Of Impulse, Verve, and ECM reissues
I also posted this over at the emu board...
A heads up to all who are looking through the vast catalogs of Impulse, ECM, and Verve (and some of you will already be aware of this)...
All three of these labels have recently gone through a re-issue series, especially Impulse who has pretty much been doing nothing be reissues of old albums. They're are called Impulse Originals, Verve Originals, and ECM Touchstones.
You'll see a vertical stripe going down the side of some of the album cover art on the Verve and Impulse Originals reissues (none of previous releases); I'm not sure there's any unique identifier on the Gateways, but that really doesn't matter too much.
All three were conceived as a bargain price option. So depending on the cost of an album here (say, $6.49), you might want to consider owning the physical cd for just a little bit more. I've seen both the Impulse and Verve Originals retail for between $8-$10 (depending on the outlet), so many times it'll be worth picking up the real deal for a buck or two more. If the emu mp3 album is $4, maybe not so much.
Also, with the Impulse and Verve Originals, the concept was to make the (physical) albums look like when they were originally put out. That means no bonus tracks (and on the physical copy, unreadable liner notes that would make even a magnifying glass cringe). This is not an issue with buying on emu, obviously. What is, however, is that the Originals series, as I said, didn't include bonus tracks. Some people prefer this, actually; others, not so much. But it is something to keep in mind when buying here. I've noticed emu has multiple listings for the same album, one as a 90's reissue, the other as the Originals reissue. One of these albums might have less tracks than the other, and depending on the pricing structure, this might work to your advantage or disadvantage. Like I said, something to keep in mind. The Originals series were remastered. Some people say they notice a marked improvement from the 90's remasters, others not so much. Depends on your ears. I will say for certain that anything issued by Impulse and Verve in the nineties is gonna sound great.
The ECM Touchstone series, if I recall retailed for between $9-$12 (depending on store). I don't recall any other differences between original issue and the Touchstones. My own observations and those of others sum the Touchstones up as simply a nice bargain price cd without any significant changes made.
In any event, I just wanted to throw some of that out there. I know many of you (and I'm one) would prefer the physical album, and depending on availability, your price point and budget, and your access to brick&mortars, the physical cd is a realistic option for some of these ECMs, Impulses, and Verves.
And from the looks of it, there's gonna be plenty of all three labels at very nice prices to keep everyone busy buying from emu for awhile.
A heads up to all who are looking through the vast catalogs of Impulse, ECM, and Verve (and some of you will already be aware of this)...
All three of these labels have recently gone through a re-issue series, especially Impulse who has pretty much been doing nothing be reissues of old albums. They're are called Impulse Originals, Verve Originals, and ECM Touchstones.
You'll see a vertical stripe going down the side of some of the album cover art on the Verve and Impulse Originals reissues (none of previous releases); I'm not sure there's any unique identifier on the Gateways, but that really doesn't matter too much.
All three were conceived as a bargain price option. So depending on the cost of an album here (say, $6.49), you might want to consider owning the physical cd for just a little bit more. I've seen both the Impulse and Verve Originals retail for between $8-$10 (depending on the outlet), so many times it'll be worth picking up the real deal for a buck or two more. If the emu mp3 album is $4, maybe not so much.
Also, with the Impulse and Verve Originals, the concept was to make the (physical) albums look like when they were originally put out. That means no bonus tracks (and on the physical copy, unreadable liner notes that would make even a magnifying glass cringe). This is not an issue with buying on emu, obviously. What is, however, is that the Originals series, as I said, didn't include bonus tracks. Some people prefer this, actually; others, not so much. But it is something to keep in mind when buying here. I've noticed emu has multiple listings for the same album, one as a 90's reissue, the other as the Originals reissue. One of these albums might have less tracks than the other, and depending on the pricing structure, this might work to your advantage or disadvantage. Like I said, something to keep in mind. The Originals series were remastered. Some people say they notice a marked improvement from the 90's remasters, others not so much. Depends on your ears. I will say for certain that anything issued by Impulse and Verve in the nineties is gonna sound great.
The ECM Touchstone series, if I recall retailed for between $9-$12 (depending on store). I don't recall any other differences between original issue and the Touchstones. My own observations and those of others sum the Touchstones up as simply a nice bargain price cd without any significant changes made.
In any event, I just wanted to throw some of that out there. I know many of you (and I'm one) would prefer the physical album, and depending on availability, your price point and budget, and your access to brick&mortars, the physical cd is a realistic option for some of these ECMs, Impulses, and Verves.
And from the looks of it, there's gonna be plenty of all three labels at very nice prices to keep everyone busy buying from emu for awhile.
Comments
Inre ECM... I'm seeing many more of the tracks priced at .79 and above, albums selling for eight bucks or higher. Thinking upon it now, many of those may have fallen into their new releases/popular criteria. I'm remembering seeing Dresden and Astounding Eyes of Rita among others, but some like the Stanko album were older than a year since release date. My guess is ECM decided which albums they would bargain price and emu decided to lead with those for ingestion. I could be wrong, but I get the sense that many of the suggestions in the ECM Bargain threads on the two sites might not grow much longer.
But we'll see. I've got like 25 more days to cancel, and I've already decided what I'm gonna spend my last three bucks on if nothing else pops up.