credo

Part 188: “Limited Edition”

Garth Brooks

RECORD STORE TALES Part 188:  “Limited Edition”

In 1994, Garth Brooks issued his 10 million copy selling compilation album, The Hits.  On the front cover was an interesting notation:  “limited time only”.

Now, I’ve bought discs that were limited edition before and were numbered to prove it.  For example I recently picked up #5945 of the “Credo” single by Fish.  Even so…that’s a lot of copies out there for a single by Fish.  How many copies of a Fish single would be made anyway?  And aren’t all singles limited edition?  After all, they aren’t going to make more once they’ve run their course, no matter who the artist is.  Onto the next thing.

And then of course you have some seriously limited edition items, like that recent Thin Lizzy Live at the BBC box set!  I’m not sure how many copies were made, but everybody’s sold out, and now you have to buy it from people asking way too much.  Over $250 USD on Amazon right now.  Forget it!  That is limited edition.

When Garth plastered “limited time only” all over The Hits, it quickly became a joke.  We ordered 50 copies of them, and sold most during the first week.   We ordered another 50 copies, as Christmas was coming soon.  Those sold.  We ordered 20 more after Christmas had passed, and continued to order them every week into the new year whenever we sold out.  Some limited edition!

10,000,000 people bought it, and I’m sure 99.9% would have bought it without that “limited time” tag.  With great pomp and circumstance, Garth then had the master tapes destroyed.

The master tapes to a freakin’ greatest hits album!  Who cares?

It was really hard to take the phrase “limited edition” seriously after that.  The next release that came out that truly was a limited edition was the Smashing Pumpkins box set The Aeroplane Flies High, but even that enjoyed a second run when the first printing sold out.

So:  the lesson here folks is, when it says limited edition, be skeptical!  Very few things are, and the ones that really are limited aren’t always advertized as such.  Record labels want to make money, right?

Unfortunately, Garth didn’t put this one on his box set!

NEXT TIME ON RECORD STORE TALES…

Hide the discs!

GALLERY: Four Great Finds! (with store report card – Encore Records)

During a trip to Encore Records in Kitchener, Ontario, I found some pretty cool stuff among their used discs.  I used to work with the guy behind the counter, Chris — trained him in fact.  We had a chance to catch up and discuss the difficulties of being a collector.  Piles and piles of discs, an expanding collection and lack of space for it.  Filing systems.  How easy it is to get behind in your filing.  Good to know there are still kindred spirits out there.

Thanks for the discs Chris, and without further delay…

1. VAN HALEN – In Concert

This double CD is at least partially taken from Live Without A Net, the old Van Halen home video.  That’s cool to me — some of those versions, like “Love Walks In”, were the originals that I was first familiar with.  It’s weird today hearing Sammy Hagar play guitar solos on Van Halen songs, but that’s how I first heard them.  $9 used.

2. HELIX – Wild In The Streets (Rock Candy remaster)

PROS:  These hard-to-find (in Canada) Rock Candy reissues have great liner notes and pictures.  CONS: It lacks the lyric sheet from my old Capitol Records version.  This one was expensive ($14 used) but the great Heavy Metal OverloRd tells me they are well worth it.

3. FISH – “Credo” CD single

Limited edition, #5945.  Cool?  Yeah, but how many copies did they make of a Fish single?  Anyway, this has two non-album cuts, a 7″ remix of the title track and a song called “Poet’s Moon”.  “Credo” itself is a great song from Internal Exile.  Great cover art by Mark Wilkinson!  $6 used.

4. IRON MAIDEN – Virtual XI with limited edition lenticular cover

This was a limited edition (expensive in Canada) that had a 3D cover similar to the current Kiss Monster CD.  I tried to get an idea of this in the photos.  Look at Eddie’s finger in relation to the boy’s headphones.  You can see it’s not in the same place in the two photos.  It’s much cooler in person.  Now, I know Aaron is probably going to give me shit for buying a Blaze Bayley album — any Blaze Bayley album — twice.  But it’s more about the Maiden collection than Blaze.  This is one I’d wanted back in the day but completely forgotten about.  $10 used.

REPORT CARD

Encore Records, 54 Queen St. South, Kitchener ON, (519) 744-1370

Encore is as good as as any of the stores that Aaron and I reported on in Toronto.  Sure, I’m biased in that I did train the guy behind the counter, and it was great having a conversation with somebody who understands my point of view vis-à-vis collecting.  But their selection is second-to-none in this town (rock, indi, roots, jazz, blues, vinyl), with fair prices, and excellent quality.  Not one blemish on any of the discs that I purchased.   As an added note I found a number of Guided By Voices singles for Aaron (some stealthily pictured below) — although he is apparently banned from purchasing them at this time, until he wins the lottery!

For these reasons, Encore’s grade is:

5/5 stars