I mentioned my annoyance with the new Beyonce CD under that albums' thread, but thought I would also start a thread here to see if this also annoys anyone else:

"I really rather like this album.

What I DON'T like, however, is that in a 28-page CD booklet, there is no room for lyrics or credits! The booklet states "For complete credits, please visit Beyonce.com and Beyonceonline.com. Actually, I'd rather have the credits printed in front of me! Granted, the photos are very nice, but seriously, out of 28-pages, they couldn't find a way to include lyrics and credits, especially since a portion of the page is blank except for the song title in HUGE letters!"

I remember Sheryl Crow's "The Globe Sessions" from 1998 was one of the first CDs to not include lyrics and refer you to an online site. It pissed me off then, and it still pisses me off now!

I had a similar complaint about the most recent Shearwater album, The Golden Archipelago. I bought the LP (which sounds great and has beautiful artwork, including a gatefold sleeve) and there were no credits or lyrics. I had to print them out from their website. Doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the music, but makes the package feel less than complete.

Especially if one goes to the trouble of buying a physical release...

I feel yer pain because this kinda thing is just wrong.

Fortunately, I don't need to buy Beyonce's CDs, so I am spared this injustice.

That's not the only injustice you're spared if you don't buy her CDs.

Alan

I've been known to toss CD booklets onto my computer scanner in an effort to improve my ability to zoom in and read them.

It could be worse, the Chickenfoot deluxe requires you to dl a pdf for ALL credits. There is no booklet. Of course at .99 cents.......

Does the Chickenfoot deluxe version actually have less packaging than the regular version? If so, that's pretty awful. It's kind of like when Universal remastered some catalogs (like Rush and The Moody Blues) in the mid-90s, but replaced lyrics with updated liner notes. How about both? To me the lyrics are more important (unless it's an anthology or box set), so I never replaced my original CDs with the remastered ones...although I did get the 2008 Moody Blues expanded remasters, which had pretty good liner notes AND full lyrics.

I've never seen an opened copy of the original, so don't know.

I have the regular version of the Chickenfoot CD (was not aware of a deluxe version when I bought it...which is another pet peeve). It has that goofy heat-sensitive cover, but overall the packaging is horrible. All cardboard (3 panel, folds out twice, equivalent of the old style 6 page CD booklet). No booklet included whatsoever. The very minimal credits include a website address where you can access the digital booklet.

All of the credits in the cardboard package are the production credits, 4 bandmembers, art credits, note about the non-toxic heat-sensitive ink and the reference to the digital booklet. All songwriting credits and other recording information is only available in the digital booklet. You can't even see a tracklist on the back cover unless you heat it up and active the ink to reveal the song-titles. Neat gimmick with the ink, but overall a horrible CD package.

The music industry is rightfully upset about people pirating their material, but stuff like this doesn't help matters. I'm a long-time customer and still a really good customer, but this industry keeps letting me down over and over with the way they package their product.

Thanks for the info, JosephC. In some strange way it's good to know that the deluxe edition packaging isn't worse than the standard version, just bad in a different way.

As for artists reissuing deluxe editions not long after the original release (really it's the labels, not the artists), if I already own the original I've decided that I'll just find a download of the additional content and be happy with that unless the deluxe package is a must-have. It's not the best way to "own" that additional content, but I can't justify spending more money on an album I just purchased.

Wasn't there a standard issue that wasn't in the heat-sensitive packaging? Mine is the heat-sensitive stuff (that's right, I just said my package was heat-sensitive - I'm no happier about this turn of events than you are!), but I thought I saw somewhere that there was another version.

Alan

Could you clarify heat sensitive?!

The cover looks black until you heat it up - under a lamp, in the sun, between your hands. Then you see a tracklist on the back, or pictures on the front.

Hot:



Not:



Alan

Oh my. Does it stay that way after heating? I wonder if the white version I bought does the same.

No - it reverts to the black. Like a mood ring!!!

Alan