Sure they can, it's just a matter if they want to work or not. Anybody can make money, money is expendable. I agree buying the album once earns your right to be a certified fan, and not just some leach that goes around jacking music and claiming they're a fan of this band.
It's not as simple as that. Some people are only able to obtain low-paid jobs, so for some, just buying the essentials needed to survive can be a struggle, let alone funding luxuries. And a CD is a luxury. Let alone having to buy several editions of the same album. That is certainly a luxury not everyone can afford. Especially if you're like me and love a lot of bands.
And yes, I'm glad to see we agree on that. Buying one copy of a band's album instead of illegally downloading it means you are a true fan. You should not have to buy into record companies' rip-off tactics in order to be a true fan though. You buy the album once, then it's yours, and you have shown loyal support to the band you love. If you have to "download" to obtain a single song or two which are on different versions of the same album you have purchased, then I am fine with that as you are fighting record companies' rip-off tactics by doing so. But to not buy the album in any way, shape or form makes you a thief, and not a true fan of the band.
I don't follow Gamma Ray or Napalm Death so, all I can say there is you got me. I do slightly remember seeing different versions of Gambling with different tracks but I wasn't a fan of the album so I don't think I paid attention there. Were all the bonus tracks studio songs or were they live?
All of the bonus tracks were new studio songs.
There was two on the bonus disc of the two disc version ("Find My Freedom" and "See The Night"), one on the Japanese version ("We Unite"), and one on the US tour edition ("Never Surrender") I purchased the 2-disc version, so obtained the first two bonus tracks with my purchase. I obtained the Jap version through a member of their official website sending me it in a personal message, and I obtained the tour edition bonus though a sharing network. But seeing as I physically bought one copy of the album, I showed my loyalty and support to the band, by buying their new work. So I feel that how I obtained the two other bonus tracks was justified.
@Redfly: I was going to mention that practice in an earlier post. That is indeed another rip-off tactic that has become popular with record companies' in recent years. And the people it penalises most IS the true fans who will go out and buy the band's album at the time of release. It is infuriating to buy a new album, only to find a short time later, (in many cases it's less than a year later) the album being re-released as a "special edition" with bonus tracks. Which is obviously a move geared towards trying to leech more money out of real fans, in the hope they will shell out full price again for the same album with 1 or 2 extra tracks on it. This is a lowly tactic, and once again in this case, if you have already purchased the album, then I see it as completely justified if you find "other means" of obtaining those tracks other than paying through the nose again for what is essentially the same album with an extra track or two on it.
But even so, you are punishing the band as well as the record company by not buying the album at all, so I still feel you should buy the album at least once to show your support to the band. Even though some record companies do try and rip fans off, I still do not support people illegally downloading all (or even most) of the albums they want instead of buying them. I don't care about the record companies, but it is hurting the bands too, and you can't say you are a "fan" of a band when you are essentially taking money out of their pockets for all the work they put into providing you with new music.
As for the person insinuating Chuck won't be able to handle Maiden and Queen, well I really can't see that being the case. Though I am certainly very intrigued at the thought of Chuck covering Freddie Mercury (my fave vocalist of all time), but I'm pretty confident he'll be able to pull it off in his own inimitable style. As for Powerslave... he'll totally kill it (in a good way!) I'm sure!
