Comments on: A Dozen “Playlist” Sets Due in May

By: satkinsn

satkinsn — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:09:13 +0000

Thank you for noting the Dylan sets.

I have argued, with tongue only partly in cheek, that the 80s Playlist was the most important Dylan set of 2010 (the year of the mono & demo releases) because it could bring a reassessment of those dreary years. The three examples from the 80s series that you cite are a big part of the reason why.

Scott A.
Watertown NY

By: Dennis

Dennis — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:36:11 +0000

Although I love The Psychedelic Furs, how many more collections with almost the same tracklist does the world really need (almost all the tracks can be found on the 2cd ‘Should God Forget’)? And a Greatest Hits without including ‘Heaven’ seems to be a laugh to me…

By: Hank

Hank — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:02:53 +0000

The three Bob Dylan “Playlist” releases–one each for the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s–are noteworthy, not because they contain anything particularly rare, but because somebody actually made a conscious effort to include songs not typically found on Dylan comps. Thus, no “Blowin’ In The Wind” on the ’60′s comp (but “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” and “Chimes Of Freedom” are both included); on the 70′s disc, the faster, shorter version of “Forever Young” is included instead of the slower version; and the ’80′s disc includes “Blind Willie McTell”, “Foot Of Pride”, and the acoustic version of “Most Of The Time” from the “Bootleg Series” releases.

By: jon

jon — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 23:32:46 +0000

The first PLAYLIST cds that were released did tend to include cool things like 7″ mixes/edits. That kind of thing requires time and $ – something the labels are loathe to spend. The releases that actually contain rare treats are few and far between now. I’ll keep checking them, but blogs featuring well-done needledrops bear far more fruit than the major labels budget comps.

By: Joe Marchese

Joe Marchese — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:28:15 +0000

In fairness – while the style of mastering may be not be to everyone’s tastes at some of the indies or U.K. labels (most Cherry Red titles *are* freshly remastered unlike those from Wounded Bird, for instance), it’s hard to fault the booklets from most of the Cherry Red labels. Now Sounds and BBR (just to name two) both offer booklets that are first class in every way, featuring full color photos, new interviews, and even replicas of the original label art and logos on the CDs.

One can hardly accuse Legacy (the label behind Playlist) of not releasing a ton of great stuff this year; it’s only April and we’ve seen high quality releases from Pearl Jam, the Philles artists, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, Simon and Garfunkel, and Neil Diamond – with more to come from Peter Tosh, Alicia Keys, Ozzy Osbourne, Roy Orbison and others. Universal/Hip-o isn’t far behind, although I do concur that many album reissues are largely the province of licensees nowadays.

But I second your applause for Iconoclassic and Reel Music — both are, indeed, superb! Thanks as always for your comments, RS!

By: RoyalScam

RoyalScam — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:25:03 +0000

So this is what Sony and Universal have become: Flood the marketplace with compilation after compilation and the occasional Deluxe Edition, and license out the album reissues to whatever indie reissue label feels like putting out.

Problem is the reissue labels are very hit and miss with how they handle the mastering and booklets. For every Iconoclassic or Reel Music, there’s a BBR or Cherry Red.