Get a life? I've traveled all over the world. I'd call that having a life much more than listening to a CD! It's *extremely rare* that the tracks are fixed up or changed in any way - simply re-released. The 6 disc set was fantastic- because that actually DID involve complete re-do's, and I bought that the first day it hit the shelf without hessitation.
But anyone that can sit here and say "I'm GLAD that I have the same ten songs on seven different CDs that I each paid full price for" is totally full of it and simply trying to fluff the issue to get the attention of Randy who, in this case, you all look at as some type of celebrity that you want to be friends with.
Like I said - fantastic that Randy cares about the fans - just as anyone in his spot SHOULD, but rarely does. I think that's great. But it's inexcuseable that the company (not Randy) cannot come up with something original to match the continued rising price.
You want to release the same music over and over? Do a quality set like the Disneyland 6 disc, remaster all the sound and I will GLADLY buy it. But until then, I've said it and I stand by it, I will not pay for another rehash album. MP3 downloads from the net work perfectly for the same results.
I think you're failing to consider the fact that what you are demanding would satisfy a relatively small consumer market. Simply put, why should Disney release a CD of tracks that only a relative handful of people would even recognize. Don't get me wrong - I was ecstatic to find all of the versions of Fun To Be Free, and the entire recording of the Peoplemover in Disneyland (that was extremely tough to find in the days prior to Mousebits) - but business wisdom prevails here.
The cost of mastering and re-mastering a cd, then production, then the retail space (sales per linear foot for shelved product is driving factor)...for what represents
maybe 1% of guests...no way. Disney wants the average guest to be able to pick up a cd at register side POS, that they can listen to and say..."Oh that's from the Pirates ride...". It's fans like us that want the specific loop of the unloading ramp, for example.
And Disney is being very, very smart about this - traditional media is simply cost-prohibitive to satisfy us, so they are going to e-media...namely iTunes. Over time, I would guess that you are going to be able to find just about any track, and why not? For a long time now, we have been able to find decent quality tracks on-line...now Disney is going to tap into that, and attach a revenue stream to it.
If you are a fan like me (who also bought the DL set), then pay $0.99 for a rare loop is a non-issue, meaning iTunes is the way to go, as opposed to a 40 cd set (that's what 30 GBs of audio would take up).