[ Metro Santa Cruz | MetroActive Central | Archives ]

Pissed!

By Johnny Angel

Simple Math:
On a CD we get so much more music than when those cumbersome slabs of vinyl ruled. But, lo and behold, we're getting ripped off!

Isn't technology wonderful? Pick up any and every newly recorded product available today, and danged if you don't get a lot more bang for your bucks. Thanks to CDs, can you name a new release anywhere that clocks in at less than 40 minutes or 15 tracks? Who says this is an era of shuckery?

That's what I figured until I did a little simple arithmetic after purchasing the Stones' glorious oldie, Beggars Banquet. While perusing the cover of the CD, I noticed that this bit of arcanery featured a mere eight songs. I chuckled to myself, "Ha, they'd never be able to get away with this flim-flammery today. Eight songs, what a rip!"

But the hyperactive Angel brain pan is rarely able to let a prospective PISSED! inspiration slip by, and it dawned on me that when one stacks the Stones re-issue up against competing '96 newies (or the Stones' last two records), the brevity on the former beats the pants off of most all of the latter. The Stones disc may just be eight tracks, but they're eight fantastic songs, all of which create a glorious aura as individual statements. I haven't heard a new disc in years that had even four worthy tracks back-to-back, let alone eight, save for greatest hits packs.

How many times have you heard a great song on the radio or in a nightclub, raced out and got the full-lengther, and subsequently had to sift through more chaff than exists in a Kansas wheat field? It seems that CD technology has created a new monster--excessiveness on a grand scale.

When the vinyl album ruled the planet, there were length restrictions imposed by the format's very nature (put too many grooves on a record side and it wouldn't sound as good after about 18 minutes). The best material an artist had to offer made it onto the disc, while the rest stayed in the can. With CD technology, why edit? The more songs that make it onto a disc, the more songwriting royalties an artist gets. And the more tracks available, the greater the justification for the CD's hefty price tag.

Double records like Layla and London Calling had a list price of about $10, and they were considered risky propositions in their day. A hit CD runs at least $12 if not on sale. So, even from a fiscal standpoint, the notion that a CD is a real winner over the old vinyl slab is bunk-a-roo (sonic considerations being a whole 'nother issue).

Progress! Phooey!

[ Metro Santa Cruz | MetroActive Central | Archives ]