originally planned ... otherwise the "new" Universal Deluxe Editions page would have been finished already. I want to add quite a bit of information plus cover images.
List updated. Hope it's complete now. The Universal Chronicles site is down once again with an out of memory error (= as usual), the dedicated "Universal Deluxe Editions" site by Universal hasn't been updated for ages, the Wikipedia "Universal Deluxe Editions" page(s) haven't been updated either, etc. I would think that the Universal PR department sucks big time.
Note: June should bring some new additions (see bottom of list) and aside from the only jazz UDE, John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme", which has been around for quite a while, two classical UDEs have been added (Lang Lang; Anna Netrebko). Seems like there are plans to expand into the classical market if these two (bestsellers) go over well.
Thanks everyone for adding your comments here. Keep 'em coming in case I miss new releases again.
Add to your list:
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
I think it's important to note that all the Cure releases are not on Universal (I own them all and they are Elektra/Rhino and does not feature the clear plastic slipcase).
Also note: "Legacy Edition" (Matthew Sweet) and "Collector's Edition" (Happy Mondays) should not be considered as part of Universal's Deluxe Editions.
@vu
Thanks. I wasn't sure about some of the (re)issues on the list which I don't have and spent I don't know how much time looking at covers, incorrect slipcase-photos etc. I'll filter the Legacy editions and write up a separate post in the near future.
Thanks for the heads up.
Things will be fixed within a few days.
What's the deal with ArgyBargy? Online ads in Tower and HMV state that there are 19 live tracks on CD2 but the one I received from Tower only has 15. Are there two different versions of this Deluxe Edition?
Jim
This list is very helpful for us collectors!
Can't wait for the Legacy Editions list!
I thought the Cure titles do have slipcases (on Amazon.uk they seem to) I dont own any releases out of the US, but plan on picking some up for sure. It might be helpful to state which ones were released in US and which ones are imports.....
Thanks Again, danny in houston
Good page...very helpful to those trying to navigate through the rather haphazard jungle that is the Deluxe Editions series. Amazing the record company doesn't have a more functional site of its own for these - this one's actually more beneficial! I like some of the series a lot: Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Frampton and most of the Elton discs (don't get the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road effort - lacking compared to the others)...oh, yes and Joe Jackson's Night and Day. Great stuff there. Some of the titles, well, let's just say they're of questionable merit for Deluxe status and leave it at that.
Hi, there! Thanks for putting up this list...to agree with AG above, it's a pity Universal couldn't make the effort! A couple more titles for your list...
Soft Cell - Non Stop Erotic Cabaret;
Black Sabbath - Paranoid (apparently this will be a THREE disc set, one CD of the album, one of outtakes, and an SACD featuring the original quadrophonic mix!);
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery (ditto!)
It might also be worth noting on your list which of the titles are deleted (Gin Blossoms, for example)
Also add "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret" by Soft Cell
For those interested, I've been working on a list like this over at Rate Your Music for some time now. I think it's the most comprehensive list of titles in the Deluxe, Legacy and Collector's Edition series on the Internet at the moment. Feel free to take a look.
http://rateyourmusic.com/...gacy_and_collectors_edition/
And if anyone has any information on titles that are not on my list, please let me know (either here or by sending me a private message on Rate Your Music). Thank you.
Yes, please do, as I am not updating this website anymore.Thanks for the link!
My list is neither up-to-date anymore, nor is it accurate. I'm planning on fixing and updating this post (thoroughly) in April.
Stay tuned!
def leppard's "adrenalize" and "pyromania" are planned/already out
the who's "sell out" already out too
Want to see what should be in store for The Deluxe Edition Series for this year?
Well, I just happen to have a list of wonderful titles that deserves to be part of
the Deluxe Edition Series for 2010. Even though UMG does have enough time
to include these timeless masterworks, here they are:
1. Bryan Adams: Bryan Adams (1980). "His highly publicized debut album"
2. Rush: Exit--Stage Left (1981) "A Celebrated live recording from the band".
3. Ike And Tina Turner: River Deep, Mountain High (1967).
4. B.B. King: Live At The Regal (1965). "One of his most popular masterworks".
...and two masterpieces by Eric Clapton: Slowhand (1977) and Backless (1978).
Now that I have presented you this list, let us hope that these masterworks
get the Deluxe Edition treatment for the rest of the year. We know that times
are tough right now, but the Universal Music Group can get itself the chance to
have those classic albums included in The Deluxe Edition Series for the rest for
2010.
Would you like to see a sneak preview of wonderful classic titles that
really deserves to be added to the Deluxe Edition Series for 2011?
Now that I have answered this time-honoured question, I would like
to present a list of priceless album titles that should be added to the
Deluxe Edition Series. Unlike the several titles that I had mentioned
to you to include for the rest of 2010, I will present all of you roughly
14 masterworks which deserves to see the light of day on Universal
Music Group's Deluxe Edition Series, and here they are:
1. Marvin Gaye: I Heard It Through The Grapevine (1968).
2. Bill Haley And The Comets: Rock And Roll Stage Show (1957).
"The First Great Live Rock And Roll Performance Put On Album!"
3. Bryan Adams: Into The Fire (1987). "Another Perfect Masterpiece"
4. The Police: Synchronicity (1983) "Another Important Chapter For
Sting That Include The Landmark Hit Every Breath You Take"
5. The Rolling Stones: Out Of Our Heads (1965). --Decca Records"
6. : December's Children (1966). --Also Decca.
"These Are The Original Decca Records (U.K.) Editions!"
7. Public Enemy: Apocalypse '91--The Enemy Strikes Back (1991).
"Another Dramatic Blow For Positive Hip-Hop and Public Enemy!"
8. Chuck Berry: --with Bo Diddley, Two Great Guitars (1964).
"A Landmark Duet Classic From Two Rock Guitar Legends!"
9. Toots And The Maytels: Funky Kingston (1973).
10.B.B. King: Completely Well (1970).
11. : Indianola, Mississippi Seeeds (1970).
"Two Blues Masterpieces From The Counterculture Era!"
12. Joan Armatrading: To The Limit (1978). "Her Finest Hour!"
13.Cream: Wheels Of Fire (1968). An Exhilarating Masterpiece"
...and finally, last--but not least: this pop-rock classic,
14.Cat Stevens: Buddah And The Chocolate Box (1974).
These are the 'album' masterpieces that we believe should be
part of The Deluxe Edition Series in 2011. Oh yes, for The Rock
And Roll Stage Show from Bill Haley And The Comets, both MCA
and the Universal Music Group may want to do a great deal of
research on this landmark chapter from the early days of Rock
And Roll, so they may want to do a careful and well-structured
job of it (the live album could run for over 2 hours or 2% hours
of complete running time). Let us hope their is a unanimous
approval from UMG and The Deluxe Edition Series department,
because these listed masterpieces certainly deserves to see
the light of day when The Deluxe Edition Series gets ready for
another set of reissues scheduled for the year 2011.
P.S.: The second copy of my previous email letter was just a
"Paragraph Collection".
@ Richard Adam Hendricks
Please do not post the same message more than once. Thank you.
How about giving several of The Jackson Five's greatest albums
the Deluxe Edition treatment? Well, I do happen to have a small
list that include A.B.C. (1970), Maybe Tomorrow (1971) and even
Dancing Machine (1974), which could be likely to be re-issued in
their complete 2-CD Deluxe Edition set. Plus, you can even look
into the band's debut album Diana Ross Presents The Jackson
Five (1969) and Micheal Jackson's first solo album entitled Got To
Be Thre (1971). So let's notably the Jackson Dynasty about this
special idea so we could give a shot with these timeless R&B
masterworks that made the band such a household name in the
music world--and even helped introduce the world to the late
Micheal Jackson.