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maxis VS EPs


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The only US release I would consider as an EP is Remixed & Revisited. There were some “EP’s” released in Japan but they were really just what the US market would have labelled as Maxi-singles. There is also the Rebel Heart EP of the bonus tracks which was digitally released in some countries.

An EP by definition is usually a shorter version of an album with only 3-6 tracks, not traditionally remixes of 1 song. A good example would be Lady Gaga’s Fame Monster. It used to be a common format for indie bands/artists just starting out as they couldn’t afford to record/press a whole album yet. This has changed of course with digital as you can easily release one song with no need for physical copies.

If you want to know more specific details about each release in each country go to https://www.discogs.com/

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50 minutes ago, 8-tee's said:

EP = Extended Play, usually no more then 8 tracks. 

LP = Long Play, more then 9 tracks traditionally becomes an Album.

 

Yep, and the fact that the tracks are new or remixes doesn't count. Has something to do with the length of the record, at least for Billboard charts consideration.

Nowadays, it's just a marketing gimmick for short albums or special recordings.

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I think the concepts have changed through the years. 

When I was young the thing was:

Single: 7'', one song in each side
Maxi: 12'', usually with extended versions and two more song (or a remix) as b-side
EP: Usually 5 or 6 songs and usually including remixes of songs previously released.

That's how it worked here when I was young. In the 80's the songs didn't have lots of mixes like now so that was the difference between them. With the 90's things change and I have not very clear where is the difference sometimes between maxis and EPs.

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52 minutes ago, scamper said:

I think the concepts have changed through the years. 

When I was young the thing was:

Single: 7'', one song in each side
Maxi: 12'', usually with extended versions and two more song (or a remix) as b-side
EP: Usually 5 or 6 songs and usually including remixes of songs previously released.

That's how it worked here when I was young. In the 80's the songs didn't have lots of mixes like now so that was the difference between them. With the 90's things change and I have not very clear where is the difference sometimes between maxis and EPs.

Yeah I think originally it was defined by the size of the disc. But once vinyl was no longer used the definition became blurred. There are Madonna singles like the Deeper and Deeper EP which is really just the Japanese Maxi-single, not what I’d consider an EP at all by definition.

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44 minutes ago, Monsieur Hugo X said:

There's the Rain EP and Rescue Me EP from Japan and those have 10 tracks each one. 

Remixes doesn't count. "Rain EP" only have five different songs (Fever, Rain, Waiting, Bad Girl & Up Down Suite). And "Rescue Me EP" only have three different songs (Express Yourself, Justify My Love & Rescue Me).

The key is the number of different songs, not the number of tracks (or remixes) or the running time.

For example, the "Fever" Red vinyl has 12 tracks and is still a "Maxi-Single", not an "EP" neither an "Album" (the vinyl only have one different song: Fever).

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It's complicated.

In theory, an extended play (EP) it's a format in between a single and an album: more tracks than a single but not an album.

Her only official worldwide EP is "Remixed & Revisited" (and I remember back in the day there was confussion about it and it charted as an album in some countries but couldn't chart in others). But some maxis in Japan were released as EPs: 

http://www.madonnatribe.com/japan/japan5_1.htm

Later with digital stores it's even more confusing: iTunes/Apple Music automatically marks everything between 4-6 tracks as an EP. So "Vogue" single it's "Vogue - EP" there, etc, but it's just the naming.

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Confusion was probably caused by the marketing strategy in Japan to promote some longer maxi-CDs as mini-album or EP. For example The "Remixed Prayers - Minialbum" has 8 tracks, but only 2 different songs and is no minialbum and no EP - it's an ordinary maxi/remix CD. On the other hand the "Rain EP" has 10 tracks, but 5 of them are different songs: It's an EP. An EP usually has at least 3 different tracks. The "Material Girl (Club Mix EP)" is an EP with 3 different tracks.

Madonna's first album with 8 tracks could be a marginal case if the songs were much shorter. The length of over 40 minutes makes it a full album.  Sneeze's The Maybe Moving In EP also has 8 tracks, but the EP falls below the 25-28 minute limit that an album must at least go.

Remixed & Revisited is actually no EP, but a compilation album in the traditional sense like YCD (more than 5 tracks and longer than 25-28 minutes), but in some markets the minimum length of an album is set at 30 minutes or the minimum number of tracks at 8. There, Remixed & Revisited counts as an EP and was placed on the singles charts.
There are marketing reasons why Remixed & Revisited was also offered sometimes as an EP instead of a compilation album: EP sounds cooler than short album and strategically it has better chances on the singles charts than on the album charts.

By the way, You Can Dance would still be a full album with 7 tracks if it only included the short single edits, as it still meets the album criteria, with more than 5 tracks and a total playing time of over 30 minutes.

But the EP rules are not set in stone. For example, if you say "The Japan EPs" or "Vogue EP", that's right too, because that's what they're labelled, even though they may not be EPs by definition.

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