Controversy: Paul McCartney's Upcoming Flowers In the Dirt Reissue Raises Fans' Ire
March 24, 2017 will see the arrival of the long-awaited next addition in Paul McCartney's award-winning Archive Collection: Flowers In the Dirt (originally released in 1989). But one particular decision has raised the hackles of McCartney's collective fan base—and understandably so. Unlike the previous nine entries in the series, a significant portion of the material slated for inclusion in the pricey "deluxe edition" will be available as downloads only.
To survey the tracklist alone, the Flowers deluxe set appears to be the most comprehensive set so far. In addition to a remastered version of the album on disc one, discs two and three include the original demos and 1988 "band demos" of nine Elvis Costello collaborations (McCartney and Costello famously teamed up to write a batch of songs together, several of which were never officially released by either artist). A DVD will contain the long out-of-print documentary Put It There (no word yet on whether it's the original version or the truncated home video version), ten music videos, and three featurettes.
So far, so good. But here's the catch. No less than 16 tracks—five B-sides, eight alternate mixes, three additional Paul/Elvis demos—will NOT be included on a physical CD. Although exclusive to the deluxe edition (purchasers of the two-disc configuration will have to settle for one of the Paul/Elvis demo discs, the first time that an album's B-sides have not been part of the two-disc release), these important tunes have been consigned to digital status.
By: Chaz Lipp
Source: The Morton Report
