Sleeves

I think those big boxes are no more Tom. (I also seem to recall that, in the early days of CD, US imports were wrapped in these fantastic, giant plastic contraptions in the shops. I was always disappointed to be presented with just a normal jewel case whenever I bought one.)

Yeah, let's talk Playgroup instead. I'm assuming this is not the Playgroup that did "Epic Sound Battles" 1 & 2 way back when?

The little sleeves (usually containing re-releases like the XTC or Black Sabbath catalogs of late) are indeed a pointless excercise.

Jewel Boxes are a hassle (and I'm constantly dropping and breaking off the ends that keep the top part fastened to the back), but Digipaks take more of a beating.

Then again, i have a friend that collects the little stickers on the shrinkwrap packaging proclaiming which songs are the hits and critical blurbs, because he insists that they are worth something.

Isn't that the VarioPak? I have a cyclo. release like that - very nice. Is there a proper name for the translucent clamshells the "20' to 2000" raster-noton series came in? They looked especially great, as the outer two inches of each disc was transparent.

Other fine purveyors of fancy CD packaging: Winter & Winter, Chain Reaction, Mego.

Not a fan of the jewel-case, but digipaks do tend to scuff up something rotten once they've been jostled by removal/replacement of shelf-neighbours a few times. Why didn't the 'unbreakable' disc clamp catch on? Even new major-label releases seem to feature the crap eight-segment holder.

Favourite thing of all: 3" CD in plain cardboard sleeve.

I don't particularly care for the cardboard sleeves that fold open for the disc to slip in the same way vinyl used to (i.e. Tragically Hip's Trouble at the Henhouse) Arghh...I find it's next to impossible not to get scratches on them.

My favourite has to be the plain old fashioned LP sleeve, but least favourite definitely = Gatefold sleeve with only one record! It's all fine and dandy when it's a double album, but then you get those where it looks like there should be two, but there's only one, and then you get disappointed, and then you get disgusted with yourself for being greedy, as the music is still fantastic and why can't you just be grateful for once, bitch?

I love this configuration! btw, the answer to my quiz (Unipak)is it was an LP gatefold sleeve that was like an envelope; the front half was half the thickness of the back, and the record slipped in from the inside. I can't think of an example right now, tho...

Shellac's At Action Park and the Stone's Exile on Main St were uni-pak style LPs as well.

That said, I do think the packaging of certain Chain Reaction releases in a solid metal case is pretty damned cool. Please note, however, that it's a metal box WITH A HOLDING RING--not very punk rock, but much appreciated.

Yeah, Tom, those outer covers are dumb as shit; they're always the exact same as the front and back CD art, and they're just one more annoying thing to have to do when you play the CD. One instance of the outer cover that's great, though, is 'Consumed' by Plastikman-- it's fully integrated into the artwork, with a little window slit cut in it and everything.

Jeez, can you all tell I've been on a minimal techno kick lately?

This is not true of either of the two CDs with such covers that I possess. Not that there's anything attractive about said covers, mind.

Still waiting for more on Playgroup mark 2.

The worst kind is this Marvin Gaye best of triple LP I have, where it has three sections, with two records coming out the conventional way, and one in the middle with slits on either end (but not the top) to get the middle one out. It's a pain to close up the jacket as well, cuz the records keep falling into the slits.

i fucking hate digi-packs.
i have held back from buying several new albums because the cd comes in a grisly digi-pack. weirdly in 2008 the love for this format seems to be on the increase.
so far this year, Miss Kittin/Luke Solomon/Hot Chip have all lost out on my hard earned.
I'm waiting for the jewel case standard versions.

What's up with new type of plastic case with the rounded corners and the holes? The design of the case - with the holes and all - makes it looks ugly, and the booklet is almost impossible to get out without damaging it. Compared to this new one, getting the booklet out of and ordinary plastic case is a piece of cake. What's the point of such a design?

Tuomas, I've only seen that on the recent Zeppelin remaster, I'm hoping the trend doesn't continue because they are certainly ugly.

I don't get the hate for digi-packs, I love 'em. They are a little skinnier, thus taking up less precious shelf space, and often much cleaner. Plus, as long as you treat 'em halfway decent, they stay a lot cleaner than the inevitable cracks and scratches on the jewel cases.

yea, i love digipacks, aesthically at least. functionally they do get roughed up a bit after a while, but if they're mostly sitting on a shelf, they're fine. probably a lot more durable than jewel cases. i like how they seem to be more common now.

Truly there are few things more useless than a cardboard slipcase for a CD jewel box. I wish I had the balls to just throw them all away - they just make opening the CD take that much longer.

absolutely. but i also have trouble throwing them away....

all those brian eno cd remasters from a couple years ago have this clear plastic slipcase to go around the digipack. they're kind of a pain in the ass, but i guess they help protect the digipack.

digipaks were better when quality adhesives were actually used...the ones you get nowadays, the plastic CD holder is usually affixed to the cardboard shell with two or three tiny dabs of glue that are dried up and useless by the time you open the thing for the first time...

apparently, we are in the twilight of the CD age, so why would a record company bother trying to produce decent packaging for them?

Really? I don't think I've ever had the plastic CD tray come unattached from the packaging.

That's definitely happened to me a few times.

Now I'll go home and find, like, seven of them falling apart.

box sets are notorious for this...

Those slipcases are called "O-Cards" if anyone cares. The inserts in cassettes were called "J-Cards" so now you know. It's a shape thing.

I don't think I've ever had the plastic CD tray come unattached from the packaging

lucky you.
this is very common place within my collection.
most often with old cd singles when they came in digi-packs.
could be due to the age of them, and the glue has solidified beyond stickiness.
ta for reminding me about another reason why i hate them.
conversely, i love the rounded edge jewel cases, they look great, and feel a lot more robust. (i'm with you re the booklet however - but there is a knack to it !)
these are best for when there is an extra disc/dvd as the depth allows 2 cds to be inserted as opposed to those nasty flimsy old double cd packagings (ie 2 cds in a singel jewel case).

the O-Cards are actually pretty useful with those Deluxe Editions, which would otherwise fall all over the place...

and don't get me started on the whole "2 CD's in one jewel case" thing!...funny aside: the first one of these I ever owned was UFOrb, back when it first came out...I didn't know for a few days that there was a bonus disc (in this case, the full 40-minute "Blue Room") tucked inside...what a nice surprise!

"The long boxes are long gone. I remember Spinal Tap's BREAK LIKE THE WIND came in an EXTRA long box, har har har."

I thought this sounded a but odd, so I looked it up:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b3/DSCN0152.JPG/800px-DSCN0152.JPG

Apparently so they could be put in the same rack as vinyls.

Hmm, Carly Simon.

http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/staff_top_10/top-10-things-i-hate-about-cds.htm

ah ha .. i knew i had read a good article somewhere nick.
should have guessed.
glad to see we are in 100% agreement re #1.

just received some interesting feedback re why Luke Solomons album on Rekids is in digi-pack form.
Kind of also answers why small labels are reviving this dreadful format :
For artist albums the way forward is digipaks for us.
It just makes sense all round.
You would not believe the amount of ‘damaged’ and returned jewel cases from shops.
Fine if you want to sell 10s of thousands – nightmare for a small label. Shrinkwrapped digi gets round all this pain.
"

The worst thing about the digipacks is, if the round thing in the middle that holds the cd (what's it called?) breaks, there's no way to replace it anymore.

Also, if you carry your CDs with you a lot like me, the cover pictures on digipacks deteriorate quickly. I recently bought a new Pharoah Sanders CD on digipack, and was full of little white dots after two or three weeks.