How many times can I buy the same thing?

There are many schools of thought when it comes to whether or not to purchase remastered versions of old things. George Lucas comes under fire every time he re-releases his Star Wars series. In his defense, at least he is updating it so it’s up to date with current technology. Sure, he takes some liberties every time he does it, but it’s ultimately his vision. And, of course, people are critical that he is “multi-dipping” to get people to buy as many versions of the same thing to line his pockets. I’ll tell you what, you create something that catches on as well as that, and we’ll see what you do. It’s a no-brainer to keep a business like that going.

Honestly, as a customer, I’ll buy something I’m interested in as many times as I have to. I’m not a purist at all. I don’t own nine different versions of Star Wars, or anything else for that matter. If it’s cost effective to do so, I normally try to sell my previous version of stuff, so I normally have the latest version.

There are a few exceptions. I will own certain movies in every format in which they are available. Dumb and Dumber, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, and Rushmore are the more recent examples of this; I own them on both DVD and Blu Ray, and I don’t see any reason why I have to get rid of the DVDs. I bought Mortal Kombat II on pretty much every format in which it has been released. [and I beat the crap out of it on the impossible Xbox Live version.]

When it comes to music, I honestly don’t buy a lot of new stuff. I don’t know many people in my demographic who can really stomach current pop hits enough to buy full CDs. Occasionally, something outstanding comes out, like Katy Perry’s “E.T.” (ft. Kanye West), so I’ll buy a single here and there [don’t judge; listen closely to the beat, which wasn’t even intended for her, and you’ll understand, and, if you don’t, I’m really sorry.]

I was really excited when Cassie bought me the mono remastered Beatles collection released in 2010. So excited, that I decided to go out and buy the missing albums. I now own the best versions of all of the Beatles albums ever released. That’s pretty damn cool!

I get excited when I hear that certain things are coming out in a remastered format. In 2011, my favorite album of all time, Pearl Jam’s Vs. got a remastered CD released. Of course, I had to buy it. I was pissed that the case for the CD is shorter and wider than any other CD case in the history of the world, but I’ll live.

I learned that Paul McCartney was releasing a(nother) remaster of his RAM album, and, since the only format I own is digital, I had to buy that.

I’ve probably blogged about this before (1 2), but I really love RAM. There’s no other full album that I’ve had as much enjoyment listening to as this in the last five years. I was introduced to it by Tom Scharpling during his Best Show on WFMU back around 2009, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

I got a little pissed after I placed my order for the RAM remaster on Amazon. You know how it recommends “Things other people who bought your item purchased” or whatever? Well it suggested this to me.

Damn, did I want that deluxe set! I’m sure it’s worth every penny, but I really can’t justify the price. Well, I could, but I had already started spending some serious money. Buying the remaster of RAM kind of opened up some floodgates for me. Paul also recently released remasters of McCartney, McCartney II, and his Wings collaboration, Band on the Run, all albums I never owned. So I picked those up too. All of those albums are very good, but I can’t imagine myself wanting any future remasters of these albums (maybe Band on the Run, maybe).

The universe has been good to me in the past two years. It gave me a remaster of Vs., and it gave me a remaster of RAM. Of course, I paid for them, but at least they were made available. If stars align and a remastered version of Metallica’s …and Justice for All gets released (and believe me, it needs a remastered version, even Hetfield says they messed up by keeping the bass virtually out of the mix), then there’s nothing else I can really expect out of the universe, now; is there?

(UPDATE: After this post was initially drafted, the deluxe four disc CD and one DVD Ram set has been purchased. It’s on the way. I couldn’t not own this. I need to hear RAM in mono. Now, I’m obsessed with this, and I don’t even own a record player!)