Typical backwards thinking on the part of environmentally-sensitive artists. The problem there is, a digipak gets worn and eventually has to be replaced or outright discarded.  A sturdy plastic case can stay on your shelf forever.

It was also my understanding that record labels liked the longboxes because it allowed for a more eye-catching display of the CD artwork.  Also, from a consumer standpoint, it was easy to quickly sift through the CD bins to find what you were looking for because the titles were prominently printed on top of the longboxes.  When longboxes were ditched in the mid-'90s in favor of shrink wrapped jewel box packaging, one of my initial complaints was that you couldn't see the CD titles when scanning the tops of the jewel cases.  Of course, most jewel cases are now sealed with a sticker along the top that displays the CD title.

Long boxes seem to be making a comeback.  Places like COSTCO sell a lot of their CDs in long boxes complete with fancy artwork.  Manilow's new CD, Kenny Rogers' Greatest Hits to name but a few.

Yeah, that's what I always thought, too.

The answer is it depends on the artist and label.  For example, Janet Jackson's A&M albums from the 80's (Control and Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814) were both issued in long box form, but her first album for Virgin (janet., 1993) was not.  Virgin also did not issue longboxes for The Velvet Rope (1997) or All For You (2001), but issued one for Damita Jo (2004) for some unknown reason. 

I worked in a record/CD/cassette store in the late '80's, and I can remember coming to the conclusion that the only reason for the long box was for the sheer irritation it must have caused for the employees of the distributors who had to pack the boxes for shipping. The albums, 45's and cassettes were always packaged just so and fit into the boxes really nice. But they always seemed to have trouble fitting the CDs into the boxes properly. They were usually in some sort of disarray. The regular customers never said anything about the paper long boxes, but some did justifiably carp about the blister packs. Personally, I hadn't yet made the transition to CD. I was a staunch vinyl man and refused to believe that CDs would someday completely overtake the planet. So when a customer would complain, I'd think: "Serves you right!"

That was a strange time for recorded music, having things come out in three prevailing formats. I say prevailing because in my neck of the woods, all three formats were selling in respectable quantities.

--Marc W.

Yes, I think there is too, Marc. I've since made the leap to CDs and am darn glad that I did, yet over time there are two words that continue to come to mind when I compare the two: "sterile" and "warm." I still think a CD has a "sterile" quality to the sound where vinyl has a certain warmth of tone that I find lacking in CDs, and to me, that's one of the advantages of vinyl. So is the larger art work and print. But again, I'm certainly not unhappy with CDs. The technical advantages are just too obvious to refute. In fact, I bought my first CDs when I worked at that store. Rhino's "Lil' Bit of Gold" 3 inch CD series had come out at that time, so I bought the Raspberries disc. I also bought Polygram's "45's on CD Volume III ('66-'69)." I was quickly pleased with them and started collecting. That was around the fall of '88.