The topic of the new reissue of "Silk Degrees" by Boz Scaggs got me thinking. I like the new reissue and while the live bonus tracks are certainly excellent, I question for my own purposes how often I'd actually go back to listen to them. Sadly, this is the case on a lot of the reissues with bonus tracks that I purchase. I'm one of those suckers, like many in here, who hear the words "bonus tracks" and have a pavlovian response immediately. The truth is, I have countless CDs with bonus tracks and I'd be hard-pressed to name many cases where the bonus tracks really enhanced my listening experience.

So my question is this...which reissues with bonus tracks have you found to be truly special, adding something to the reissue that makes it better than the original? Which reissues stick out in your mind?

Great question Walter. But to quote:

I guess the phrase is a matter of interpretation, as to how you define 'original'.
I take it as the original presentation, i.e. the original album. In that case, I can not think of much which betters the original album, but there are some which I feel give a better presentation of the album, if that makes sense.

I will avoid sound issues, in general. But for example, I really enjoy the extra material of the Who's Next DE, although I wish, as in most cases, that the extra material was on a separate disc.
I felt the Dead's reissue program, particularly their first batch, really set the bar for providing their fans what they wanted.
I do tend to appreciate bonus material on live albums more than studio. Examples would be the added tracks Bowie put on Stage and Live, and, I know this will be sacriligeous, but I like the extended Live @ Leeds - not the DE. It gave a better sampling of what the Who were doing in concert during that era, and since they were not releasing other quality vault releases, I really enjoy the rabid readings of Substitute, etc.

I have read posts on the value of bonus tracks before. I have always been a little surprised at those who dismiss them or don't even want to have them.

I, too, have the same response to bonus tracks initially. Ultimately, I suppose, there are those CDs that are truly enhanced because of them.

For example, though quantity of doesn't always dictate quality in bonus tracks, these artists' CDs come to mind for me (in varying degress of pleasure and sonic quality):
The Beach Boys
Elvis Costello
Ian Dury
The 4 Seasons (ACE UK - out of print)
Chad & Jeremy (Sundazed)
Donovan (recent UK reissues)
The Monkees
Paul Revere & The Raiders (Sundazed)
The Who


Barry

The Byrds reissues had some great bonus tracks that I would not want to be without. Generally, true outtakes (rather than alternates or demos) and B-sides are the most appealing to me. Nonetheless, radically different alternate versions can be great too if they have a real hook to make them different or interesting -- one example, the alternate version of "Endless Highway" from the Band reissues with Richard Manuel on lead vocals. Same thought with live bonus tracks. Demos of truly iconic songs that went through major changes and/or were overproduced are also appealing -- e.g., "Strawberry Fields Forever" -- but demos otherwise tend to lose my interest.

There all almost too many discs to count. The expanded and deluxe editions are mostly a joy with all the unearthed bonus tracks. I also like the reissues with both the mono and stereo mixes as well. Favorites include ...

The Kinks (English versions of the early albums) tons of bonus tracks
Moody Blues - Days of Future Past & In Search of the Lost Chord (deluxe editions)
with outttakes and BBC Sessions
Muddy Waters - Muddy Mississippi Waters Live (Deluxe Edition)
Cream - Disraeli Gears (Deluxe Edition)
Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton (Deluxe Edition) with tons of BBC stuff
Jeff Beck - Truth (new remaster)
Blind Faith (Deluxe Edition) with disc of studio jams
Yardbirds - Little Games (2 disc edition)
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend (Legacy Edition)
The Santana Legacy Editions with the live CD's
The Waterboys - Fisherman Blues (2 CD edition)
The Band - Complete Last Waltz
Joe Cocker - Complete Mad Dogs & Englishmen Concerts
The Byrds - Sweethearts Of The Rodeo (Legacy Edition)
The Who - My Generation
Love - Forever Changes/Love/De Capo
Velvet Underground & Nico (Deluxe Edition)
The Monkees (Deluxe Editions & Headquarters Box)
Marvin Gaye (Deluxe Editions)
James Brown - Live At The Apollo (Deluxe Edition)
Tony Joe White - Complete Monument Records (with outtakes CD)

Although I'm a giant Who fan, I disagree with the Deluxe Edition of Live at Leeds. After listening to a bootleg of the soundboard I would much rather listen to that as the powers that be trimmed out all the wrong notes.

For me, the closest to perfection has been the Marvin Gaye-What's Going On Deluxe Edition. It has everything in order to give a listener multiple perspectives on looking at a classic and monumentally important album.

I forgot to add that, generally speaking, I do prefer that live stuff be presented in it's own separate title (a la bootleg series style). I do enjoy listening to outtakes, alternates and unreleased studio songs on new reissues. It keeps you in the studio and it helps to formulate the evolution of an album.

The Monkees reissues
Elton John-"Here and There" What was originally a rote live album, and reeked of Contractual obligation in 1976, took on a whole new perspective when it was doubled in length in 1995. The John Lennon performances should have been on it in the first place when it was released.

Jeff

For me, it's Cheap Trick at Budokan.
I never cared for the original album, but the complete concert really blows me away.
Ain't That A Shame used to bug me as the opener on side two, but makes more sense to me as an encore.

Holy Crap! Thanks a lot guys. You all have listed CD's that are well enhanced by the bonus tracks and now I HAVE to go back and listen to them again. Damn!

--I love the UK bonus tracks on the McCartney '93 upgrades
--Elvis Costello's Rhino catalog is fantastic!
--Most of the Frank Zappa bonus tracks add to each CD attached(too many to name)
--Johnny Cash catalog (again too many to name but all worth it)
--All the Bob Marley Deluxe Editions ( I got to him late in my music life so they really helped)
--As all have said the Who Deluxes and Elton's H&T live one
--for the last... The Journey new one's and the John Mellencamps

For me, the "gold standard" is/are the Elvis Costello Rhino reissues. I'm especially referring to the "Goodbye Cruel World" cd. That is an album that was almost unlistenable because of the very slick production and the awful 80s sound. I always did like a few songs..."Love Field" being one. However this new Rhino version includes demos of all the songs and you can make an alternate album of these songs and they come off so much better in this form. Plus it contains the requisite unreleased material like the other cds in the catalog.

I think bonus tracks are great in most cases. My preferences are for rounding up stray singles and b-sides released in the same time frame as the album, as well as interesting alternate takes and outtakes. A few of my favorites:

Jeff Beck Truth
The Paul McCartney reissues
Hendrix Are You Experienced
Bee Gees Horizontal (the outtakes are as good or better than the album, and there were enough of them to create a separate album)
Elvis Costello reissues
The Byrds reissues

There are many more, but these are the ones that come to mind immediately.

What I don't like are sparse demos, song fragments, and studio chatter.

I don't buy remasters for bonus tracks-I get them for sonic improvements, restored cover art, liner notes and then bonus tracks, if they're there.
I have many, many discs with bonus tracks I love!
These remasters have had, in my opinion a wealth of good stuff as bonus tracks, mostly the appropriate b-sides and live tracks from the same era as the CDs...

Jethro Tull
Echo & Bunnymen
Big Country
Free
ELO
Genesis (the forthcoming remasters look sweet as regards the bonus material)
Judas Priest
Ozzy Osbourne
Cheap Trick
Robert Plant
Queensryche
Chicago
Yes
Blue Oyster Cult
Psychedelic Furs

In some cases, the bonus tracks are forgettable live cuts or endless demos (yawn), such as...

The Cure
Kansas
X
Traffic
Santana
Foreigner
Deep Purple
ZZ Top

Many of these are filled with demos and things I just barely can get through to say-"I listened to these"!

I also tend not to care so much for demos and alternate versions, but I love it when an album comes with the 7" and/or 12" mixes of its singles added on (as with the Hall & Oates 80s reissues) and when the bonus tracks pick up contemporaneous b-sides, soundtrack songs, or other full studio tracks from the time period that didn't appear on the proper studio album.

My all-time favorite deluxe edition which has not yet been mentioned--the 2-disc "Billion Dollar Babies" containing a vintage Alice Cooper concert on the bonus disc that I have probably played five times as often as the disc with the original album.

Other expanded sets that stand out in my mind include the 2-disc "Ziggy Stardust", the Janis Joplin reissues, the 1994-95 Monkees reissues from Rhino (I still haven't picked up any of their newer editions), and the BMG/Buddah Lovin' Spoonful sets (still waiting for expanded soundtracks to "What's Up Tiger Lily?" and "You're A Big Boy Now", however). Finally, the Who has had (for my money) the best overall expanded reissue series. Worst overall reissue campaign? Gotta be Bruce Springsteen.

Marshall Crenshaw's first, self-titled album got a wonderful reissue from Rhino. A couple of relevant demos, all 4 B-sides from the album's singles, 3 great live covers and a cool alternate take as a hidden final track. My only complaint is that Rhino didn't give this treatment to his second album.

I hated the remixing that was done for the Who reissues, but the bonus cuts on most of these discs are tremendous...even if the songs were previously released in other formats.

But there is another side of the coin here...what about people who do reissue campaigns where bonus cuts aren't included?

To this day I still do not understand why Epic didn't put bonus tracks on the AC/DC discs from the 70's...the songs that are only available in Australia or Europe. These were officially released songs...not some obscure demo recordings done on a microcassette recorder in front of a camp fire or something. Would it really have cost that much more bread or tainted the Dirty Deeds album to put "R.I.P." on there, or "Crabsody in Blue" on the Let There Be Rock disc??

Demos, alternates, and live cuts I can easily live without. Outtakes, singles, and b-sides can be a real treat, though. I'm seriously thinking of buying those Sly and the Family Stone and Slade titles all over again on the strength of those bonus tracks. Ace reissued two classic James Carr albums and doubled them in length with unreleased tracks. That's value for money!

The top two for me so far have been:

Marvin Gaye - Let's Get it On DE, with a whole CD of prime unreleased tracks.
Diana Ross - Diana DE, with a whole CD featuring the original Nile Rodgers mix.

the 2 CSN CD's last years had wonderful bonus tracks.

the ryko bowie's were great, i still like them the best of any bowie reissues.

the byrds were nice.

other than that i really can't think of any thet excited me.

renny

Most of the bonus tracks on the latest issues of the Dead's albums: Workingman's Dead
and Amercan Beauty are (imo) better than the album material. And the sound is just
incredible for "second hand" stuff !!

That's exactly the way I feel about the ELO remasters. Who wants to listen to a 30 sec demo that sounds like it was recorded through a tin can? And the instrumentals? They're basically just the song with the vocals removed. They should call them the "karoke" versions!

Jeff

A few that come to mind not mentioned here already -

The deluxe 2 cd reissue of "Eric Clapton" with bonuses and the original altermate mix on the bonus disc

The Repertoire reissues of the first three Move albums (especially the first self titled LP - gorged with relevant bonuses).

"The Big Heat" reissue by Stan Ridgway.

The XTC Virgin reissues.

Like others, the most critical bonuses for me are relevant b-sides or singles only from an LP's time frame, but in some cases demos and live tracks can be worthy and vital as well. This factor with some reissues has been handled very well and adds to the package's value, but in other cases it's unnecessary/worthless. And these things are also relative to my passion for the particular group/artist in question. For example, the two double-cd's of Fleetwood Mac unreleased studio and live material from 1967-1969 (about which i have raved here before) are indispensable to me, but only because of the group and material involved. The same approach for another band/time frame might be of no interest whatsoever (a personal hall of fame perspective).

I do agree that the expansion of live releases is the most seamless (when done properly) and often most exciting bonus track scenario.

I also like the "All In One Place" approach where Bill Lloyd gathered up his contributions to various artist comps and tribute discs onto one disc. Also the Beatles "Anthology" approach of a series of nothing but studio outtakes, demos and alternate mixes (of course the number of groups this format would work for are extremely limited; as mentioned in another thread recently, it's a shame the Stones won't work with ABKCO to release of similar package from their vintage - and by far most relevant - London Records years). And even though it's moving slowly, the Dylan Bootleg Series has got to be one of the best things going.

The inclusion of both stereo and mono mixes can be vital for certain releases as well. Perhaps the best recent examples of the best of all worlds are the BeeGees and Monkess 2-cd deluxe editions (already lauded here by others), covering the stereo/mono as well as b-sides, outtakes, and worthy demos and alts. And for any others who may be wondering, i heard from Rhino recently that the next batch of Monkess deluxe doubles are due in mid-March, but this time they are releasing them via Rhino Handmade instead of normal retail...so any Monkess fans, get yer credit cards ready - these will doubtlessly sell out fairly quickly (as did the Headquarters Sessions 3-cd set).