Another day, another deluxe release. This time it’s the turn of German legends Neu! £120 will get you:
- 4 vinyl LPs & 1 vinyl maxi-single
- Original studio albums NEU!, NEU! 2, NEU! ’75 and the for the first time, an official release of NEU! ’86
- NEU! ’72 (previously unreleased live maxi-single 20 minutes!)
- 36-page picturebook & NEU! stencil
- Free download code for all albums
- Free NEU! t-shirt (one of three designs)
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?