The fearful question reissue enthusiasts have to ask - particularly those who might have a hand in putting them out for public consumption - is: when is the reissue wave going to crash?
I don't pose the question in terms of when people will stop paying money for physical media, because I don't think that's a particularly relevant problem right now. As long as fans keep buying enough reissued CDs now and future generations take a moment to ponder the merits of sound quality, this isn't an issue. I'm not talking in terms of no more material to release or repackage. Seriously, for every catalogue release that surprises you with its depth, there are another ten or so on your wish list.
Instead, the question is meant in terms of when the music stops being worth a reissue. That's not to say that all music after such-and-such a date is crap. Instead, it is a very sad probability that attention-challenged newer listeners who barely have time to consume music past a few singles here and there won't be able to successfully process an album once, let alone twice. The best and/or most successful records of the past 10 to 15 years - Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head, No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom, even Britney Spears' ...Baby One More Time (hey, cut out that laughing) - will have a hard time finding an audience past the super-hardcore fans, and even then there will be those not interested enough in buying a new set.
The good thing is there are still some acts with long careers - even stretching into the 1990s - that haven't taken full advantage of reissuing their greats with the usual flair. Case in point the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have a large, devoted fanbase from a multifaceted 25-year career but who have only seen four of their nine albums reissued on CD (that would be their EMI-owned material from 1984 to 1989). Their Warner-era material - beginning of course with 1991's excellent crossover smash Blood Sugar Sex Magik - still remains un-reissued.
But hey - 2011 is the 20th anniversary of the disc, so an expansion may be feasible someday. And there's always Reissue Theory! Give it away after the jump.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik (originally released as Warner Bros. 9 26681-2, 1991)
Disc 1: Original LP
- The Power of Equality
- If You Have to Ask
- Breaking the Girl
- Funky Monks
- Suck My Kiss
- I Could Have Lied
- Mellowship Slinky in B Major
- The Righteous & The Wicked
- Give It Away
- Blood Sugar Sex Magik
- Under the Bridge
- Naked in the Rain
- Apache Rose Peacock
- The Greeting Song
- My Lovely Man
- Sir Psycho Sexy
- They're Red Hot
Disc 2: B-sides and more
- Give It Away (Live In-Progress) (B-side to "If You Have to Ask" European CD single - Warner Bros. 9362-40840-2, 1993)
- Nobody Weird Like Me (Live) (B-side to "Soul to Squeeze" CD single - Warner Bros. 9 18401-2, 1993)
- Suck My Kiss (Live) (B-side to "Breaking the Girl" European CD single - Warner Bros. 9362-40521-2, 1992)
- I Could Have Lied (Live) (B-side to "Breaking the Girl" European CD single - Warner Bros. 9362-40521-2, 1992)
- Soul to Squeeze (B-side to "Give It Away" European CD single - Warner Bros. 9362-40206-2, 1991 - released as a single in 1993)
- Fela's Cock (B-side to "Suck My Kiss" Australian CD single - Warner Bros. 9362-40473-2, 1992)
- Sikamikanico (B-side to "Under the Bridge" European CD single - 9362-40206-2, 1992)
- Search and Destroy (B-side to "Give It Away" CD single - Warner Bros. 9 40261-2, 1991)
- Give It Away (12" Mix) (B-side to "Give It Away" CD single - Warner Bros. 9 40261-2, 1991)
- Give It Away (Rasta Mix) (B-side to "Give It Away" CD single - Warner Bros. 9 40261-2, 1991)
- If You Have to Ask (The Disco Krisco Mix) (B-side to "If You Have to Ask" European CD single - Warner Bros. 9362-40840-2, 1993)
- If You Have to Ask (Scott & Garth Mix) (B-side to "If You Have to Ask" European CD single - Warner Bros. 9362-40840-2, 1993)
- If You Have to Ask (The Friday Night Fever Blister Mix) (B-side to "If You Have to Ask" European 12" single - Warner Bros. 9362-40840-2, 1993)
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"Soul To Squeeze" should have been on the album, but I guess they thought it was too similar in feel to "Under The Bridge". At least it became a hit in its own right.
This is possibly my favorite album of the entire 1990's.
It's gotten a straight remaster in Japan a year or so ago as a SHM-CD. Not bad.
As always, nice job on compiling a good list of b-sides, remixes and rarities from this album. My head is still reeling from the incredible job you did a few days ago of compiling a CD2 for the first Smiths album. That took some homework!
All of these bonus tracks are on the "Live Rare Remix" box set.
http://www.amazon.com/Live-Rare-Remix-Chili-Peppers/dp/B00000E0YX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271260862&sr=8-1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Rare_Remix_Box
That set is pretty pricey now so making them available as part of a Deluxe Edition would be a great solution for those interested in obtaining them.
Seems like it took until about 10 years ago for labels to FINALLY abandon their fixation on music from the 1960s and 1970s and move on to the 1980s and beyond.
Since they'd been stuck in the 1960s and 1970s through about the year 2000, my guess would be that music from the 1980s and beyond should still be reissued until about 2020.
So my answer is that music that was of interest to the generation that remembers the phrase "I Want My MTV!" will be marketed to until about 2020.
the Lemonheads "It's A Shame About Ray" has already been reissued, i think in an expanded form. as wonderful as that little album was/is again, it's no BSSM. i just hope the eventual and inevitable reissue of BSSM won't be another victim of the "loudness war", but it probably will. i'll keep spinning my old copy, but i would love to see some unreleased stuff from the BSSM sessions come to light.