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'old Fighters' (International Matthew Good Compilation Album)

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Probably (and mainly) rights issues. Universal Canada controls Matt's music domestically. Matt has separate rights for the rest of the world, so he can organize a non-Canada disc without having to deal with Universal. But he (and his international label) can't release it in Canada.

 

Universal could technically release the same disc themselves with or without Matt's input, but they'd have to license/acquire the artwork from him to release this exact version. However, they more than likely didn't want another compilation - at least, not yet. (If they did, they would probably insist on more "hits".)

 

Honestly, though, it wouldn't surprise me if some music stores (eg, some of the bigger HMV's) decided to import it and sell it, anyway.

Edited by uglyredhonda
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And for the love of all things holy, I Wish I Was A Tidal Wave needs to be released. Wishful thinking, I guess.

 

Well it was, as a demo, and I think it sounds great as it is.

 

He also released Black Helicopter on an album evetually, and the album version compared to the demo sucked.

 

"As for the list of songs on the disc for foreign territories, I had complete control over the choices. Yes, i listened to some advice, so Strange Days is on there and i think the live version of Load Me Up. But so is Rabbits, Giant, Avalanche, Non Populus, etc. It's by no means reflective of In A Coma at all - which, with the exception of Rooms, and a way for people to get the Lo-Fi stuff, was a complete waste of time in my opinion."

 

I think the point of this is for Matt to release his best songs to the international market, not necessarily his most commercial hits (ie: singles, which are often not the best songs on an album. I mean 'Carmelina' and 'In a Place of Lesser Men'...really?)

 

If Matt were smart, he would come onto this Bored and look at the voting tally of those lengthy "Favorite MG song" elimination polls we've had on here to see which songs real MG fans who know his entire cataloge, not just casual radio/Much Music listerners, love the best. I'm pretty sure Matt has taken a peak at these in the past though, and he has quite a few of our top picks on Old Fighter.

 

However, some songs on Old Fighters seem more like personal picks by MG even though they aren't that popular (compared to other songs) among his dedicated fans. If this forum had its choice, "In A World Called Catastrophe", "21st Century Living", "Last Parade", and "Future Is X-Rated" very likely wouldn't make the cut among his top 14 tracks. Giant deserves to be on there IMO not because its among his greatest songs but because its a live show staple.

Edited by Moonlight_Graham
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From a record label standpoint, this makes sense. Good sales of a compilation = Potentially strong sales for the next new release.

 

But the "I can't buy his CDs where I live" argument? Come on. In America, the only MG physical CD officially released here was Beautiful Midnight: The Bastardized Version (songs removed in favor of tracks from Underdogs, songs like Hello Time Bomb remixed to make them more "radio friendly"). But when I got hardcore into MG in the early 2000s (yes, with Audio Of Being), I simply went on eBay... and bought his entire catalog. Including "hard to find" albums like Ghetto Astronauts and Loser Anthems. And not for much $$ either.

 

Since then, I've bought all the new releases through Canadian websites or the occasional eBay seller. A little pricier than the local record shop but not terribly so. And if nothing else, those three vinyl releases are worth a pretty penny now. :D

 

Hopefully someone picks up this compilation cheap... And then delves into the deep end of the catalog via the Internet. You can still get physical copies of Avalanche, Hospital Music, and Lights for under $10 each... Those three alone should hook any music fan with ears.

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On an unrelated note, I was listening to Calgary radio station X92.9 this afternoon. The DJ was saying really nice things about Matthew Good. Imagine Dragons, an American indie band from Las Vegas, took over the radio station today and played some songs. The DJ mentioned that he and a member of the band were talking about something and the topic of Matthew Good happened to come up. They both raved about Matt, and said he was a fantastic songwriter. The DJ said Matt plays sold out shows in Canada. I think the member of Imagine Dragons knew about Matt Good, because his girlfriend toured with Matt. I think that's what he said, or I could be totally wrong... just thought I would share.

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And, for Canadians, it's not actually that crazy a price on Amazon.ca ($16.54 at present).

 

Obviously no digital download, but if you wanted to go that route, you could just download the individual tracks.

 

 

(PlayStop.ca has it for $13.15, but I haven't shopped from them since they were CD Plus, so I can't necessarily vouch.)

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Interesting discovery: on iTunes (at least), the version of "Strange Days" on Old Fighters is the US remix, not the original mix.

 

I have the hard copy and the first thing I noticed was the different mix for Strange Days. The original is better!

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I have the hard copy and the first thing I noticed was the different mix for Strange Days. The original is better!

 

Does it mention it in the liner notes? "Mixed by Chris Lord-Alge" or some such?

 

It was a surprise to me - I'd be surprised if Matt preferred that version (though I know a couple people who do). Made me wonder if they had to do that to get around the possibility that Atlantic might still have rights to BM in the US - the rest of the BM tracks on the compilation were the same mixes on the Canadian and US releases. (Else maybe somebody figured it was more "radio-ready".)

 

What caught my ear was the ultra-loud double-tracked vocal on "always hit the brakes". It's subtle in the original mix, and way up front in the remix. (That, plus Lord-Alge always had a penchant for making snare drums sound like the drummer is punching cardboard.)

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