I think I've bought this record on 4 different occasions (vinyl, CD, CD in a 3CD box and reissued CD. I haven't succumbed to the recent anniversary boxset but I'm sure it will happen at some point.

On LP, lousy original CD transfers, "definitive edition" CD remaster, the new 5.1 box sets. And in some cases, foreign pressings on vinyl. None of them even with the excitement of additional tracks.

If it wasn't for me, Phil Collins would still be living in Hounslow. Probably.

the EMI reissues are actually quite tempting as they feature all their B-Sides which in some cases are better than the songs on the original albums. However I shall wait until they're under £10 before buying them... that should be about 2 weeks then.

Particularly suckered by Silvertone/Zomba's persistent re-releases..

Had the original vinyl. Bought a CD copy for then girlfriend. Bought re-issued CD with "Elephant Stone" inserted after She Bangs The Drum. Then bought CD with Fools Gold tacked to the end (despite owning said song on 12" - Bought the "Remix" album - bought the "Turns Into Stone" CD that collects the few b sides and unreleased stuff that didn't make it on to the album but I had on the 12" singles nontheless.

Will be buying the deluxe 20th anniversary edition...

Zomba - meet your #1 mug punter.

...Love's Forever Changes 4 times in the past 12 years or so. A 'vanilla' CD, 2 CD re-issues and Sundazed's vinyl release.

as downloads, if I like 'em enough too. The one exception was the re-mastered Blood on the Tracks on CD, already owned on vinyl, but that was mainly cos I saw it for next to nowt.
I have owned Bongos over Balham 3 times, in 2 different formats, LP (lost/nicked), cassette (to replace it) and LP again (gift)
I have, however, bought the "I'll be Home" compilation which includes many of the same songs, albeit from the demos, topped up with downloads from the re-released dble-disc Bongos.

is a serial offender shamelessly re-mining his own back catalogue, I think I have at least 3 re-mastered never-before-heard bonus-tracks extra-disc exclusive-sleeve-notes-by-himself or whatever reissues of his first dozen albums or so. Even "Goodbye Cruel World" from the booklet of which EC greets you with the breathtakingly honest opening line:"Congratulations - you've just bought our worst-ever record."
Didn't bother with that one about Romeo & Juliet with the chamber orchestra though. Or the one with the black and white cover where he basically sings "Look at me - I've got a dead smart new new bird, bet you haven't" for an hour.

I almost bought the remastered 'spesh' version of Camel's 'The Snow Goose' but I eventually resisted. The crucial deciding question was 'how often will I actually listen to the live version on the second disc?'
Didn't stop me buying the 2-disc version of 'The Who Sell Out' last week though ( despite The Hep's less than enthusiastic review ). Guess I'll go for 'mono mixes' and bonus tracks over 'live' versions every time.

I sold my CD copy of Blonde On Blonde by Bob Dylan to a second hand store then two minutes later went into Fopp and bought the 2003 remaster for £5. Big waste of money. The sound was identical to the original CD as far as I could tell. And the remaster didn't have a tracklist on the back of the packaging which is just annoying.

I posted about this on a thread about a month ago and I got into a dialogue with stumpy about the 2008 Van Morrison remasters. I told him that buying what you've already got is pointless etc. About five days later I was in Zavvi for their closing down sale where I found the 2005 2CD deluxe edition of Nine Inch Nails' brilliant The Downward Spiral for £7.19 (£9 and 20% off). I bought it. And I don't regret it even though I can't hear any difference in sound quality to my 1995 version. And the bonus disc only had four worthwhile tracks on it.

How much? If it is as cheap as the original, if it ever came out on CD, I'd get it (and probably will). I only ever had it on a cassette "ripped" from the record library.
Of course you will never listen to the live version, no one ever does in such a setting. I bought a Duke Special CD last week with a "bonus" live version of 90% of the same tracks as on the "main" disc, with one song from elsewhere. I had quite liked the studio version, which was lucky, as had I listened to the live disc first, I would have thought it all tommyrot of the first order, so execrably kitsch is the orchestrated live disc.

are rarely worth it. Nick Lowe's Jesus Of Cool is a magnificent example of repackaging with all the right extra tracks which make it indispensable even if you have the original LP. A couple of lost tracks or alternate takes don't do it for me. I was cross when Springsteen's Seeger Sessions was reissued after a couple of months with some essential extra tracks, I bought it but felt conned.Just bought The Who's Sell Out which is a nice package & my Vinyl has seen better days but I doubt I will ever play the second disc which is essentially just a mono mix.

I seem to buy Costello's King Of America each time it's re -issued with new tracks. I now own 57 copies I think.

sounded ace when I was bombing into town last week, really smacking you around the chops

is how double vinyls are merged into single CDs. It's literally the most annoying thing in the entire world.

Something like Trout Mask is a great example - in its original form its two tightly-controlled, carefully manipulated sets. In its CD form, it a massive sprawling opus, which is not how it's meant to be. Same goes for Exile on Main Street, Blonde on Blonde, London;s Calling, and probably countless others.

The White Album seems to be the only disc to escape this fate. Peopbably because it's too long to merge into one. Why not just put a line on the back of the tracklisting, between the two halves of the record - is that so hard? The current set-up makes it really difficultfor young kids to get int these records, as they're so intimidating.

I can't stop buying Close-Up by Frankie Valli. It contains the gosh-darned amazing 11 minute version of Swearing To God - a disco classic, proper. None of your Oops Upside Your Head.

Every time I see a copy of the album, I buy it. 5 vinyl copies and counting. It came out on CD last year. Swearing To God is about 20 seconds longer on CD, so I bought that too.

Daft bugger.

that artists apparently spend ages and ages on the running order and sequencing of an album, which may have some theme to it, but 20 years later these same songs get lumped into a "fill up the 75 minutes available with some b-sides and outtakes" collection. Maybe it reflects a song-based approach over an album orientation. Or maybe I'm just an old fart...

Actually, I prefer cd's that last around 50 minutes. It might be my limited attention span but there's also the fact that I simply don't often have the time and inclination to sit still and listen for 75 minutes.

I'm on my 4th version of The La's sole album - vinyl, "vanilla" CD, "special edition" CD with 4 extra tracks and now the "deluxe" double CD, which (of course!) fails to include one of the tracks from the previous single-disk edition (sigh!) Bearing in mind their demo collection ("Callin' All") and BBC Sessions CD, surely this must be some productivity record for a band with only one actual album to their name? Unless you know differently...

I've bought 3 versions. LP first, which I gave a loan of to my mate. When I eventually got it back, LP wouldn't play properly. On closer inspection I found a footprint on it, and some substance that resembled beans. Replaced it with cassette tape, which(after a while)got chewed up in the car player. I have it on CD now.

I bought Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" last week for £1 from a charity shop. I already own this. The thinking behind this is to swap with a friend for something he/she don't want anymore.

original cd's in my collection which makes it look as if I own about 80 Costello cd's when it's probably more like 40. Anyway what's with Richard Thompson? Brings out his Watching the dark anthology which is pretty definitive, few years later he brings out action packed which is a best of from his Capitol years, couple of years after that he brings out a 6 cd boxset RT which to be fair is a bit shoddily put together. In June there is a new 4 cd best of which basically contains nothing I dont already own. All told I make that 14 cd's of best of material. Someone is having a laugh here.

More embarrassing than buying a new version of a cd with a few extra tracks on it is buying a cd that you already have and have forgotten that you have. Recently did that with a Super Furry Animals cd - I blame the cover artwork - it all looks the same!!!

Often it's a case of looking for a better-sounding version of the music with me. I'm actually not an audiophile at all but some things just sound wrong. Examples...

Wizzard Brew - I've had several copies of this on cassette, vinyl, and two different CDs. I've now concluded it's *supposed* to sound like that, and love it for what it is. In other words, a decent record with every instrument processed through a ring modulator - an early lo-fi album.

Out Of The Blue (ELO) - cassette, gatefold vinyl, early Japanese 2 CD version, standard CD issue, gatefold CD remaster. Actually passed on the recent reissue with apparently Jeff Lynne-approved remastering because it had some ersatz bonus tracks, actually recorded in 2001. The sound quality of this album is just never going to be great. It still remains a favorite and again I've resolved that it sounds as good as it can. (Insert joke at ELO's expense here)

In The Court of The Crimson King - most recent one is the CD where it is just duplicated straight from the master with no EQ or any form of adjustment (DGM Original Master edition). May actually be the best-sounding CD in my collection.

Sweetheart of the Rodeo (Byrds) - I'm just a sucker for this one. I think it's the belief that there is somehow a definitive version of it out there that hasn't been released yet. This is more in terms of track selection/Gram Parsons content than sound quality.

I treasure the Saints "(I'm) Stranded" even though I don't listen to it very much anymore - in my head, it is a crystal clear, white-hot essence of rock and roll. The actual audio experience is never quite as good as my memory of it.

I bought my first vinyl copy not long after it came out.
In the way that things happen to lively records, one side suffered from being jolted and the needle skreeee-ing across. So I bought another copy, which later suffered a similar fate - but on the other side! So for 2 slabs of vinyl, I had one playable record.

Later on, at a record fair, I bought an EMI Australia edition - again on good solid vinyl. I still have that.

I happened across a cassette copy, had to have that too. Then it came out on CD - I bought that, and it sounded like it had been mastered off my cassette. Still, a CD, with the bonus tracks of the mighty 1-2-3-4 EP. But I would have bought it anyway.

Then I bought the Raven collection "Wild About You", which gathers all the studio recording from 76-79.

That makes 6 purchases. I've enjoyed them all.

I have also bought the MC5's High Time on 80s vinyl, then on 70s vinyl at a record fair, on CD and on the re-mastered 180gm Sundazed edition.

Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" - 70s vinyl which still sounds great, CD and then re-mastered CD which is unlistenable - the percussion dominates throughout.

Kind of Blue - twice on vinyl, CD, re-mastered CD and I am waiting for the 50th anniversary box to be in Fopp for less than £50.

In A Silent Way - original CD, "Complete In A Silent Way" Box set, and in eco packaging when I was stuck in Wrexham and needed some soothing music.

Exile on Main St - 80s vinyl, 70s vinyl, CD, re-mastered CD.

And that's just off the top of my head!

I've got several copies each of "Modern Life is Rubbish" by Blur and "Apollo 18" by They Might Be Giants... because both CDs have different track gaps in England and America. Not even for the extra music. Now that's sad.

My better half believes I'm quite mad ("as long as you can hear it, what's the difference?") but I'm quite partial to remastered/definitive/bonus CD/extra tracks re-releases. I admit to being something of a hi-fi snob, and I like to have the best sound quality available. I don't drink, smoke or otherwise indulge, so music is my one extravagance.

To that end, I've bought Marillion's Fugazi (their best album, no argument) numerous times (cassette, vinyl, CD, remastered double CD), and have individual tracks from it on countless 12", 7", live CDs, DVDs, and bootlegs. Other multiple purchases include the Sisters of Mercy's Floodland (again, their best), Depeche Mode's Violator (ditto) and Pink Floyd's The Wall (best again).

I also spent more money than is good for me buying Dead Can Dance's albums for the second or third time just because they were SACD versions. As far as I'm concerned, it's worth it, as the SACD layer brings the band into the room with you, and listening in the dark with the volume up makes the hair on the neck stand up.

Whatever the cost, experiences like that are worth it.

but I used to drink and smoke quite a lot and thoroughly enjoyed both at the time.
I may be a total cloth-eared oik as I have honestly never, ever been able to discern any audible difference on any re-mastered, digital, SACD or however enhanced CD I've bought - and I've bought plenty - not even "Street Legal" or "Raw Power" compared to the original vinyl on one of those mono record players you could carry about with a handle or screwed the legs into.
That must surely prove that beer and cigarettes not only affect the heart, lungs, skin and everything they are rightly blamed for but also the quality of your hearing too.
Most of the records I loved as a youngster sounded great on Radio Luxembourg wheezing and squawking away barely tuned in under the bed covers or later on John Peel on a crappy music centre and I've always stuck to the belief that if it's a good 'un, it'll sound good on virtually anything and if it's bobbins, a hi-fi like Cape Canaveral won't make it that much better.

Live and Dangerous by Thin Lizzy. Probably beacuse it was the first gig I went to but even that may not be an excuse for having bought it twice on vinyl, once on CD and downloaded a couple of years ago.

...of the "Best of Sellers" by Peter Sellers.

My acquisition of the third copy, from Oxford market, was not my finest hour. Mainly because the fact I already owned two copies slipped my mind. Anyway, I found a copy in the box marked "all LPs £1", but it had a £6 label on it.

Me "Is this a mistake..it's in the £1 box, but has a £6 label".
Stallholder: "No, it's £1".
Me: "That's outrageous. 'Balham, Gateway to the South' is worth a couple of quid on its own".
Stallholder: "You're welcome to pay £6".
Me: "Er, it's OK, just a pound it is".

Got home, found an identical LP and an EP version, probably liberated from my parents a couple of decades below. Bought a fourth copy from charity shop for 50p a few weeks later in a futile quest for scratch free copy of "Party Political Speech".

...of "Behaviour" by the Pet Shop Boys and you have a customer. Otherwise I am off to Spotify.

Two on cassette, one old CD with the american track listing that includes Blues for Ceaucescu and Only Losers take the Bus, and the lovely recent reissue which I bought just because I could.

I've bought several albums three times, going from vinyl to CD. The only CD I've bought more then twice was The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society - a single CD version on Castle, the 12-track mono version as part of a 10 CD set of Kinks albums and finally the 3 CD set re-issue. There's a few others I've bought three times as follows:

Can - Tago Mago and Ege Bamyasi. I first purchased these as second-hand vinyl copies from a market stall in the late 1980s for a few quid each, as they were impossible to find new. Then about six or seven years ago I bought them again as CDs, but wasn't that impressed with the poor sound. I then picked up the remasters a couple of years ago.

Love - Forever Changes. Vinyl copy from Our Price around 1988, which got worn out. Acquired the CD re-issue a few years later, and then the re-master with bonus tracks a few years ago. I also won the live version in a competition somewhere.

Gene Clark - No Other. I bought a vinyl copy on Edsel from Demon's mail order catalogue in 1991 or so. Eventually I discovered that there was a CD version available on an obscure German label, which I tracked down. I then bought the remaster a few years ago.

Then there's heaps of jazz albums where I've bought a CD of the album and then later acquired everything again as part of a comprehensive boxed set. I've at least 15 Miles Davis titles that are also covered by a boxed set in their entirety.

I've got all the Oasis albums so I've bought the same record about eight times.

reading this is the fact that all 3 of my favourite bands of all time (the beatles, the smiths, prince and the revolution) have all been denied the full 2-cd-with-65-page-book-and-dvd treatment. i mean it's not like all 3 don't DESERVE it. especially the fabs, the treatment of who's back cat is nothing short of a national disgrace.

rant over, i do apologise.

Am I alone in buying original vinyl of stuff I own on CD but much prefer the original packaging of?

I find it almost impossible to resist a charity-shop copy of something in a good sleeve, particularly a gatefold. Sometimes the LPs themselves are not quite as I'd like them for playing purposes but I just like the artefact - and not for the potential value either. Have done this with the good old 45 too - one of my most prized posessions is a 45rpm copy of "Arnold Layne" in a "Fran the Fan" sleeve that someone seems to have attacked the first few seconds of with a soldering-iron. Unplayable, pretty useless indeed, but it was there at the time....even if I wasn't.

:)