Here’s a weird record collecting story: About a month ago, I pre-ordered a special zoetrope picture disc of Muse’s new album, Will of the People. Between it being a hand-numbered, limited edition of 8,000 and the fact that it offers up that turn-of-the-1900s pseudo-film experience, it’s gimmicky as hell so it was right up my alley. I was more than happy to order one, even though I had to pay for shipping from the UK. The weird part: Yesterday, number 7,566 arrived on my doorstep. Yay! And then today, number 7,566 arrived on my doorstep. Whaaa? I’m not sure what happened there (glitch in the Matrix?). The handwriting of the numbers are different on each copy, so I guess one hand didn’t know what the other hand was doing (RIMSHOT! Try the veal!). I didn’t get charged twice, so that’s a plus. I guess if I sell one off, I can make back the cost of the record and overseas shipping, but on the other hand, maybe it’s cooler to have both? I haven’t decided. One thing I have decided, however, is that the zoetrope aspect doesn’t work that well (swipe through the photos for some video clips of it). It kinda sorta does, but only with a lot of finagling. I can’t be the only person having issues with it, or any Google search for “Muse zoetrope” would result in a flood of homemade videos from happy fans showing off their purchase. It pretty much works for the text at the center of the album and that’s about it. I tried every viewing tip that I could find online, from video frame rates to various strobe light phone apps, all achieving only minimal results. It’s great conceptually and in the proof-of-concept disc used in their marketing video, but I guess it didn’t work for a mass-produced product. Nonetheless, A+ for effort.
