The Upgrades
Some people go through life looking for various ways to upgrade. We all do it...
Upgrade your standard of living...
Different job, different car, different house and/or the different job that leads to the upgraded car, house, or apartment.
It seems the only areas where we choose not to upgrade is with kids and pets. My lab mix, for example, has her flaws but I wouldn't trade her in for anything. I might opt to get another dog but Foppa is family and even if she's a pain in the ass sometimes she is a pain in the ass I have a major attachment too.
Children and pets...no so much. Spouses? Oddly enough, far too many people do in fact go looking for upgrades in this area of human and animal relationships. [Note: Upgrading your boyfriend or girlfriend? Sure. Upgrading the spouse post-commitment and/or family? Barring abusive situations...so not cool.]
As for me... there is one area of my life that I tend to upgrade far too much.
CDs.
In particular, "Greatest Hits" or "Anthology" CDs. It's really pathetic and there is no real defense for it other than to say that I am a dork and that when it comes to good music (and "good" is so subjective, I know) I subscribe to the school of more is better than less.
The money aspect of it is not usually that big of a deal. Most of the upgrades I make come about when I'm browsing the used section or through BMG music (still dirt cheap) or a great deal online. From there I take the "old model" (the older CD) and sell or trade it.
This CD upgrade thing is on my mind today because this past week I went on what could only be described as a Geek Spree. And there is no escaping what it is so I might as well explain it: One of the tricks to maximizing one's BMG music service is use any sale with "free shipping" to stock up on 2CD sets. This is an ideal way to upgrade CD anthologies. In this case, I bought several 2 disc sets that would retail for about 20 bucks each for 7 dollars each and with no shipping costs. So I...uh... went shopping...
First CD out...The Definitive Collection by The Mavericks, replaced by Gold. The former has pretty much every great song this terrific country/Tex-Mex band recorded buring their heyday. The latter has even more.
Second CD out...This Is Easy: The Best of Marshall Crenshaw, a single disc collection, replaced by Definitive Pop Collection, a 2 CD set. Truth be told, this was only a 9 song upgrade but the "Marshall Crenshaw Plan" is to power pop what the Marshall Plan was to rebuilding Europe post-WWII. And, yeah, I just compared pop music to warfare.
Third CD out...Good Boys When They're Asleep: The Best of Faces, upgraded to the double disc Definitive Rock Collection ('Definitive' is a very big word in hits/anthology sets). This was a no-brainer, at least for me. In fact, I almost bought two of the new set; one for me and one to be sent to Mr. Rod Stewart, in hopes of reminding him how much he kicked ass when he was with Faces and how much he truly sucks now.
Fourth CD out...all my Sublime CDs, replaced by Gold, which sums up the 44 best tracks from the short-lived band of Bradley Nowell and Co. This would be a good example of overkill. Sublime did not record 44 good songs. But each of their individual CDs have songs that are really great and despite many a "hits" collection following Nowell's death, not a one before Gold had all the "best" stuff.
Fifth CD out...The Best of White Lion, replaced by the 2 CD Definitive Rock Collection: White Lion. The line of "Definitive" collections (Pop, Rock, Soul) by Rhino are all double disc sets and the collective goal seems to be to provide way too much of bands/artists who, it must be argued, may not even merit a single disc set, let alone the double treatment. But I was a huge White Lion fan back in the day and this one seemed like fun. (Note: I own the set issued for Dokken, part of the same series, and have the one by Black Oak Arkansas, a truly so-bad-they're-good souther rock act of the 70s, on my radar.)
Sixth CD...no out. I didn't own any Lynyrd Skynyrd so, after exploring various options, found that Gold was a very good, recently issued set. If nothing else it contains both the live and studio versions of "Freebird". What more can you ask for?
Laugh now if you must but as I gaze into my crystal ball I see the future: Definitive Emo Collection: Fall Out Boy and Gold, a 2 CD set capturing the magic of Nickelback. And some of you will buy it!
J
Upgrade your standard of living...
Different job, different car, different house and/or the different job that leads to the upgraded car, house, or apartment.
It seems the only areas where we choose not to upgrade is with kids and pets. My lab mix, for example, has her flaws but I wouldn't trade her in for anything. I might opt to get another dog but Foppa is family and even if she's a pain in the ass sometimes she is a pain in the ass I have a major attachment too.
Children and pets...no so much. Spouses? Oddly enough, far too many people do in fact go looking for upgrades in this area of human and animal relationships. [Note: Upgrading your boyfriend or girlfriend? Sure. Upgrading the spouse post-commitment and/or family? Barring abusive situations...so not cool.]
As for me... there is one area of my life that I tend to upgrade far too much.
CDs.
In particular, "Greatest Hits" or "Anthology" CDs. It's really pathetic and there is no real defense for it other than to say that I am a dork and that when it comes to good music (and "good" is so subjective, I know) I subscribe to the school of more is better than less.
The money aspect of it is not usually that big of a deal. Most of the upgrades I make come about when I'm browsing the used section or through BMG music (still dirt cheap) or a great deal online. From there I take the "old model" (the older CD) and sell or trade it.
This CD upgrade thing is on my mind today because this past week I went on what could only be described as a Geek Spree. And there is no escaping what it is so I might as well explain it: One of the tricks to maximizing one's BMG music service is use any sale with "free shipping" to stock up on 2CD sets. This is an ideal way to upgrade CD anthologies. In this case, I bought several 2 disc sets that would retail for about 20 bucks each for 7 dollars each and with no shipping costs. So I...uh... went shopping...
First CD out...The Definitive Collection by The Mavericks, replaced by Gold. The former has pretty much every great song this terrific country/Tex-Mex band recorded buring their heyday. The latter has even more.
Second CD out...This Is Easy: The Best of Marshall Crenshaw, a single disc collection, replaced by Definitive Pop Collection, a 2 CD set. Truth be told, this was only a 9 song upgrade but the "Marshall Crenshaw Plan" is to power pop what the Marshall Plan was to rebuilding Europe post-WWII. And, yeah, I just compared pop music to warfare.
Third CD out...Good Boys When They're Asleep: The Best of Faces, upgraded to the double disc Definitive Rock Collection ('Definitive' is a very big word in hits/anthology sets). This was a no-brainer, at least for me. In fact, I almost bought two of the new set; one for me and one to be sent to Mr. Rod Stewart, in hopes of reminding him how much he kicked ass when he was with Faces and how much he truly sucks now.
Fourth CD out...all my Sublime CDs, replaced by Gold, which sums up the 44 best tracks from the short-lived band of Bradley Nowell and Co. This would be a good example of overkill. Sublime did not record 44 good songs. But each of their individual CDs have songs that are really great and despite many a "hits" collection following Nowell's death, not a one before Gold had all the "best" stuff.
Fifth CD out...The Best of White Lion, replaced by the 2 CD Definitive Rock Collection: White Lion. The line of "Definitive" collections (Pop, Rock, Soul) by Rhino are all double disc sets and the collective goal seems to be to provide way too much of bands/artists who, it must be argued, may not even merit a single disc set, let alone the double treatment. But I was a huge White Lion fan back in the day and this one seemed like fun. (Note: I own the set issued for Dokken, part of the same series, and have the one by Black Oak Arkansas, a truly so-bad-they're-good souther rock act of the 70s, on my radar.)
Sixth CD...no out. I didn't own any Lynyrd Skynyrd so, after exploring various options, found that Gold was a very good, recently issued set. If nothing else it contains both the live and studio versions of "Freebird". What more can you ask for?
Laugh now if you must but as I gaze into my crystal ball I see the future: Definitive Emo Collection: Fall Out Boy and Gold, a 2 CD set capturing the magic of Nickelback. And some of you will buy it!
J