Smash - The Singles 1985 - 2020

[Nicholas]

Sorry to say this but this seems like pure and unnecessary greed on their part. True fans have all this already and can't see anyone else paying for all this.

I don’t follow the logic that some people who made some work are greedy for making the work available again. It’s not a compulsory purchase. It’s two people doing what they do for a living, for money.

[Patrick Bateman]

Not aimed at us, but still think it’s to expensive for the casual fan.

Depends what you mean by casual. It's clearly product to sell during the tour dates in the summer. Whenever I see PSB in concert, I'm surprised by how 'normal' the crowd is - in my head, they're still the cool, slightly subversive group they were in their heyday. Of course, the reality is you don't sell that many records without appealing to the norms and they've always been a mainstream group on a major label who had big hits. The casuals are the ones going to a PSB concert who aren't hardcore fans and only know the big hits - if you're paying hundreds of pounds for tickets, a triple CD isn't going to break the bank. It makes sense from that perspective.

[Disco.]

Hmm, yeah some will always buy it for sure.Actually the 3 cd version #1 right now on Amazon.uk.

[TwizzleUK]

This will probably sell really well in the long term, particularly when the 3 CD version drops a bit in price.

Agree it's a little odd the US edit of New York City Boy is featured (there's space on that disc for the UK radio edit), however, I'm pleased as it's one of my least favourite PSB tracks, making the shortest version the most tolerable!

[psbfannyc]

Smash Hits

[miserabalism]

I'm going to have to add to the general dissent on the artwork... I think it's one of the worst PSB products I've ever seen.

It's great that the 3CD set is reasonably priced for someone who wants to own it in a physical format without breaking the bank.

I'm really disappointed that "Burning the heather" isn't on the CD.

[Nickname]

Sorry to say this but this seems like pure and unnecessary greed on their part. True fans have all this already and can't see anyone else paying for all this.

I don’t follow the logic that some people who made some work are greedy for making the work available again. It’s not a compulsory purchase. It’s two people doing what they do for a living, for money.

Do you want a new album full of music elements, well produced, etc.

They need money to pay it.

[tottenhammattspurs]

Thank god social media wasn't around in 1991...

"Discography? What a lazy title! It's literally their discography and that's all they can come up with? What's with all the white? It looks like a bad version of the Actually sleeve! Only ONE new song? Why would I pay £10.99 for ONE new song on CD? I have all these songs already, what a sell-out....."

[davenjulieuk]

Thank god social media wasn't around in 1991...

"Discography? What a lazy title! It's literally their discography and that's all they can come up with? What's with all the white? It looks like a bad version of the Actually sleeve! Only ONE new song? Why would I pay £10.99 for ONE new song on CD? I have all these songs already, what a sell-out....."

Better to pay £10.99 for ONE new song on CD than £20.00 for NO new songs

[DopeFiend]

Sorry to say this but this seems like pure and unnecessary greed on their part. True fans have all this already and can't see anyone else paying for all this.

I don’t follow the logic that some people who made some work are greedy for making the work available again. It’s not a compulsory purchase. It’s two people doing what they do for a living, for money.

Do you want a new album full of music elements, well produced, etc.

They need money to pay it.

Yeah I was hesitant to mention the release is purely material we already have, but it's true.
I've really mentioned it to give context to the level of excitement I personally have.
It's a cool release, I'm glad it's happening, but I'm not over the moon because at the end of the day
the actual material is something a fan could easily compile together. (the HD lyric videos for instance)

Further to this, let's analyse the previous Greatest Hits albums. The extras.

- Discography had DJ Culture and Was It Worth It.
- PopArt had Flamboyant, and DVD commentary for the music videos
- Ultimate had Together

Probably other things included also, but the previous compilations had something new.
But do we really want a brand new single tacked on to a new greatest hits album? Probably not.
Even if they did a bonus disc in a special edition with some (previously exclusive to vinyl) dub mixes, new backing vocal mixes, unreleased instrumental mixes, would that be fitting for a release that's meant to showcase the most well known and publically appealing tracks PSB have to offer? Maybe not.
I still think a fan-dedicated special edition isn't too unreasonable to expect, and the mass consumers might enjoy it.
Or they could include some form of video extra in the DVD/Blu-Ray, or a booklet of some commentary.
There's literally nothing new here, aside from the fact the tracks are newly remastered.

Newly remastered. I wonder if we'll be able to tell the difference. It could be noticeably different or it may not be.
PopArt's mastering sounds quite different, and not a good way. Further Listening is distinguishable, and superior. (for the earlier albums at least) Who knows if Smash will be any different from previous releases. I'm hoping there's a distinction.
Remember with Further Listening, they took some creative liberties in removing the brief pause in the music for Love Etc. And in the Sodom and Gomorrah Show demo the Eminem sample is heavily muted. They chopped and changed parts of the tracks.
The 2023 remasters may even have different track lengths, though it's very unlikely.

Thank god social media wasn't around in 1991...

"Discography? What a lazy title! It's literally their discography and that's all they can come up with? What's with all the white? It looks like a bad version of the Actually sleeve! Only ONE new song? Why would I pay £10.99 for ONE new song on CD? I have all these songs already, what a sell-out....."

Much of Discography was exclusive to vinyl, so a CD and (eventual) digital release has a lot of merit.
That is funny though, and I bet you're not wrong. Bad version of the actually sleeve hahaha.

[Disco.]

Sorry to say this but this seems like pure and unnecessary greed on their part. True fans have all this already and can't see anyone else paying for all this.

I don’t follow the logic that some people who made some work are greedy for making the work available again. It’s not a compulsory purchase. It’s two people doing what they do for a living, for money.

Do you want a new album full of music elements, well produced, etc.

They need money to pay it.

Not the reason for this release. They make TONS of money from touring, that’s where the real money lies these days. Used to work in the record business, and have spoken to some promoters, it’s serious money you make from touring. Especially something like a greatest hits tour.

[stussyboy]

In the world of streaming where artists basically give away all their art for nothing, I am never going to criticise anyone for trying to recoup some lost revenue by flogging a greatest hits compilation.

Ultimately the market will decide - if a product is packaged well enough to make it worth us fans buying stuff we already have, then we will; if not, we won’t. We can see a mixture of reactions here as I would expect.

I’ve ordered the white vinyl and am happy to chuck a few ££ the boys way for all they have given me over the years

[Disco.]

Yep, as Chris once said don’t like don’t buy it, so true. They can do whatever they want, it’s their music, I may not like it, but I’m not gonna criticize them for it.

[leesmapman]

- PopArt had Flamboyant, and DVD commentary for the music videos

And Miracles

[psbfannyc]

I also wonder why in all caps?