We had to expect that: Last year, Peter Gabriel's release strategy regarding his So25-Boxset has caused a lot of criticism among fans. The reason was the somewhat strange So25-Boxset content (why so much vinyl and why so few unreleased stuff?) and his decision to include the Live In Athens concert film in the boxset only - and not in high definition.
After a massive protest from the fansbase (especially Superdeluxedition had published a popular open letter to Peter Gabriel), Peter himself addressed his fans to explain decisions that were made. Although he admitted some mistakes were made, no major changes were announced, he even said a stand alone HD-release of Live In Athens is unlikely and there would not be any plans to do that. The whole story is still online at this link.
Now, Eagle Vision and Peter Gabriel have announced the release of Live In Athens 1987 on Blu-ray+DVD and 2DVD. It features, of course, the concert film Live In Athens that we know from the So25 boxset, plus Youssou N'Dour's complete performance. For the first time, it will be available in HD-format on Blu-ray. Both, DVD and Blu-ray, will have a bonus-DVD which contains the collection PLAY - The Videos (!). It's no secret that most people who will buy the Live In Athens 1987 Blu-ray or DVD already own the PLAY DVD. The package is due for September and can be ordered at amazon-UK (Blu-ray | 2DVD) already.
It's not a new phenomenum: Peter Gabriel's strategy to release stuff in different formats has already left many of us astonished, if not angry. The combination of formats and the content of boxsets was rather strange. His last two big releases are good exaples for that. New Blood and Live Blood came in a lot of formats, but it was simply impossible to get all of them buying he Deluxe boxset. Instead, you get a studio album CD, a Special Edition 2CD, but only the single-CD is included in the Deluxe Boxset. You get a single Live Blood CD in the boxset, unavailable elsewhere. Then a 2CD stand along release of Live Blood is announded after the boxset's release. The Boxset contains DVD and Blu-ray of the London-live show, but not the 3D version. Besides that, several tracks were made available on specific platforms only (Signal To Noise on iTunes, Father Son at Real World only).
Nearly the same happened with the So25 Boxset. It contained a Vinyl LP and a Double 12" A-Side, which featured the only 3 unreleased tracks of the set. There were DVDs included, one of the was and is available on DVD and Blu-ray as a stand alone product (the Classic Albums video), the other one, Live In Athens, was available on DVD as part of the Boxset only (although produced for a HD-release). Additionally, a 2CD with the same Live-show was included. In the end, only the SoDNA-CD was of major interest. A lot of fans were frustrated and expressed their frustration on platforms like Facebook. Gabriel himself tried to explain the decision, admitted wrong decisions but declined to change things (see link above). Actually, he said that there were no plans to release Live In Athens as a stand alone product.
Well, the rules of the music business are very simple and well known amongst fans. What can come out, will come out. So the question is: Why the hell did Peter tell us such nonsense (i.e. "there are no plans at present for a stand alone release of Live in Athens 1987")? It was more than clear that Live In Athens 1987 will be released as a stand alone (and HD) release at some point in the future. Ok, he hinted "at present", but he also explained they would only do that when they could add enough different elements for people who already bought the So25-boxset. What's the different element? The PLAY-DVD? And: that this happens not even a year after So25 could be described as barefaced, but at least it is simply ridiculous. The result: Yet another campaign has been started to make Peter and Eagle Vision give away free Blu-rays to all who bought the So25 Boxset (click here to see the campaign on facebook).
Taking a closer and isolated look on this matter, one could even say the plan to release the concert film on Blu-ray is some kind of happy end to a strange case, but who the hell decided to include the PLAY-DVD in the package - and, even more important - why? It's not even a Blu-ray, it's just the DVD all of us bought 9 years ago. It's obvious that Gabriel keeps annoying his fans. The question is - why? There should be people involved who might have an idea what a appropriate release strategy could be. Peter, you could have involved fanclubs and forums worlwide easily. We would be more than happy to help. Instead, you keep doing the wrong things. And while all these irritations regarding your back catalogue releases happen - what about a new album anyway?
Peter Gabriel created a mixture of the World Music in Passion with the Mainstream of So.
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Multi-Artist-Album from 2000, with Elisabeth Frazer, Richie Havens, Paul Buchanan, Neneh Cherry and larla Lionáird. Gabriel himself sings on four.
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