Led Zep, Bowie and Neil Young all have ‘new’ albums out. As the record industry repackages old rock favourites to be bought a second time by baby-boomers, we ask if this is clever reinvention or cynical recycling?
The record industry is in trouble, album sales are falling, kids only download singles and stream music for free… But who is this, charging over the snowbound horizon to save Christmas? Why, it looks a lot like Pink Floyd, with Neil Young riding shotgun, leading a herd of red-nosed reindeers being whipped into a frenzy by Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, David Bowie, AC/DC, the Who, Bruce Springsteen and the ghost of Freddie Mercury. It is the Charge of the Dad Brigade.
Or at least that is one of the stories being told by the record industry to keep its spirits up in the bleak hours of midwinter. Dismal figures suggest 2014 could set an all-time low for album sales, unless the traditional seasonal retail boom comes to the rescue. But what music will we actually be spending money on this Christmas? Reports this week have highlighted a plethora of stocking-filling box sets, repackaged classics and new albums from vintage artists. “This is going to be the oldest Christmas I can remember,” according to senior music industry consultant Nick Stewart. “The biggest album of the year, by some way, is going to be the new old Pink Floyd album. It’s going to be huge.”
Read the full article here at the Telgraph by Neil McCormick
Do you collect genuine, original pressings of these all time classic albums? You’ll find them and more at eil.com here.
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