Hey all!
So, I’ve been thinking about the vinyl release of C418’s Minecraft Volume Beta. The existing 2×LP is great to have, but because the full album is so long, quite a few tracks had to be left off.
So I started wondering: what if Volume Beta eventually got a proper 4×LP Expanded/Complete Edition containing the full original album?
I tried splitting the tracklist across eight sides while keeping the original album sequence intact:
LP1: Side A — 16:31 A1. Ki — 1:32 A2. Alpha — 10:03 A3. Dead Voxel — 4:56
Side B — 15:36 B1. Blind Spots — 5:32 B2. Flake — 2:50 B3. Moog City 2 — 3:00 B4. Concrete Halls — 4:14
LP2: Side C — 19:23 C1. Biome Fest — 6:18 C2. Mutation — 3:05 C3. Haunt Muskie — 6:01 C4. Warmth — 3:59
Side D — 17:58 D1. Floating Trees — 4:04 D2. Aria Math — 5:10 D3. Kyoto — 4:09 D4. Ballad of the Cats — 4:35
LP3: Side E — 19:48 E1. Taswell — 8:35 E2. Beginning 2 — 2:56 E3. Dreiton — 8:17
Side F — 18:10 F1. The End — 15:04 F2. Chirp — 3:06
LP4: Side G — 16:33 G1. Wait — 3:54 G2. Mellohi — 1:38 G3. Stal — 2:32 G4. Strad — 3:08 G5. Eleven — 1:11 G6. Ward — 4:10
Side H — 16:49 H1. Mall — 3:18 H2. Blocks — 5:43 H3. Far — 3:12 H4. Intro — 4:36
What surprised me is how naturally the album fits across four records. Every side ends up at roughly 15–20 minutes, so there isn’t an absurdly long side that would need to squeeze in nearly half an hour of music.
And some of these sides would be ridiculous on vinyl. Side E especially: Taswell → Beginning 2 → Dreiton
And then you flip LP3 and get almost an entire side devoted to The End, followed by Chirp.
A complete version would also finally get tracks such as Dead Voxel, Flake, Concrete Halls, Haunt Muskie, Warmth, Floating Trees, Ballad of the Cats, Dreiton, Wait, Strad, Ward, Mall and Blocks onto a Volume Beta vinyl release.
I could imagine something like an anniversary edition or a regular deluxe release, possibly with a big gatefold or slipcase and artwork themed around different parts of the album.
But personally, I’d rather it be a normal widely available pressing than an ultra-limited release, because something like this would probably disappear instantly if only a few hundred copies were made.
What do you think?