The_Noble_Cause wrote:finalfight wrote:Of course it hasn't. The vocal majority have already suggested that the rerecords are less than worthless and its the NEW material that is getting all the accolades.
The "vocal majority" is a byword for a handful of like-minded opinions you found on the web.
Going on the lackluster consumer reception to "Arrival", "Generations," and "Red 13", my intuition tells me the masses picked it up for the classics. Granted, two of those albums had no promotional push whatsoever, but the point still stands.
Similarly, success had eluded modern Styx until they released a covers album. There is just something about the familiar and the instantly recognizable that buyers are receptive to.
Even friends that I've given the package to immediately want to pop in Disc 2 – not a scientific measure by any stretch, but still…
It's possible that many (even most) purchasers bought the album because of the classics. But I'm not quite sure that the majority did in this case.
One benefit of touring almost non-stop over the last 10 years has been to build a loyal and significant fan base. I think this fan base in 2008 was (1) larger and (2) more knowledgable (
on average) about current events with the band (i.e., new album, tour, new lead singer, etc.) than the fan base in 2001. An aggressive marketing campaign (read: dominant retailer providing a product at good value)could tap into this fan base in 2008 and have successful sales.
In 2001, Sony launched a lethargic marketing campaign, marketing a legacy act (Journey) largely the same way it would do for, say, Britney Spears. The product it brought to market was nowhere near the value that 'Revelation' is (no bonus CD or DVD).
In 2001, Journey was at the back-end of a marketing cycle -- the marketing techniques for 'Arrival' was
at least five years out-of-date, at least. In 2008, on the other hand, Journey is on the front-end of marketing techniques (direct marketing thru Wal-Mart) -- hence the recent article that appeared in the New York Times describing this very thing (and focusing on Journey, by the way).
If I had to guess, I'd say 75% bought the album for the new music (or simply out of curiousity, or for the value of the package as a whole), 20% bought it for the re-records, and 5% bought it for the DVD.
The brilliance of the marketing plan for this album was the concept of the tie-in. If you bought it for one reason (old music, new music, DVD), you were given two additional benefits -- and because of the Wal-Mart price point, these came at essentially no additional cost.
If Journey keeps re-recording some classics for future CDs, and releases double-albums in the future, so what? ..... Journey was hamstrung for 8 years, unable to re-record any Perry-era classics. So, unlike other bands, they couldn't re-record their older catalogue and do different arrangements, do acoustic recordings, or whatever. Now that they can, good for them.
Personally, I think some of the re-records are excellent. (But I'll save that for my review, to be posted shortly.)
