Cut-Down Version Of A Piano

Play.com is listing a cut-down version of the deluxe A Piano: The Collection set presented in a standard digi-box format. Showing a release date of November 20th (ooh, just in time for Christmas!), the price is £34.99.

Play.com is a UK vendor, but it is likely that other vendors will be offering this as well. If you hear of any more online stores listing this, let us know and we’ll keep track of the ones with the best prices in this article.

Much thanks to Melissa/deadcanary and martin for telling us about this.

Update On Barnesandnoble.com Orders

If you are still waiting for an order from B&N and have received a confirmation message that your order is packed and ready to leave their warehouse, you’re fine and can ignore the rest of this update.

If, on the other hand, you placed an order with B&N and your order still shows as unshipped on your order status page, we suggest that you call them ASAP and tell them you want to check on your order status, even if you did not receive a delay message from them.

We have no idea what happened or what’s really going on, but we think you’ll find that they will tell you that the release date was changed, but that a shipment has “just arrived today” at their warehouse and they’ll put your order through. Apparently this is exactly what they were telling people yesterday, too.

Now, it could be they really are getting their shipments in in dribbles, but this does NOT explain the reports we’re hearing about some people who ordered on Tuesday (the day of release) having already received their orders while others who pre-ordered weeks ago have been told the collection is not yet available because the supplier changed the release date. Seems like it would be a good idea for them to fill the oldest orders first.

[ UPDATE Monday, Oct 2: We attempted to contact corporate representatives at Barnes and Noble to find out what’s causing these delays, but they have not responded to our requests for comment.]

Barnesandnoble.com Out Of Stock

Perhaps you were one of the unlucky BarnesandNoble.com customers *cough* who got the following message:

We regret to inform you that our supplier has changed the release date on the pre-ordered merchandise listed below. We expect to ship the item(s) soon and will send you an email when it is ready to leave our warehouse. If we cannot acquire the merchandise within 30 days, we will notify you by email.

We assume that you still want to purchase this merchandise. However, if you would like to cancel any unshipped portion of your order, you may do so online at: http://www.bn.com/orderstatus

Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay.

— Barnes&Noble.com

[Quick-cut to a split-screen of bustling factories where workers are scrabbling to piece together little plastic pianos as fast as they can.]

One truly regrets making the unfortunate decision to shell out $85.33 for expedited delivery of the B&N edition just to get the extra DVD now.

Your Thoughts On "A Piano"

You know those days when you feel like putting your two cents in doesn’t really count for anything?

Well, this is not one of those days.

Plunk those pennies on the counter and head over to write your review of A Piano: The Collection. You can share your thoughts on a particular song or on the whole shebang. Whatever strikes your fancy.

You can also get to the reviews from our A Piano info page (which is helpfully linked in the right column … bonus points if you already knew that was there).

A Piano: Lyrics and Liner Notes

EverythingTori.com has added A Piano: The Collection to their Music gallery. Each of the five discs has a clickable tracklisting. Previously released songs, even if an alternate mix or remix, link to that song’s page from the album it was originally released on, but the lyrics and liner notes for the new songs and b-sides are now available. There are also photographs for each song from the collection’s included book. Thanks to Ben and lau for letting us know!

'Twas The Night Before A Piano...

...And all through the host,
EverythingTori was stirring,
With news bits to post!

EverythingTori.com has been updated with a few last-minute odds and ends related to the impending release of A Piano: The Collection.

First, they’ve specified some international release dates for the boxed set:

September 27, 2006:Sweden
September 29, 2006: Germany, Italy, Netherlands
October 7: Australia
October 16, 2006: France

The late date in France is somewhat surprising given the mixed signals from Amazon.fr regarding pre-orders for the collection from them. Amazon.fr now shows the 26th as the release date—assuming I can decode enough French to understand “Date de sortie d’origine” to mean the release date. I’m not sure why September 22nd is listed in parenthesis following the words “CD Audio” though.

On a related note, Amazon.ca now indicates October 3rd will be the release date of A Piano in Canada.

Second, starting on September 26th, WindowsMedia will be offering a sampler listening party for A Piano and a video stream of Tori discussing “Walk To Dublin.” (Presumably, that video clip is from the exclusive Barnes & Noble bonus DVD.) MSN Music, mp3.com, and ARTISTDirect will also be hosting listening parties as well. Also, as was mentioned earlier today, AOL Music is streaming several tracks from the boxed set, including “Not David Bowie.”

Finally, PopMatters is giving away a copy of A Piano: The Collection. Any United States resident can enter by providing their name, e-mail address and state. The deadline to do so is October 13th.

A Piano Preview: Hear Zero Point NOW!

Today is the final day of the three-week sneak preview leading up to the release of A Piano: The Collection. As promised, EverythingTori.com is offering up something really yummy: the much-anticipated debut of Zero Point. Head over to listen in Quicktime or Windows Media formats!

AOL Launching All-Tori Channel, Streaming A Piano

AOL’s Music News Blog is launching an all-new Tori Amos radio station on Oct. 5, and is asking fans to drop by and let them know which of Tori’s songs should be included.

In addition, this week the AOL Tori channel will be streaming A Piano: The Collection in its entirety! Swing on over to check it out.

More Songs On MySpace

The two sneak preview tracks that were previously streaming from EverythingTori.com, “Precious Things” (Alternate Mix) and “Crucify” (Unedited Single Version), are now available for your listening pleasure from Tori’s myspace. So if you missed ‘em before or just want to hear them again before the release of A Piano next week, here’s your chance!

Thanks to Jessica and TimL for letting us know!

Hear Sample Clips From "A Piano"

Dutch websites Bol.com and NLstore are offering streaming samples of every song on A Piano: The Collection, including unreleased tracks such as “Zero Point,” “Ode To My Clothes,” “Dolphin Song,” “Not David Bowie,” and an intro jam to “Marys of the Sea.”

(Thanks to Ruud for passing this along.)