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CD retro packaging being relaunched
https://forum.lddb.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=7735		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  laserdisc_fan [ 03 Apr 2018, 11:58 ]
Post subject:  CD retro packaging being relaunched
Anyone who was teenager in the 80's will remember the mini 3 inch CD singles when they were first launched.
They were everywhere in Europe during 1988-1991 and then seemed to slowly disappear.

Def Leppard are releasing part 1 of 4 separate boxsets charting their entire output.
The first part includes their debut release 'The Def Leppard EP' being re-issued on mini 3 inch CD.
It has also been re-issued separately on 12" vinyl in 2017 and will be available as part of an alternative vinyl boxset.

In 2014 Def Leppard re-issued their Slang album as a 2CD version which came in one of the original big chunky 2CD boxes from the 80's.
Prior to that release I hadn't seen one of those big CD boxes used in literally 25 years although they can easily be bought as spares.

It's nice to see these retro formats being kickstarted again. I've very fond memories of buying 3 inch CD singles and still own all the ones I bought 30 years ago.
I always thought it was one of the cutest formats ever released with so many clever forms of packaging used from mini gatefolds, to little slipcases to plastic boxes etc.

I personally think the CD has a lot of life in it yet. It's still the biggest selling physical format by a mile and certainly the most practical to use overall.
I doubt vinyl will ever catch up but I do like having the choice available to buy one or the other or maybe both!

Def Leppard were one of the last major bands to allow their back catalogue to be available digitally so its great that they have put some thought into the packaging as far as physical formats go.
Author:  admin [ 03 Apr 2018, 13:51 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
Ahah, that's funny!

I still have Europe - Superstitious [Epic ‎652879 3] with the "free adapter" as well as countless Japanese single releases.

At least it's economical to produce, compatible with pretty much any CD player in existence (with the adapter if needed) and has some novelty for the younger crowd.

Julien
Author:  signofzeta [ 03 Apr 2018, 15:49 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
CD3 is one of my favorite formats. Unfortunately Def Leppard is total garbage music for redneck morons who think good music is no longer made. I mean...the worst. Hopefully somebody, anybody, will join them in bringing back CD3.

I have to say, since the format’s demise its extreme compatibility is no longer so total. There are now slot loading players in almost every car and almost none of them will play CD3s. The adaptors that used to come with CD3s in the early days will not stay attached at 48x or whatever today’s multi-media drives will peak at. Even brand new standard looking decks...most of them are designed to play multi-format CDs and will spin very fast at times so unless there is an drawer with an actual 3” section (like an LD player) I wouldn’t play them.
Author:  rein-o [ 03 Apr 2018, 17:51 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
Cool but I can't really see why they are doing this.
I had a few 3 inch CDs back in the day but they were such a pain, almost like the 45, you had to keep changing them out.
For records its easier, but the tray deal with CDs is harder to just swap them out or stack them.

The one I can remember I owned was the Keith Richards Talk is Cheap limited tin, played it again years later and I couldn't sell it fast enough on ebay :lol: what a horrible album.
Author:  dumbchemist [ 03 Apr 2018, 18:11 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
That is funny that you mention the CD3 format as I believe that I have one of the earliest releases. The CD is labeled "DELOS: Pocket Classics: 2001 A Sonic Odyssey".There are 7 classics listed by various composers. You have 1) Strauss: Thus Spake Zarathrusta, 2) Respighi: Roman Festivals, 3) Falla: The Three Cornered Hat, 4) Handel: Water Music, 5) Rimsky Korsakoff: Flight of the Bumblebee, 6) Prokofiev: Classical Symphony, and 7) Stravinsky: The Firebird. Each piece is a small sampler of the original and is very short. Total running time for the entire CD is 17.49 minutes.

I remember buying 2 of this CD in December 1987. I kept one and gave the other to a co-worker who was into CD's at the time.

The CD is copyrighted 1987. The CD includes the adapter and is the only CD3 in my entire CD collection.
Author:  signofzeta [ 03 Apr 2018, 21:48 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
They were massive in Japan in the 90s and being massive in Japan means massive when it comes to music. I mainly just bought anime themes on the format and new music from bands like Luna Sea and Globe. I’d imagine there must be many many collectable releases of western music. I know a lot of 80s 7” singles were reissued as CD3s. CD5 singles were much less common in Japan and Casingles never happened there so essentially almost all singles released in Japan between like 1988 and 1998 were CD3s. That’s a lot of stuff.
Author:  laserdisc_fan [ 04 Apr 2018, 00:06 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
The Japanese 3 inch CDs often only featured 1-2 tracks so weren't as desirable in my opinion as the European versions which often had 4 tracks.
Author:  signofzeta [ 04 Apr 2018, 01:45 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
If it’s something released in the UK after chart limitations were applied you were limited to three tracks across three formats with a max running time of exactly a CD3 (although they were pressed on CD5s with a mirror section) or 45RPM 12”. Generally EU releases would have one two or three track and another more expensive disc with many more tracks. US versions of CD singles always had the worst cheapest packaging but would be sometimes MAXED on run time and as many formats as the label would want because physical sales stopped driving US chart position in the 80s.

JP versions always had the best paper, design, ink, etc and are sometimes the only release in the world with an off-vocal or karaoke version. Usually three tracks was max and rarely were they long. Often you get two songs and then the instrumental versions of those. Price per minute was of course the highest in the world. :)

This was what I remember from the single days. I was big into singles. I wish they’d come back, particularly the 12”s. It’s weird that we’re in the middle of this huge LP revival and there is almost no 12” output. I would for sure be at the record store more often if my favorite bands released things more than just an expensive full length every other year.
Author:  takeshi666 [ 04 Apr 2018, 05:32 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
I'd rather they re-released some of those rare italodisco singles that're currently stuck on vinyl only on these.

I'd buy Clay Pedrini's "New Dream" on a CD in a heartbeat. I think it already exists actually, sharing a regular sized CD with another song. Hmm...
Author:  signofzeta [ 04 Apr 2018, 21:18 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
There seems to be a lot of that stuff coming out but on compilations.
Author:  takeshi666 [ 05 Apr 2018, 13:21 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
signofzeta wrote:
There seems to be a lot of that stuff coming out but on compilations.

True, but those compilations tend to exclude the B-side which might be an alternate mix of the title song.

Ones like the one I mentioned where you get two songs and their respective B-sides on a single CD, those are probably a bit more uncommon.
Author:  takou [ 08 Apr 2018, 19:50 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
signofzeta wrote:
Unfortunately Def Leppard is total garbage music for redneck morons who think good music is no longer made.


I have no opinion about Def Leppard and I've never listen to their music, but I'm always fond of a nice SoZ definition.
Author:  daro2096 [ 18 Oct 2018, 05:56 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
Weren't CD singles limited to 20 minutes max? They were usually the 7", the 12" remix and maybes 1 or 2 B side songs or an instrumental version.
Author:  signofzeta [ 19 Oct 2018, 16:42 ]
Post subject:  Re: CD retro packaging being relaunched
Standard pitch is 24 min which is about what you could fit on a 45RPM 12”. It was made for singles so 24min is more than enough. It will hold both sides of Blue Monday or Born Slippy. Most of the JP ones are only half full because there aren’t a lot of long songs competing for chart position there most of the time. There were still CD5 singles for Japan (as there are now) but they were much less common during the CD3 era.
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