The New Dream Theater Box Set is a Missed Opportunity

A press release flown in by carrier pigeon directly to the rusty, iron gates of the MS Mansion delivered some very tantalizing news this morning: a Dream Theater box set! The set spans ten of Dream Theater’s studio albums, everything except When Dream and Day Unite (I guess no one gives a shit about Charlie Dominici) and their most recent self-titled album, which makes sense. Since Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence was a double-disc affair, the box set contains 11 discs total.

But then I realized something: this box set contains CDs. As in, compact discs, those quaint, shiny plastic things that everyone has too many of and no one wants anymore. Given, Dream Theater fans are rabid, and completists will buy this set simply because they need to have one of everything the band puts out. But for the most part this seems like a squandered opportunity: why isn’t this a vinyl box set? Dream Theater fans would EAT THAT UP! I’m pretty sure the band has released vinyl editions of all of their albums by now, but many of those were limited runs that are hard to find (especially the older stuff). Not for nothing, vinyl is hot right, it’s in demand. And there’d be a lot of money potentially at play: DT superfans would gladly shell out $200 for eleven discs in killer packaging. Instead we get flimsy, old CDs… which, if you’re a Dream Theater fan, you already have… because you’re a Dream Theater fan. And who is this set designed for if not DT fans?

On the other hand, the price point is very attractive: Amazon has the set up for pre-order for just $61.65, incredibly cheap given what’s inside. That’s $5.60 per CD! These will make great stocking-stuffers come Holiday time. And, as I mentioned earlier, a segment of DT superfans will buy anything. So perhaps DT know exactly what they’re doing here.

The Studio Albums 1992-2011 box set comes out on July 8th. Order it here.