Monday, June 05, 2006

Collectibles #9: Michael Jackson Visionary: The Video Singles (2006) (UPDATE: COMPLETE)

UPDATE: I've finally completed collecting all 20 singles! After much pain and holes in my pockets. Yeah I just calculated and I realised I've spent S$352.20 for this whole set!!! Oh my gosh, it's ridiculous! No wonder I'm so broke....shikes.

Here is the complete box...




Original Post:



When an artiste leaves a label, it is common for the label to re-release the artiste's old stuff in various formats and packagings. We have already seen countless MJ greatest hits compilations, and sure enough, another one pops up.

This time, it's the Visionary: The Video Singles box set. Inspired by the success of Elvis Presley's re-release of his number one singles over about 20 weeks, Sony has responded by churning out this box set, in which a different single will be released each week over 20 weeks.

This time, the singles are not the normal CD singles but rather, they are Dual Disc singles - a new format of discs where one side is audio (CD) and the other side is video (DVD). A pretty ingenious idea, used mainly to combat music piracy by offering fans "two different expreiences", as they market it. But it also means more money spent, as each Dual Disc release is more expensive than usual.

For this Visionary project, 20 of MJ's biggest video singles have been chosen. The videos are the most groundbreaking of his career and they have been deemed worthy of a re-release. But not all the videos are great though. I don't know what the hell You Are Not Alone is doing here when Scream is so much better. I think it's because of the complication of getting clearance from Virgin, as Scream featured Janet in the song and video.

Anyway, this whole project is not available in Singapore and I went to great lengths to get it. It's not complete though - I'm still missing 7 singles. And let's see, each single I got from Hong Kong cost me about S$13 and those I got from Japan around S$20 each. So it's a big sum of money for this. Sigh. Why can't they just bring it in Singapore?

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Collectibles #8: Red Hot Chili Peppers Stadium Arcadium 2006



Just released in Singapore over the weekend, this limited edition box set of Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium is one hot buy. This is RHCP's ninth studio album, coming after the heels of its critically acclaimed Californication (1999) and By The Way (2001) albums.

Being a double album, the 28 songs are spread out over two discs, nicknamed Jupiter and Mars. This limited edition set contains a bonus DVD featuring the Dani California (first single) video, the making of the video, and a documentary.

You can get this at Music Junction at $59.90, HMV at $62.95 and Gramophone at $69.90, but Gramophone is currently having a 20% storewide discount for CDs (limited period only!), so it's actually the cheapest at Gramophone right now. Hurry down cos stocks are limited.

At $50+, it seems a tad pricey for this set. The marbles are quite useless and I could have done away with the spinning thingy. However, the box is nice and sturdy. But it still feels a little overpriced.

I haven't listened to the album yet, save for the lead single, which I didn't find immensely catchy or superb. On a double album, chances are that not all songs will be good. But even if there is a 60% rate of hits, that would be like 17 good songs on it. Certainly hope so.

Hope they'll be heading back to Singapore shores again, after their excellent gig back in 2002 (?). Hee, can't remember when they came, but it was damn good. For now, let's be content and savour their new songs on CD, or rather, mp3!