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The National - Light Years (Photo Book + Live LP from Forest Hills, NY)


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A lot of people have made a lot of great points that I don’t need to rehash.  I will simply say that it’s remarkable how much some people care for signatures and are willing to pay for them.  I’ll take a doodle or two on a pre-order, don’t get me wrong, but deliberately paying $50 extra is not for me.

 

I love art books as well.  But they have to be aesthetically pleasing or pack in the content if I’m going to feel like they’re worthwhile.  This one seems to be lacking in both departments.  The photos themselves look nice enough but I just know I’d be annoyed and meh about the font choice.  Is that a petty thing to complain about?  Sure.  But as a fan of typography and also not someone who drops $200 on coffee table books, I would need to be wowed by a work of art that I revisit more than once or twice, at that price.

 

The 12” would be cool but I’ve got a nice little arsenal of live National music going at the moment.  I think I could’ve feasibly talked myself into buying one of these at $70-$80, maybe, but there’s no way I can justify one.

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I'm curious whether they'll actually sell the 8 song LP separately. It kinda...doesn't make sense as a release separate from the book? There's no longer a dearth of high quality National live releases on vinyl and this seems clearly like it's a low-energy, bonus add-on to make the book more appealing for their vinyl collecting fans. The National seem like they want everything they release to fit a certain level of thoughtfulness, so I would echo the above posts that any future pressing will come with some kind of slimmed down 'tether' item to the book, whether it's a paper back or an expanded jacket with a 35 page excerpt booklet or something. We'll see.

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1 hour ago, Derek™ said:

I will simply say that it’s remarkable how much some people care for signatures and are willing to pay for them.  I’ll take a doodle or two on a pre-order, don’t get me wrong, but deliberately paying $50 extra is not for me.

At least a portion of the sales of the signed copies is going to their crew fund. The premium bothers me a little less since it's for a good cause.

The LP does seem like an afterthought designed to sell the book. I bought it, but mainly because I was at one of those Forest Hills shows. It would've been really nice (and easier to justify the cost) if it was the book plus a 3LP or 4LP box set.

Edited by fondfarewell
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1 hour ago, timsimmons said:

I don’t doubt that they will mass release the 12” on black once the book sells out. 
 

or they’ll do a paperback with the 12” for like $50-$60

Ive been having second thoughts due to this prediction. I guess worst case senerio if a mass press comes out, I will sell the book combo and get  standard pressing. With the way there Cherry Tree LPs are selling I don’t doubt I could get my money back at least....but I like the safety net just in case they never press it again. 
 

there are only a few bands I’ll buy everything vinyl related no matter what. The national, The Cure and The twilight sad...

Edited by nelso330
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5 hours ago, timsimmons said:

I don’t doubt that they will mass release the 12” on black once the book sells out. 
 

or they’ll do a paperback with the 12” for like $50-$60

i don't know. it's not like it's a full length LP. It's only 7 songs. I think they would have a hard time selling these books without the record. And they know if they just sell the record, a bunch of fans are going to be pissed off. The Boxer Live LP never got a second press aside from the RSD press. There's really not precedent for this exact situation. 

 

It's really a gamble though, because if you really want the record enough to buy the book and then there's a vinyl-only option, I don't see the book holding its value. But if you don't buy the set waiting for a separate LP and it never comes, the prices will only go up. 

 

I think they may put the songs up on a streaming platform like they did with the Boxer Live LP and the Live Cassette sets, but releasing the record on its own would be kinda shitty after a bunch of people paid a premium for it initially. 

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