Collectibles #26: Jason Mraz - We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things (Limited Edition) (2008)

In anticipation of Jason Mraz's sold-out concert in Singapore on 5 March, here's the limited edition of his third studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.

This is perhaps one of the best value "limited edition" packages around, as it contains 2 CDs and 1 DVD. Instead of giving us a few bonus tracks to add on to the original album, here we get an additional CD containing 12 tracks on one bonus CD.

Prior to the release of the album, Mraz released three EPs, titled you guessed it, We Sing, We Dance and We Steal Things. These EPs contained performances of 10 the album's final tracks at various live sessions, as well as two cuts that did not make the album - Man Gave Names To All The Animals and Mudhouse/Gypsy MC. 

It's cool to listen to the songs in their work-in-progress state and listen to how they differ from the final recorded version. Most of them are stripped-down versions with only guitar accompaniment. But even in its unfinished state, it was quite obvious that I'm Yours was going to be a big hit already. 

But the real gem in this package is the DVD, which contains a full-length, intimate concert at New York, a 30-minute documentary and a preview to his book. If you didn't manage to get tickets to the concert, the DVD should make up for it.

Among the 16 tracks are his past hits such as Geek In The Pink and The Remedy. The new material were also well-received by the highly appreciative audience. It is during his live performances where Mraz really comes alive. He has a knack for coming up with lyrics on the spot and he never seems to get tongue-tied. As a result, a lot of the songs here are quite different from the album version, where they are often extended or performed with a different musical arrangement.

Based on what we can see in the DVD, the concert should be a lot of fun. The question will be whether he can do it on a bigger scale, and satisfy a much bigger audience than the one here. He might seem more suited to a pub, but I believe the quality of the songs and his charisma should carry him through.