A short while ago we featured the huge Caravan Box Set produced by Madfish Records. I wanted to offer an alternative for fans of this quintessential English PROG band who may want to buy their music but feel they cannot justify the outlay for the Madfish box.
In this video I cover
In the Land of Grey and Pink (40th Anniversary Edition) 2011
2CD / DVD – Steven Wilson 5.1 Mix
The World Is Yours – The Anthology 1968 – 1976
4CD Box Set (2010)
The Decca / Deram Years (An Anthology) 1970 – 1975
9CD Box Set (2019)
Phil Aston | Now Spinning Magazine
A fair review in my opinion.
The problem for many of us long time followers of Caravan, from 1973 in my case, is that the target audience for these sets is that we already own the stuff! I personally have no interest in buying another copy , be it in mono / stereo/ Wilson remix / etc . What I and many others want is to purchase the previously unreleased live shows. So whilst Fairfield Halls Live is a great album I don’t need another one !
Many collectors/ aficionados of the band will feel disappointed that those who have supported the band via tickets, records etc have not been offered the opportunity to purchase the unreleased material .
I would be interested to receive comments on this subject
Hi, totally agree. The recent reissue of Mob Rules by Black Sabbath is another example. Where the carrot was a live disc which can only be bought if you buy the album again (Potentially for the 4th time). My Caravan journey began quite late and for a long time I only had ‘In The Land of The Grey and Pink so the first 4CD Book style set was ideal way to find out more. The Deram box set was then perfect to collect up all the albums plus it came with the BBC material. Having got this the Madfish set made little sense as for £350 I would be buying most of the studio albums again. I know that many of the live albums in the box set are of bootleg quality which is not something I am really interested in. There will always be a market for these sets but not many labels think of the fan first. Phil