I am not a fan of EP's as a rule, most of the time they put all the tracks on the full sized album when it comes out.
Just my two cents worth.
Funny you say that. I don't like EP's either.
However, I always looked at EP's with "new" studio tracks as containing stuff that was rejected from a previous full-length studio album. I don't know of many examples where bands would pack an EP with "killer" songs. Usually they do b-side quality stuff or rejected cuts from earlier albums just to get new product into stores and have fans salivating over "new" songs.
I also feel the same way about the inevitable one or two "new" songs from greatest hits albums and for that matter, the majority of stuff recorded exclusively for a movie soundtrack.
A lot of it is half-baked stuff that wasn't good enough to be used elsewhere on a more high-profile studio album.
This is a completely random example, out of nowhere, but it is the first one that pops into my head. I could probably name a dozen similar examples but here is just one.
Aerosmith has packed nearly every compilation (box set and hits) they've ever done with one or two new original songs. They've also done a couple songs that can only be found on soundtracks. I don't remember ANY of them ever being particularly good.
Same thing with Motley Crue, who included a lot of new songs on their compilations over the years. The majority of new stuff they put on non-studio albums was garbage compared to their "better" material.
In fact, Def Leppard arguably did the same thing themselves with the
Retroactive album, in which they threw a pile of previously unused material on an album, mainly b-sides, soundtrack music or stuff Joe Elliott originally wrote for other artists. Yet it is my favorite Leppard album, go figure.
By the way, assuming this live album actually comes out, given Leppard's glacial like pace for releasing product, isn't this the first live album by Leppard? At least to be released on cd, anyway.
