You can see the Boss on flip side
Welcome to the age of the living liner notes.
After Bruce Springsteen fans finish listening to his new CD, “Devils & Dust,” they can flip the sucker over and watch it, too.
“Devils & Dust” is the first album from a major artist to be released exclusively on DualDisc, the only music format in 20-plus years with a legitimate shot at replacing the good old compact disc.
DualDiscs – two discs fused together – have both an audio side, to be used on a CD player, and a video side, accessed by a DVD player.
They typically cost $1 to $3 more than regular CDs, though the Springsteen package still is priced at a more typical $18.98. (The Wall Street Journal quoted Springsteen’s manager as saying the Boss had demanded there be no extra cost to record buyers.)
On the DVD side of “Devils & Dust” is a half-hour movie, directed by noted rock photographer Danny Clinch, that features Springsteen strumming a few new tunes and explaining his writing process.
“These are all songs about people whose souls are in danger or at risk,” the Boss says, sitting on a creaky chair in a creakier house. “That’s a human constant.”
Also on the disc’s bonus side is a version of “Devils & Dust” in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound for people with home theater systems. As the music plays, lyrics fill your TV screen – a follow-the-bouncing-ball bit of animated entertainment.
DualDiscs are being issued by a consortium of record labels and companies, including Sony BMG, Warner Bros. and Universal, in hopes of boosting business.
In 2004, CD album sales were up 2.3 percent compared with 2003. But with downloadable music also making gains, and Internet music piracy still a problem, record executives are hoping DualDiscs further strengthen in-store music buying.
Videos and related bonus footage aren’t as easy to share online. And by the end of 2005, 80 percent of U.S. households will have at least one DVD player, according to the nonprofit trade consortium Digital Entertainment Group.
So far, DualDisc sales have been promising. Last year, Warner released the first DualDisc: pop-punk band Simple Plan’s “Still Not Getting Any …,” which has gone platinum.
Jennifer Lopez’s “Rebirth” was released in March in both DualDisc and CD-only formats; about 30 percent of her sales (more than 400,000 units total) have been DualDiscs.
Still, labels are taking a cautious approach regarding DualDiscs.
“I don’t know if I can make that great statement … but it certainly has outperformed other formats” such as mini-disc and Super Audio CD, says Bill Frohlich, co-president of Sony BMG’s sales enterprise division.
He adds that DualDisc sales have doubled recently, and that several major artists, including Brit-pop band Oasis, are planning DualDisc treatments.
“Creativity will dictate” whether an artist opts for the DualDisc format, Frohlich says. “The content has to be right … more compelling, fresh.”
Musicians with a lot to say and play, however, might want to pass.
Because of the way DualDiscs are fused and beveled, the length of the CD side is “limited to about 63 minutes,” according to Bob Ludwig, president of Gateway Mastering & DVD, the company that mastered “Devils & Dust.” Pop albums routinely stretch beyond 70, or even 75, minutes.
The flip side also is more limited space-wise than a normal DVD.
Because DualDiscs are slightly thicker than regular CDs, DualDisc packaging includes a boilerplate warning that “not all DVD and CD players will play the audio side.” Specific players haven’t been listed, but the Internet is littered with a smattering of DualDisc complaints about this.
However, Frohlich says, “We don’t have a consumer issue or a customer issue.”
I’ve had no problems with any of DualDiscs I’ve played on car stereo, home stereo and laptop computer. But it drives me absolutely batty that DualDiscs come in a clunky, slightly rounded jewel case with a push-button latch. Why change that, of all things?
My crankiness was quickly tempered, however, after I saw that Springsteen movie. The Boss rules – on both sides of the album.