[Note: There are photos available on Flickr of some of my Universal Deluxe Editions.]

We collectors are suckers for packaging. It comes close to a fetish. You give us nifty packaging with glossy booklets, fold-out covers, interesting liner notes or interviews, stick the CDs into plastic sleeves, metal or cigar boxes, reproduce original covers and house the CDs therein … you name it, we’ll take it. Admittedly, some of those packaging extravaganzas are a royal pain in the neck, but in the end, we put up with the dysfunctional design team members that cook up things that looked great on screen but are practically worthless in real life, just because niftily packaged items give more head. I have cursed the design department of many a label, but in the end I love to pull some of those items out from my collection and show them off to casual listeners that usually utter plenty of “oohs” and “aahs”, something that gives us collectors more head, to boot.

The Universal Deluxe Editions entered my collection pretty much the day the first ones came out and although many that have been released since then don’t tickle my fancy that much, there are enough of them I just had to buy to merit a special section on my shelves.

Mind you, there are sometimes better remastered versions out there, but if you are anything like me - and you probably are, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this here - packaging is a major element of any desired item. Besides, my middle-of-the-road stereo can only expose so much faulty remastering and beyond a certain point, I’m usually quite happy with the items I’m presented with - that’s why I bought a system that can “camouflage” some of the sometimes grave faults modern remasters suffer from.

One of the biggest problems of this series has always been that depending on where you live, you might have access to reissues in this series that other parts of the globe are probably missing out on. Add to that the fact that it is a pain in the neck to find an official comprehensive list of these reissues (the one I linked to is the incomplete official Universal US list), and what you have are hours of searching the few bookmarked sites to see what’s new, might be about to be released or was actually released … half-way ’round the globe. Because some of these have a knack of disappearing fast or becoming outrageously priced after a few weeks of availability, it is essential to keep track of them and jump on them whenever they become available.

Each double-CD in this series has some typical features, such as the characteristic plastic cover with the “Deluxe Edition” imprint, a digipack fold-out cover housing two CDs, an accompanying booklet, mostly original artwork, plus usually a load of bonus tracks which are, at times, superfluous and at times tons better than the original CD. Examples? Whereas the recent Level 42 “World Machine” issue, which has some extended remixes and live tracks on disc two which I simply couldn’t warm to, Peter Framptons’s “Frampton Comes Alive!” restores the original order of tunes and Bob Marley’s “Catch a Fire”, one of the best in the series, contains the original unreleased Jamaican versions of the released Island LP which are, in my mind, tons better and wonderfully remastered. At times, you are also presented with a hybrid SACD/CD disc or a DVD is added instead of a second CD. Whatever the labels cook up, the second CD usually adds either alternative tracks, live tracks or film material to supplement the main reissue on disc one.

There are simply too many reissues in this series to discuss them all, but I’ve tried to supply you with a somewhat complete list (to my knowledge) below so you can start hunting around the Internet for these and read up on them (which you should, as some of them are not the most desirable reissue around, expecially if you are one of these totally audiophile nutcases).. Many of these are well worth your money, especially if you can catch them at below list price which is, at times, a bit too steep for what is offered. I have kept many of these on my wishlist for months, sometimes even years, and whenever they went down in price, I pounced on them.

Check ‘em out.

[This list will be updated once I 'm informed about missing items or new releases. Bookmark the page! Last update: May 28th, 2008.]

1. 3 Doors Down: The Better Life
2. ABBA: Arrival
3. ABBA: The Album
4. ABC: Lexicon of Love
5. Allman Brothers Band: At Fillmore East
6. Allman Brothers Band: Eat a Peach
7. Beatles, The: The Beatles’ First! Featuring Tony Sheridan
8. Beck: Odelay
9. Blind Faith: Blind Faith
10. Boys II Men: Legacy
11. Brown, James: Live at the Apollo - Volume II
12. Clapton, Eric: Eric Clapton
13. Clapton, Eric: 461 Ocean Boulevard
14. Cliff, Jimmy: The Harder They Come
15. Cocker, Joe: Mad Dogs and Englishmen
16. Coltrane, John: A Love Surpreme
17. Cole, Lloyd & The Commotions: Rattlesnakes
18. Cope, Julian: Jehovakill
19. Costello, Elvis: My Aim is True
20. Costello, Elvis: This Year’s Model
21. Counting Crows: August and Everything After
22. Cream: Disraeli Gears
23. Crystal Method: Vegas
24. Cure, The: Faith
25. Cure, The: The Head on the Door
26. Cure, The: Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
27. Cure, The: Pornography
28. Cure, The: Seventeen Seconds
29. Cure, The: Three Imaginary Boys
30. Cure, The: The Top
31. Def Leppard: Hysteria
32. Dexy’s Midnight Runners: Too-Rye-Ay
33. DJ Shadow: Endtrocucing
34. Eric B: & Rakim: Paid in Full
35. Etheridge, Melissa: Melissa Etheridge
36. Etheridge, Melissa: Greatest Hits -The Road Less Traveled
37. Fairport Convention: Liege and Lief
38. Frampton, Peter: Frampton Comes Alive, Vol: 1
39. Free: Fire & Water
40. Gainsbourg, Serge”Aux Armes Et Cætera
41. Gaye, Marvin: I Want You
42. Gaye, Marvin: Let’s Get It On
43. Gaye, Marvin: What’s Going On
44. Gin Blossoms: New Miserable Experience
45. Glove, The: Blue Sunshine
46. Happy Mondays: Bummed
47. Howlin’ Wolf: The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions
48. INXS: Kick
49. Jackson, Joe: Night and Day
50. Jam, The: All Mod Cons
51. James, Rick: Street Songs
52. John, Elton: Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy
53. John, Elton: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
54. Kossoff, Paul: Back Street Crawler
55. La’s: The La’s
56. Lang Lang: Live at Carnegie Hall (classical music)
57. Level 42: World Machine
58. Lynyrd Skynyrd: Gimme Back My Bullets [+ DVD]
59. Lynyrd Skynyrd: One More from the Road
60. Lynyrd Skynyrd: Street Survivors
61. Marley, Bob: Burnin’
62. Marley, Bob: Catch a Fire
63. Marley, Bob: Exodus
64. Marley, Bob: Legend
65. Marley, Bob: Rastaman Vibration
66. Martyn, John: One World
67. Martyn, John: Grace & Danger
68. Mayall, John: Bluesbreakers (with Eric Clapton)
69. Meat Loaf: Bat out of Hell II
70. Moody Blues, The: A Night at Red Rocks
71. Moody Blues, The: Days of Future Passed [Sacd/CD Hybrid]
72. Moody Blues, The: In Search of the Lost Chord
73. Moody Blues, The: To Our Children’s Children’s Children
74. Netrebko, Anna: Anna Netrebko - Opera Arias (classical music)
75. Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral
76. Orb, The: Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
77. Orb, The: U.F. Orb
78. Parsons, Alan: Tales of Mystery & Imagination
79. Pulp: Different Class
80. Pulp: His’n’Hers
81. Pulp: This Is Hardcore
82. Richie, Lionel: Can’t Slow Down
83. Ross, Diana: Diana
84. Siouxsie & The Banshees: The Scream
85. Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation
86. Sonic Youth: Dirty
87. Sonic Youth: Goo
88. Squeeze: ArgyBargy
89. Style Council, The: Our Favourite Shop
90. Sublime: Sublime
91. Summer, Donna: Bad Girls
92. Tears for Fears: Songs from the Big Chair
93. Trio: Trio
94. Various Artists: The Commitments - The Original Soundtrack
95. Various Artists: Easy Rider - The Original Soundtrack
96. Various Artists: Grease - The Original Soundtrack
97. Various Artists: Standing in the Shadows of Motown - The Soul Behind the Sound (soundtrack)
98. Various Artists: The Big Chill - Music from and Inspired by
99. Velvet Underground & Nico: Velvet Underground
100. Weezer: Weezer
101. Weller, Paul: Stanley Road
102. Weller, Paul: Wild Wood
103. Whiskeytown: Stranger’s Almanac
104. Who, The: Live at Leeds
105. Who, The: My Generation
106. Who, The: Tommy
107. Who, The: Who’s Next
108. Williams, Lucinda: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
109. Zombie, Rob: Hellbilly Deluxe

List last updated: May 28th, 2008.

Note: Announced but not (yet) released:

1. Earle, Steve: Copperhead Road (June 2008)
2. John, Elton: Tumbleweed Connection (June 2008)
3. John, Elton: Elton John (June 2008)
4. Thin Lizzy: Vagabonds of the Western World (uncertain?)

Categories: (01) Collecting
Tags: CD, Deluxe Editions, recommended, Universal