A letter to John

[Berenrock69]

I have mailed this letter last week but i felt the need to post this on the message board as well. Today i was checking out some listener reviews of “On The Rural Route 7609” and there were quite a few fans that felt the same way.
 
                I am writing this letter to express my opinion about you latest Greatest Hits Album “On The Rural Route 7609”. While I think the package as a whole is a cool thing for all your fans who can afford I am disappointed that for us fans who are on a limited income there is not a less expensive version without all the extra’s and just the CD’s. I understand you are in the business to make money but have you forgotten that is was the blue collar fans that you sang for and they are the ones who helped you get where you are today. In this day and age with the economy still not doing well there are a lot of your fans that cannot afford the $89.99 price tag for this CD bundle I for one cannot even with duel incomes we have a house payment and two young kids to raise so we can barely get by. If I may give you some examples of some bands who have done this type of stuff the right way. First there is Tom Petty who released a 4 disc live album in two versions one with all the goodies for $99.99 and then one stripped down for $19.99. Then there is The Black Crowes who just released a 2 disc 20 song greatest hits collection for $13.99 and this is not just a bundle of their songs they actually went into the studio this year and re-did all the songs on the CD acoustic. So in my opinion the above two artist show their love for the fans that help them get to where they are today.  In closing I want to say thanks for letting me vent and also thanks for the great music you have made over the years.

[TonyBClubManager]

I have mailed this letter last week but i felt the need to post this on the message board as well. Today i was checking out some listener reviews of “On The Rural Route 7609” and there were quite a few fans that felt the same way.
 
                I am writing this letter to express my opinion about you latest Greatest Hits Album “On The Rural Route 7609”. While I think the package as a whole is a cool thing for all your fans who can afford I am disappointed that for us fans who are on a limited income there is not a less expensive version without all the extra’s and just the CD’s. I understand you are in the business to make money but have you forgotten that is was the blue collar fans that you sang for and they are the ones who helped you get where you are today. In this day and age with the economy still not doing well there are a lot of your fans that cannot afford the $89.99 price tag for this CD bundle I for one cannot even with duel incomes we have a house payment and two young kids to raise so we can barely get by. If I may give you some examples of some bands who have done this type of stuff the right way. First there is Tom Petty who released a 4 disc live album in two versions one with all the goodies for $99.99 and then one stripped down for $19.99. Then there is The Black Crowes who just released a 2 disc 20 song greatest hits collection for $13.99 and this is not just a bundle of their songs they actually went into the studio this year and re-did all the songs on the CD acoustic. So in my opinion the above two artist show their love for the fans that help them get to where they are today.  In closing I want to say thanks for letting me vent and also thanks for the great music you have made over the years.

Here is the reply I posted to you on the ClubCherryBomb.net board:

I think you has missed John's 3 other greatest hits collections.

Words & Music The Greatest Hits of John Mellencamp should be available to you with 2 CD's and all 37 of John's biggest hits for less then $20. The Millennium Collection has about 12 of John's coolest songs for about $7 and John's first greatest hits The Best I Could Do should also be available for less than $10.

The box set is not a greatest hits. It was created to be a more valuable collection centered around the deluxe coffee table book. The book is as much of the release as the CD's.

The music of the entire collection is available on iTunes or Amazon.com downloads for around $30 for the 50+ track collection. Plus it includes a digital version of the book from the box set, so while it doesn't contain the physical CD's it is almost exactly the configuration you are asking for (a la the Petty set you mention).

[Maradona10]

I did buy the box but still feel a little disappointed that it wasn't a "treasure trove" of unreleased music.

It's hard to work out who the box is aimed at: the diehards have 90% of the music already, and the casual fan is no way gonna shell out for a box like that. I just can't see the box doing well commercially as a result, and that might hurt our chances of getting a killer live/rarities boxset in the future...?

It seems, instead, to have been compiled to impress critics who might've missed some of JM's album tracks IMO.

[Berenrock69]

Thank you for the response to my post. When the web site and forum changed I did not know the other forum was still around hence the double post. Thanks for the info on the intent of this box set and why it is priced at the amount it is. I know it’s not exactly a Greatest Hits collection and I do have all the other Greatest Hits CD’s as well as all his other CD’s. There are however 17 unreleased songs on this collection not available anywhere else per the info on this web site so it would be nice to get those songs.  As for Tom Petty’s live box set the $135 version you does not just get you book. You also get another live CD and a DVD documentary also a live DVD also all 62 tracks on 1 Blu-ray disc and a vinyl LP of a live bootleg album plus a book and a whole lot of other cool items now thats a box set. So the extra’s there is at least more music I can listen to. Also thanks for the suggestion of getting it in MP3 format on amazon.com. I know digital downloads are the in thing now a days but I am old school and I remember working in a record store when there was just vinyl and cassette tapes : ). Needless to say I would much rather buy it on CD and support the mom and pop records stores out there especially in this economy the small business needs all the help they can get. In closing I am reminded of a Quote from one of John’s songs “Well the record companies going out of business they price the records to dame high”.  Thanks again I appreciate your response and your thoughts.

[turmbird]

dont understand the critic on the box set. unlike usual box sets which are rarely more than a compiled version of already released compilations, this box set is unique in my opinion.
thanks to god it´s not a hits collection. like TonyB explained, there have been greatest hits cds released before. the box set instead focused on many songs that have been forgotten, and there are many songs in john´s catalogue that are much better than all the hits. so a one-cd-version of this box set would be difficult to do. what songs would you select or leave out?
the examples of t.petty and black crowes are exactly the opposite, they are about making money. to release a single cd out of a cd-box doesn´t make sense for me, because fans will buy the box set anyway, either straightaway or little later after saving money for it.
i´v been waiting for this box set for many years, and the final release now made me smile. the whole concept is convincing to me, the selection of songs and the layout is great and worth every cent!