Some of you may have witnessed my full-on Rabid Fangirl freak-out on the Yesfans forum regarding the contents of the upcoming box set. Dear Reader, it was the veritable gamut of emotions.
Trevor is releasing a box set: OMG YAIS, this is amazing.
Reading the details of said box set on the storefront: Uh...what?
It's true I have some issues with some things but it's also true that the information provided by Gonzo Multimedia via the storefront is just downright confusing.
So I wanted to raise a few of those points as a die-hard fan (and someone whom this release is targeted directly at), and hopefully we might receive some clarification from someone before March 16th. I do find it kind of odd that after Henry Potts and I broke the story, so to speak, there's been no actual official announcement from anybody. I don't mind being the one enacting the publicity but you'd think there would be a plan for this sort of thing, right? Because any other outlet which reported on the box set did so hours after I did. So, once again: You're welcome.
How many discs?
As Henry helpfully pointed out in discussion, they have disc seven appearing in the listing twice, once for the Rabin-Hodgson disc (presumably) and once for the Boston show. So are there ten discs or eleven? Do we get a full show recording on two discs, or an edited version on one disc and the collaborations with Roger?
Beginnings or Trevor Rabin?
It's déjà vu all over again, it seems...when Trevor Rabin was reissued in 2003, it bore the original album title and cover art. Now it seems this version is the opposite, with the eponymous title and cover art (ugh). The tracklisting in the description is for Beginnings, and IF that is true, that is amazing. A remaster of Beginnings is something I have desired for a very long time, and the subject of one of my entries back in 2017. Now I don't even know if I should be excited. Is it actually correct? And if so, why did they not just use the original title and cover art (which they already had in the archives, presumably). But I'm really hoping this is not a misprint!
Do we get a full show?
Returning to a previous point. when I received the email from Ray Reithmeier regarding the storefront update, he pointed out to me that it appears the Boston show disc bears the cover of this bootleg version:
https://www.discogs.com/Trevor-Rabin-Cry-Lonely-Wolf/release/8151269
...and thus it's a reasonable supposition that the release is sourced from it as well (i.e. the original radio broadcast). But in conjunction with the issue of the number of actual discs, it appears uncertain. I'm also going to speculate that there were two versions broadcast: one was a full show simulcast by WBCN on 12/5/89 and one was an edited version by Westwood One sometime in 1990. It could be what will be included in the box set is this latter version and that would be disappointing, as I previously stated. And that's not even touching upon the fact that if they are using that cover, it's not even a photo of Trevor from 1989!
WTF?!
I don't know what to say about 90124, it's not even the same tracklist as the original CD? Of course the original CD also contained numerous errors in the liner notes, so...has it been resequenced, with some tracks swapped out, or what?
Extras
Bonus content is always a crapshoot from a fan's perspective, but it is disappointing in this case as most of the bonus tracks for the individual reissues are previously available, either in the collector's market or online.
But can we talk about the poster for a minute? As a fan, as a collector, I love posters; I am someone who - as some fellow fans/readers are aware - has an entire room decorated with posters, photos and artwork of Trevor. And the thought of a new poster made me very happy...until I closely examined the photo of the box set contents. The image used for the poster is the one which graces the back cover of Trevor Rabin, but presumably reproduced at a higher quality. But seriously...Trevor Rabin has the worst cover art of all of Trevor's solo albums. As I opined on Yesfans, what they should have done was reproduced the poster which came with the Japanese version of the album, which I have exhibited previously on the blog. I doubt it would have been difficult to obtain a copy for scanning. Or how about the poster which was created to promote Can't Look Away, which, sure, you can still buy on eBay but it's a great photograph (as are all of Lisa Powers' images). I'm assuming that one will at least be included in the photo book.
Were you really ready?
There are numerous formatting errors and typos in the merchandise listings and someone should have caught all of it before they went live. I'm asserting this from my professional perspective, not my fandom one.
