I've thought about this for awhile now, and I'm sure some of you remember me saying this, but I've always wanted to see Dream Theater re-release and/or remaster their first four albums (well, 2nd-4th if they can't ever get the rights back to WDADU), and throw on their FII Demos and other early B-Sides on an album with "A Change Of Seasons". There's enough material there for what would amount to a full album for a total of 9 songs (~76:15 long). Then I'd like to see them just release the full Uncovered '95 show since those songs wouldn't be on an EP with ACOS anymore.
Then I got to thinking - would they do that, or would they re-release their albums with appropriate B-Sides (and/or Demos) on a second disc? IAW would get a couple B-Sides and I'm sure some demos would be neat to hear (on an official release), or some live tracks from that era/tour (possibly pulled from YJR releases like the NYC '93 show, or the '95 and '98 shows for Awake and FII).
There's a lot of possibilities, but I listed four of the major ones I could think of as options.
Option 1 - Re-release the albums as I have stated at the top of my post, with the B-Sides combined with ACOS, then full versions of the live albums of that era including the full show at the Marquee, the full Uncovered '95 show (which fits on one disc anyway), and a full 3CD version of Once In A LIVEtime.
Option 2 - Re-release the individual albums with B-Sides, Demos, and/or Live tracks (if you choose this option, you can specify which tracks if you want to). You can throw ACOS on with IAW (written during this time) or FII (recorded with DS), then continue with the full live albums as stated above.
Option 3 - Just the studio albums with better sound, better mix and/or mastering, and nothing else. A no-frills deal, but maybe better packaging.
Option 4 - Just release the live albums in full. All the live albums during this time were cut short, and since LSFNY onward, we've gotten predominantly full live shows for each live release, so why not go back and fix the earlier shows with full releases?
Option 5 - Just re-release ACOS with the B-Sides! If you don't care about getting the albums again, or just want the B-Sides on an official release (and not pay $70+ for Cleaning Out The Closet), this option is for you!
Option 6 - Your choice. You can mix and match, come up with another idea, but if you choose this option, please reply and let everyone know what your idea is!!!
This is just a fun what-if-fantasy poll to pass the time, and I doubt DT will go through the trouble to re-release their back catalog like this anytime soon. They'll probably have to wait til their 35th or 40th anniversary before thinking about doing any sort of packages.
-Marc.