Vinyl Me Please Anthology

But, now that I have bought into the set, I do agree with the coloring complaints. I like Europe 72, Wake of the Flood and Terrapin. I think they match the artwork pretty well. But the others are mostly horrendous choices. Maybe they'll look better in person
 
guitwiz said:
What's Dead 101?

I bought it too. Don't feel too bad. Looking forward to the journey (and lining Bob Weir's pockets)
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As in an intro to the band. I don't own any albums of theirs.

BazookaTooth said:
can you still afford the N&G coffee mug ?
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lol as of now. looking forward to official N&G merch
 
gsurber said:
Either own or have routinely passed on these except for Without a Net. I was real worried I'd spend the evening talking myself into this.

Still, for that much money, I'd recommend collecting a few live shows/comps for roughly the same price:
  • Live Dead
  • Europe 72 (and Vol. 2 if you can find it for a good price)
  • Cornell
  • Dead Set/Reckoning combo
  • Wake Up to Find Out (Nassau 3/29/90 w/ Branford Marsalis).
You might spend close to $450 with flippers, but you'll get more LPs and a much better snapshot of the Dead throughout the years. (And IMO the best Eyes of the World with Branford Marsalis.)
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If I was VMP, I would have done first album, Live/Dead, American Beauty, Skull/Roses, Mars Hotel, Warfield 1980, In the Dark, and then because I hate my customers Ready or Not
 
Calling it now, a fake sellout announcement within the next 48 hours followed by it being listed again on some other affiliates website in the next 6 months or so. Announcing fake sellouts is buying themselves new customers, which is more important to them right now than actually selling out.
 
Brotha52 said:
Imagine if this was a RSD item instead of VMP still with 7500 made. This would sell immediately.
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I doubt it at this price point. I remember seeing the 4 LP box set of studio albums from a RSD 2017 in stores for months after, and that sold for less than 100
 
MikeH said:
I'm confused about the demographic tho and who this box set is for. It's not for people getting into the Dead for the first time because it's too expensive but it doesn't have enough exclusive content for Dead Heads to drop $450. Do Dead Heads love the bands in the liner notes?
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Yeah, it's a little sloppy and I think it misses the mark, but here's kind of how I'm seeing it.

It's for people with money that want VMP to curate their record collection for them. They listen to indie bands and have "eclectic" tastes, but really just hover within the same parameters of what is played on non-commercial radio stations like KEXP. It's kind of like how SUB POP is considered a indie label, but Warner Bros owns 49% of the company. They only go so far off the grid and are still fairly tethered.

Even by looking over that Day Of The Dead box, I could pick more names of artists whose takes I'd be interested in hearing about regarding the Dead. Having some dude from Dirty Projectors or someone from the Decemberists talk about them is not a selling point.

I remember 15 years ago, when the psych rock revival was really starting to gain some traction and talking about how ridiculous it was to me that there was still so much aversion to the Grateful Dead. People were starting to embrace this throwback sound, but continuing to completely dismiss some of the primary architects. It seems like a lot of people can't remember that the Dead were still considered "uncool" and something to run from. But, shortly after, their legacy started to infiltrate that scene and then, almost overnight, they were given props. Even if you didn't listen to them, it was a good idea to wear a shirt. I saw images of some high fashion runway show recently where they all had on tour Tees.

Even now, when some people are explaining that they dismissed the Dead it was because they knew people that also liked Phish. The Dead's stigma was the same as the one with Phish, if not worse Phish actually took on some of it that they still retain, after the Dead has shaken it. That's because, prior to recently, people who listened to the Dead were considered a certain type of person. Once you start to see that the music reaches beyond that small stereotype, it's harder to argue that case.

So, now there is an acknowledgement that they overlooked the Dead for whatever reason, but for a lot of us, that still feels relatively new. That same blank dismissal that Phish gets was applied to the Grateful Dead FOREVER. They represented some hippie bullshit that nobody wanted to be associated with. All of that "When the drugs run out, people realize they are listening to a shitty band" rhetoric was standard. So, now all the same demographic of kids who 15-20 years ago wouldn't be caught "dead" even admitting that they liked a GD song are existing in a time period where the world has embraced them, and I'm sure some of that comes over time with their own heroes signaling to them that it's okay now.

For that reason, the Day Of The Dead box was probably a better introduction to the group than this thing, because it broke down those barriers in a way that showed a lot more reverence and care than I may have otherwise expected from it. You could tell that the people behind it really cared. The VMP release seems like it's targeting the same crowd, but with a less effective delivery. The price is obviously a huge difference and the Day Of The Dead box actually delivered something new. This is old stuff and most of it fairly easy to acquire. Then, you just have Jim James showing up to tell you why it's cool. Oh, and Hunter from Soundtribe, who most people won't even know who the fuck he is.
 
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