We're all free to feel how we want - elated, disappointed, frustrated or satisfied!
And yes, we
have been spoiled!!
But to be quite honest, I had pretty much lost interest in John's output earlier this year.
Whilst I enjoyed
My Lost City, I found it had limited appeal. I was extremely disappointed and frustrated at all with
A Secret Life, and
Mirrorball held no interest for me whatsoever.
I haven't even got round to
The Quiet Man yet. Somehow, the spark went out, and that's quite a frustrating and somewhat unexpected state to be in, as somebody so usually passionate about John's music.
"Do we have the right...?"
Of course we do!
Whenever talk of a reissue comes along, I guess there is always hope that it will offer something new, in addition to encourage us to buy it again, if it's an album we already owned. The main thing with
Shifting City though, was the fact that a lot of fans haven't been able to get the album, having perhaps missed it at the time of release, and there's this glaring hole in their collection, where an important album fits. That gap will at last be filled!
As I rarely play my
Shifting City CD, I don't feel the need to re-buy it. I have it on my iPod/iTunes and with a volume boost, and it sounds just great. I can understand the frustration of having nothing "new" on the
Shifting City remaster, but I would guess that there probably wasn't anything previously unheard, or worth including at least. In one sense, a remaster only has to be just that... anything else is a bonus.
And as we've all said, TPOE didn't "need" remastering, but as my favourite Foxx/Gordon album, I am very keen to hear the differences, and for me what makes it all the more worthwhile, is the inclusion of two unreleased tracks.
I get the feeling that maybe there were some tracks on TPOE that maybe John was never fully satisfied with, and has taken this opportunity to refine those, and I can understand that. I guess it's just a bit odd as a listener, when you've been used to an album for almost a decade, to suddenly have parts of it changed. But like I said, I'm looking forward to it, regardless, and it will no doubt re-invigourate my interest in John's music.
Plus, it does sound like there is some new, more electronic-based music on the horizon. It's been a while since
Sideways and I think I've been having withdrawl symptoms!