Official Bootlegs: How hard is it to find them in stores?

[Mosh]

Just curious, I'd like to know if anybody here has seen them in a used CD store. I don't like to order CD's unless they're impossible for me to find in a store. I've personally never seen them, but I have never looked either.

[BlobVanDam]

I don't think they're distributed in stores. I think it's just the site.

[Mosh]

I don't think they're distributed in stores. I think it's just the site.

Right, I mean used ones at second hand stores.

[BlobVanDam]

Oh, sorry. Considering the relatively small run of the bootlegs compared to normal albums, I think you'd have to get pretty lucky to find one used in a store, but anything's possible I suppose.

[lonestar]

A place by me had two.  Don't know if they are the "official" bootlegs, but they had a Majesty instrumental CD and an early live show.  Been meaning to pick them up, but they are pricey, about $50 each.

[Nick]

A place by me had two.  Don't know if they are the "official" bootlegs, but they had a Majesty instrumental CD and an early live show.  Been meaning to pick them up, but they are pricey, about $50 each.

Yeah, and who would buy them at that price when you can get a new one for $15 or $20? Most CD shops pay out very little for people trading in used CDs, and so someone really wants to lose money for no reason they are either going to sell higher value goods like these on Ebay or keep them. The chances of finding a legit copy of anything used in a store is next to nill.

[Mosh]

Alright thanks for the responses. I'll just order them then.

New question, which ones are the best to get?

[rcseeley421]

All of them

[Madman Shepherd]

I have never seen one of those CDs sold second hand without the price being inflated by 40-60%.  Just order them.  As far as the best ones, it is all personal preference.  I got the Majesty Demos first so I could have the whole catalog of DT's original songs.  Then I think I got the Scenes From a Memory sessions.  After that, its a matter of if you want demos or cover albums.  Just go crazy and get'em all!

[ReaPsTA]

Alright thanks for the responses. I'll just order them then.

New question, which ones are the best to get?

What are you interested in?

[wasteland]

Alright thanks for the responses. I'll just order them then.

New question, which ones are the best to get?

The best of them are:

Images And Words Demos
Falling Into Infinity Demos
Limelight, 4/3/1993 (nineteen years from today!)

[Nick]

I think the most interesting are...

Images and Words Demos
Falling Into Infinity Demos
Uncovered 2003-2005
Dark Side of the Moon DVD

As for the live shows, I'd say go with whatever suits your interest.

[WildeSilas]

Falling Into Infinity is a Must Have for any DT fan. I&W is interesting, but not great for repeated listens, other than a few tracks that didn't make the album.

[Scorpion]

Agreed. Falling Into Infinity Demos are far superior to the original album (even though I miss Hell's Kitchen as a seperate track). Haven't heard the other demos though.

[KISS 76]

So sad that it doesn't look like there will be any new titles released unless some serious bridge building is done by MP & DT. I used to look forward to each release so much. MP did say that he had the next batch ready to go before he quit the band.

[voncorn]

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[Mosh]

Yea FII is the one I've been thinking about getting. If only for Raise The Knife The DVDs look cool too.

[ZirconBlue]

Agreed. Falling Into Infinity Demos are far superior to the original album (even though I miss Hell's Kitchen as a seperate track). Haven't heard the other demos though.

Totally disagree. I can't stand how crappy the quality of the demo recordings are. FII the album on the other hand is one of the best sounding records production-wise I have heard.

They sound pretty good to me.  And, more to the point, I think most of the actual songs are better in their demo form.   

[BlobVanDam]

Agreed. Falling Into Infinity Demos are far superior to the original album (even though I miss Hell's Kitchen as a seperate track). Haven't heard the other demos though.

Totally disagree. I can't stand how crappy the quality of the demo recordings are. FII the album on the other hand is one of the best sounding records production-wise I have heard. 

I don't think the FII demos sound too bad, but I think the album versions of the songs are completely superior in every way. It's mostly worth it for the entirely omitted tracks like RTK.

[Scorpion]

Agreed. Falling Into Infinity Demos are far superior to the original album (even though I miss Hell's Kitchen as a seperate track). Haven't heard the other demos though.

Totally disagree. I can't stand how crappy the quality of the demo recordings are. FII the album on the other hand is one of the best sounding records production-wise I have heard. 

I don't think the FII demos sound too bad, but I think the album versions of the songs are completely superior in every way. It's mostly worth it for the entirely omitted tracks like RTK.

True, that's a real gem on there, just like Speak to Me and Cover My Eyes are, but many songs are better on the demo than on the finished album too, in my opinion. Lines in the Sand and Take Away My Pain would immediately come to mind for me.

Concerning the production, I'm not that much of a person that absolutely needs the best of the best sounds, so I'm okay.

[Zook]

I found WDADRU at Zia once. Almost bought it.

[bosk1]

Short answer is, it would be an extremely rare find.  Ytsejam Records never set up any sort of distribution deal with any distributors, so the only way you will ever find them is (1) if the owner or the "order guy" at a small, independent shop knows about the official bootlegs and orders them directly from Ytsejam, or (2) it is a store that deals in used CD's, and someone has sold their copy.  Either way, I wouldn't expect to find much out there.  Better to order directly.

[cramx3]

When Dream and Day Unite on DVD is the best.

[voncorn]

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[cramx3]

Well that is awesome too, but the performance of Metropolis with Dominici and Sherinian is worth the price alone.

[novenpeter]

i got my wdadru in a 2hand cd shop, there are still some majesty demo, dsotm live, wdadu demo ,etc

[Setlist Scotty]

Short answer is, it would be an extremely rare find.  Ytsejam Records never set up any sort of distribution deal with any distributors, so the only way you will ever find them is (1) if the owner or the "order guy" at a small, independent shop knows about the official bootlegs and orders them directly from Ytsejam, or (2) it is a store that deals in used CD's, and someone has sold their copy.  Either way, I wouldn't expect to find much out there.  Better to order directly.

You forgot option #3 - illegal pirate/counterfeit copies of the official bootlegs. I've seen them on eBay in the past and I would imagine that you'll run across them in some stores, especially if you don't live in North America or in western European countries. In any case, if the font looks different than the other releases (some versions of the counterfeit of Making of SFaM used the Brush Script font) and/or they are released as digipaks or multiple releases together (two separate DVD releases in one package, etc), they are definitely illegal pirate copies that in no way, shape or form will benefit the band - only the scum that made the copies.

Here are some examples:
https://www.amazon.com/DVD-Dream-Theater-When-Reunite/dp/B000EEEVWU
https://ymfr.free.fr/index.php?title=Image:DSOTMRus.jpg
https://ymfr.free.fr/index.php?title=Image:DSOTM-WDADR-Chin.jpg
https://ymfr.free.fr/index.php?title=Dark_Side_Of_The_Moon_%28contrefa%C3%A7on-CD_%26_DVD%29
https://ymfr.free.fr/index.php?title=Image:BucharestContrChin.jpg
https://ymfr.free.fr/index.php?title=Image:Jfficial_bootleg.jpg
https://ymfr.free.fr/index.php?title=Image:CHNMop.jpg

So in a word, if the print quality is crap, looks like one of the above links or is a combo release or digipak, you have a pirated/counterfeit copy.