2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the great Stone Roses self titled debut. A remastred commemorative edition supervised by John Leckie and Ian brown will be released (already out in the UK) this September (US). There will 3 editions to choose from: The Collectors Edition Box Set ( 3CD/3LP/DVD/ 2GB USB, / 1 book /6 art prints ), Legacy Edition (2CD/1DVD) and The Special Edition (1 CD plus an extra track). I've been waiting for years for a deluxe treatment of this album. Already bought The Legacy Edition at Amazon UK. Price is a bit steep though.

Mike: how much did you pay for the collector's edition? Just placed my pre-order for the Legacy edition. Looks like all three will be available on Sept. 8th.

That Collector's Box may be the biggest overkill I've ever seen in a special edition. I mean come on, it's a good album but I need it on 4 different medias for what reason?

I've been listening to this album a lot lately. IMO one of the greatest albums of all-time.

Paid 21 UK Pounds for the Legacy Edition (not the Collector's Ed) bought from Amazon UK. The remastered CD definitely is an improvement and sounds more polished.

While the idea for this is very cool, and this is without a doubt a classic album - isn't this at least the fourth or fifth time the album has been re-issued in some form or another?

Maybe so, but this the first time for the album to be remastered, which I think is quite an improvement over the previous editions.

just ordered the Legacy edition for 20 bucks over at Amazon - can't wait to see the DVD!

If a group like Pearl Jam can get their (average) debut album reissued in four different versions, then surely The Stone Roses' debut deserves the same treatment.

Pitchfork's 10/10 review od the reissue:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/...e-stone-roses/

As did I just now. While the Collectors Edition looks sweet, I just can't shell out that kind of cash right now. But $20 for 2 CDs and a DVD of maybe my favorite album of all time* is a no-brainer.

My only gripe is that, though I know it wasn't a part of the original UK release, there's no "Elephant Stone" on the album proper of this edition.

*Depending which way the wind blows that day, it's between this, London Calling, and Revolver.

yes, that's a rather bizarre exclusion, but at least 'Fools Gold' is included as a bonus song.

I would totally get this, if there was a remix that got rid of all the shitty sounding reverb that was so in-mode at the time. Kinda like what they did to Pearl Jam's Ten.

I honestly can't even imagine The Stone Roses without it.

Damn! There is a $50 version of this on iTunes with music videos. Seems steep. Madonna's greatest hits pre-order with all her videos is only $30.

Which makes "Elephant Stone"'s absence all the more puzzling since "Fools Gold" wasn't on the original UK album, either.

Just to know what I'm missing out on, are the non-album singles and b-sides in the super duper version also remastered? I've read the Pitchfork and PopMatters reviews and neither mentioned it, so I'm not sure.

I'm still waiting for mine to show up in the mail. I was drunk when I ordered on Amazon and accidentially ordered two! So, I'll be giving one to a friend for his birthday.

you need to add me to your Amazon friend address book ...

I'm somewhat glad Amazon ran out of the box. I don't need $82 worth of this album, but I probably would have convinced myself I did given another day or two.

Just listened to the remaster, and it's the first time I've heard this record in almost 15 years. The songs still more than hold up, but my god, the production is just crap. The drums, guitars and vocals all sound like shit - the overwrought production makes it sound really dated. If they hadn't over-produced it so much, it could've been a timeless album.

Indeed.