Egypt Station Explorer's Edition Ate My Homework
Editor's Note- Not Saying Anything To Paul McCartney is back after a six month hiatus. It seems that we were either hacked or deleted about 60 blogs, and only our 1st 60 blogs can be accessed. What has happened is not a tragedy but maybe a fresh start. ( Rather, a fresh start for a fresh mouth. ) But, what would you expect us to write about a repackaged 2019 Egypt Station which technically charted for five weeks before dropping off the US and UK charts when released in September of 2018?
This morning, I woke up early and discovered that the Egypt Station Explorer's Edition had been released. I found the album available on Spotify(I have a monthly 9.99 subscription). Now, since the February 2019 announced "Traveller's Edition" has been presumed to be released last week, and it's a £400 investment with payment instalment options, we will not be discussing that ludicrously priced limited edition box set. Instead, I would like to moan about the Explorer's edition because I don't understand what the motivation was for releasing a few B-sides and Live tracks along with the original album. This is a pricing problem and a quality problem. This release is a disappointment due to the physical copies not offering enough bonus material to reflect the sale price.
The album is available in 2-CDs(£21), SHM-CD(Japanese £40+), and three vinyl discs for £74.28(Amazon UK) or £51.99(Paul's UK website store). It's probably wise to not get a physical copy and get a streaming copy from ITunes(£12.99), Google Play(£9.99), or Spotify. There is no video material so it really isn't a major release to go broke for.
CD1- Original September 2018 Egypt Station
CD2- The one that got me so hopped up to wake up the Foot(our blog nemesis who dislikes Paul) and start cursing about animal-testicle high prices.
Fine, I said "Monkey Balls" but that's very immature and flippant, so I'd better explain the content of CD2 with the B-sides and Live material that made me wake a person up.
CD2 is officially called "Egypt Station II" and my review of the songs included in the track listing.
Egypt Station II
1 Get Started- HMV/Target exclusive released with September 2018 physical copies-
2 Nothing For Free- HMV/Target exclusive released with September 2018 physical copies
Two decent B-sides, that are musically stronger that some of the song lyrics. These are catchy tunes.
3. Frank Sinatra's Party
4 Sixty Second Street- This is another themed or recycled "Come On To Me". Sweet, yes, original, no. I get it he's looking for a hook up but this was already clearly established on "Come On To Me"
5 Who Cares [Full Length]- Longer version of the song with instrumental extension after the 3min mark. This is a good extended version.
6 Get Enough- The Auto-Tuned, dropped early this year single track has now gained automatic advancement to a quality McCartney track as it's not as poor as tracks 3 & 4. Get Enough has a unique sound and beautiful theme that the auto-tune actually is welcomed.
7 Come On To Me [Live At Abbey Road Studios]
8 Fuh You [Live At The Cavern Club]
9 Confidante [Live At LIPA]
10 Who Cares [Live At Grand Central Station]
Tracks 7-10 are mixed to have the audience cheers lower in background during these soundboard recordings to focus strictly on the stage performance.
"Confidante" was the best of these live tracks and presumably rarer to include as LIPA, aka Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, was given less attention when compared to the Spotify promotion of Grand Central Station(should still be easily available to hear the NYC show)
Next week, Paul start his American West Coast May/June tour. This seems as the explorer edition and the recent Professor Longhair recording CDs could be sold with new merchandise.
Stick to getting a t-shirt and consider a Spotify account. I'd hate to meet the people who shelled out £50-£70 for vinyl. Capitol Records has failed Paul when it comes to repackaging his vinyl releases for Egypt Station. Nothing less than too late and too expensive to push albums for a new 16 date USA tour. The recent South America and UK tours did not have additional music releases on sale. Missed opportunities and low physical copy(mostly vinyl) promotion have back burned Egypt Station.
This is probably the biggest sales problem, pushing vinyl that is not selling at reasonable price points. I would hope the next release is of better material and stays in the charts longer, but ultimately cheaper to physically purchase and stick to better release schedules. (Colour vinyl versions and standard Egypt Station LPs weren't released to HMV when the 2018 version came out)
Not Saying Anything To Paul McCartney is changing. Try and keep up but we promise to never use "monkey balls" to describe any Paul McCartney album again.
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