well, my falling out with HMV lasted, oh, two weeks, give or take. well a smart CD was released today, and i wished - or at least felt compelled - to buy it. so off i went today, look you see.
yes, Band Aid 30. i appreciate that it features a whole load of artists that no one cares of along with Bono. i appreciate that it features horrid lyrics which are patronizing at best. i don't doubt that some if not all of the money will be squandered, or if you prefer wasted, in a way that gives no help at all. i am just of a generation of when music still mattered, you see, and it felt like it could actually change things.
if this was purchased out of a misguided sense of loyalty or nostalgia, so be it.
meanwhile, some of you will have spotted something else lurking in the background. yes, horror shock, a decent deal at HMV was to be had, and thus i had it.
i have been humming and ha-ing about the blu-ray edition of the Mad Max trilogy for quite some time. i mean, i love the films - who does not? it's just that these discs are bereft of extras, when extra things are known to exist - deleted scenes from the last two, production documentaries from the first. plus, i already have the one i really love, Mad Max 2, on blu-ray.
it turned out that a £9.99 price tag and it being right there in front of me was quite enough to bring an abrupt end to my hums and ha's on the subject of potential ownership.
the cover you see there is quite correct, for this is a "collection" rather than a "box set", for it is simply the three separate discs shoved in a rudimentary cardboard box.
it's quite funny how here Mad Max 2 is called The Road Warrior on the box. why is it funny? because this optical disc is the only version of the film you can obtain which features the film both uncut and with the correct Mad Max 2 title on it. the DVD and post-1984 videotapes of the film feature Mad Max 2 on the box, but Road Warrior on the credits and a cut to ribbons version of the film.
more of the details about that can be found on what is to date the most popular blog post what i have ever done, with nearly 9000 separate readings of it.
Christmas trees? well, if you want to see, sure. here's a highlight, detail or if you will fragment of ours, that the members of my family which you all actually like put together on Sunday afternoon.
so, back to Band Aid. i further to the above do not disagree with the condescending, patronizing racism inherent in it - a bunch of mostly white dudes singing for black people in a place called Africaland; a place few of the artists will ever visit. it is not like, after all, when a tragedy strikes America or Europe that Africa decides it will be quite class to get together and have a singsong to show sympathy for their plight.
interestingly the four track CD includes all official variants of the song, in reverse chronological order, or if you like backwards in time. this is something like a reverse 'greatest hits' set, then, as it starts off with the worst and improves up to finishing off with the best.
what, if not a song like this, could 'the west' or 'the first world' do to "help" Africa? very simple, really - free and fair trade agreements. build the economies up, give the nations a boost that way. far better, long term and easily more sustainable than having a wild haired Irishman swear at people to throw money at him to give to them once in a while, nice though Bob is.
i think the major problem with the musicians (except Bono) on this 30th anniversary edition is that no one cares anymore. all of the artists, to my knowledge, are talented and able. they are simply lacking the personality to make one interested in them or care about what they have to say. it's a great, great shame that music has gone this way.
anyway, a sort of back of the boxes sort of thing, including a special look at the magnetic security tag thing on the Mad Max box. a bit excessive, i think - how fast is it that HMV thought that i would be able to run with this in my hands?
and to finish off,. a gander at the insides of the Mad Max blu ray discs.as you can see, with these glorious, black and white photocopied faces, practically every expense possible in this set has been spared.
what's on the disc surface doesn't really matter, i suppose - you seldom actually see it. however, black and white faces like this just attract attention to how cheap they are. rather just slam the name of the film on the disc, as Disney have taken to doing with DVDs.
i understand it is not at all popular or fashionable to own things with Mel Gibson in them anymore and i have no clue as to when i will sit and watch them, but i am rather glad to have them. and yes, when they do release the "special edition" variant with extras on no doubt i will get it.
so there you have it. thank you, HMV, for not being cheeky with this lot today.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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