Remastered/Reissued Discs.
 

So...

A couple of nights ago i'm listening to Meat Loaf's remastered "Bat Out Of Hell" disc. This being one of my all-time favorite discs, i listen to it straight through [i don't do that with all discs]. Right after the final notes of "For Crying Out Loud" wind down, i say to myself "Damn that's a good album". Then i hear some noise -- sounds like an audience -- then another song starts to play! [two to be exact] "Bolero" & "Bat Out Of Hell". Totally f'd up the vibe of the disc.

This incident made me think of other "remastered" discs i own which have some tacked on "bonus" tracks at the end. Now, i'm never one to refuse ANYTHING that's a bonus. But is tampering with an album like "Bat Out Of Hell" [with a definitive "beginning" & "ending" to it] really wise?

If anything, they should just put these tracks on a separate disc.

jeez.

I'm a fan of bonus material as long as it's on a separate disc. The Elvis Costello reissues are a good example of doing things the right way - separate discs with some worthwhile bonus tracks, and fairly extensive liner notes. On the other end of the spectrum, I think there is an XTC reissue (or reissues) that put(s) the bonus songs IN THE MIDDLE of the album. That's just wrong.

For the most part I hate this trend and (almost always) the actual bonus tracks suck for a variety of reasons.

Fine in theory; often poor in practice.

I bought McCartney's Back to the Egg and the added tracks were poorly chosen and really jarred: there was plenty of "rockier" material they could have used!

I like remasters if,mind you I've yet to buy one, they are able to find better audio to copy from, or they go back to the original album's artwork.

I like remasters and bonus tracks, although I agree the really good bonus tracks are few and far between. Plus, so many artists' original CD catalogs were so piss-poor that remasters are essential.

All of the XTC remasters had the bonus tracks in the middle. Big problem. They're all coming out now with the tracks at the end. Good!

Um, yeah, that's what a "remaster" is. :)