CD Review Sort Of - Elvis Costello - This Year's Business Model
Elvis Costello and The Attractions essential 1978 record This Year’s Model was re-released for the twenty-third time earlier this week as a deluxe 2-CD set. This year’s model of This Year’s Model includes a bevy of previously released bonus tracks, and a previously unreleased live concert.
I was going to review it, but instead I decided not to buy it.
On Tuesday, I found myself at Amoeba records. After an hour or so, I’d amassed a pretty impressive stack of CDs that I wanted to buy. Before I made my way to the counter, I decided to go through my purchases one last time. As I flipped through the pile… Pink Floyd – Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Deluxe Edition); Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (Deluxe Edition); Beck – Odelay (Deluxe Edition); Wire – Pink Flag (Deluxe Edition); the aforementioned This Year’s Model… Suddenly, I had an epiphany.
I was about to spend a hundred bucks on music that I already owned!
In most cases, a deluxe version of an already admired album is a welcome addition to my record collection. B-sides, alternate takes, and demos can illuminate the artist and place the original work into a greater context. When I was younger, trying to track down all the odd one-off compilation tracks was fun. Now that I’m older, a deluxe reissue that puts everything available in one place is awesome. Keeping a few tracks in the vault so an artist can release a “new” deluxe-edition every few years in infuriating.
This Year’s Model is easily in my Top 50 records of all-time. Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to buy a sixth – yes, sixth – version of it.
Sure, in this digital age, I have the option of just downloading the songs I don’t already have. In this case, I had the option of downloading the entire This Year’s Model for $14.99, or just downloading the 17 new tracks at 99 cents a piece, for the low, low price of $16.83. Hmmm… Tough choice. I wonder why so many people are downloading music illegally.
Elvis, if you’re reading this, please stop re-releasing your old albums. A catalog overhaul every five years is egregious. For any artist to have 10 greatest hits compilations is just insane. (and I’m not mentioning all the other rarities compilations and singles box sets).
By all accounts, you’re a pretty swell guy. You’re clearly a music fan. You’re passionate, prolific, clever, and consistently challenging. Despite having a career that’s lasted over thirty years, you’ve managed to always feel current and relevant. (Well, except maybe for a short stretch during “The Beard Years”) Your live shows are always energized and inspired. Hell, you even walked the picket line with us writers during the WGA strike.
But, Elvis, it also seems like you have a hard time saying “no”. For every brilliant Larry Sanders cameo, you turn up in a movie like Spice World. For every inspired Roy Orbison collaboration there’s a misguided Gwen Stefani duet. For every anti-Bush benefit you play, there’s an American Express commercial.
You might be surprised to learn that I actually don’t have a problem with any of that. The indiscriminate abandon with which you dive into project after project is part of your charm. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Make all the Lexus commercials you want. Keep recording songs for Nickelodeon soundtracks. Keep appearing on 20 records a year. But please, stop taking advantage of your fans by repackaging the same old records again and again.
Here’s a thought. You are overdue for a proper box set. Why not take all those “bonus” tracks and reward the fans with an Archive-style vault-plundering? Make it 100 discs long if you want. The crux of the box can be Definitive multi-disc versions of every record you’ve ever released. Demos, live tracks, B-sides, guest appearances. Put ‘em all on there. You can even have your fans pay for the box with an Elvis Costello Visa card if you want.
Just promise me you won’t re-release the box set three years later with 8 new songs.