HARDHOUND

Neu! – another deluxe release…

Author: Colin | Published: 2/8/10

Another day, another deluxe release. This time it’s the turn of German legends Neu! £120 will get you:

Am I tempted by this one? Even if I had the money to spare, I’m too struck by the irony that a band whose name I believe was a satirical gesture towards consumer society’s thirst for product should be commemorated in this way. It’s also a part of the gradual, disappointing move towards expensive exclusivity. The Guardian’s art critic Jonathan Jones expressed it well in writing about the sale of Picasso’s Nude:

Andy Warhol said he loved hot dogs because even the Queen of England can’t get a better one than the bum on the corner.

In today’s market Led Zeppelin’s In Through The Out Door (brown paper outer sleeve, watercolour-impregnated inner sleeve) or any of the other fantastic Hipgnosis die-cut designs for the band would have been sold at a major premium rather than being released as standard. I’m not against limited editions per se, just the reduction in focus on the mainstream.

What do you think?


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