Hi!
STYLE-1241 asks for a relationship to link releases such as “Tosca” and “Tosca (Highlights)”, where the second is basically a “compilation” of the best bits of the first. This makes sense to me, but in order to know whether to add it between releases or between release groups, we would need to have a clear idea of whether these belong in the same release group or not. What are people’s opinions?
FWIW, my initial thought is slightly more in favor of different RGs by the thought that if I have the highlights release only, I wouldn’t claim I have this recording of Tosca.
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I would lean to a single RG because
Ombre est lumière (volume unique) would fit the hightlight description and I wouldn’t put that album in another RG as I feel it needs to be tied up to the previous double album release with more tracks…
I would put an expanded edition release with bonus tracks in the same RG as the release it reissues but using your argument, if I’m having the original issue, I cannot claim to have the expanded edition (because the original issue would be an incomplete version of the expanded reissue)
I also feel album ‘samplers’ should be in the same RG as their final ‘complete’ counterpart.
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Well, that’d still be doable either way via the new relationship, at least 
Would the fans not consider them two different things? (I’d feel if I had the second edition I wouldn’t really have the whole album).
Expand the argument to singles…
You often see singles with 4 or 6 tracks on vinyl (original release) being reissued as a 2 or 3 tracks CD in the same RG. (a cappella are often left off the CD edition)
This could get confusing… I see some Singles also appear as EPs… then two or three EPs combined later as a “Best of the Singles” release.
Linking those would be interesting, but it will be quite a spiders web.
I would put "Highlights"releases into their own RG meself.
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I can only speak from nonclassical point:
A work that has been abridged, expurgated, reordered, extended (in length of tracks, e.g. standalone vs mixed) or expanded (with bonus tracks) is still the same work, as long as it carries the bulk of artistic message.
Similarly with RGs. A release with a bonus disc is in the same RG as the standard release.
However if the contents of this bonus disc were released separately at a much later or a much earlier date, I would definitely add it as a standalone EP RG. At most it could be a lead EP, promoting the subsequent album, provided it contained at least one song taken from that album.
This self-titled EP has been released in anticipation of the band’s upcoming album, months before its release. The CD version was sold as a promo/sampler, but the digital was widely available for purchase and streaming. And even though all four tracks eventually were included on the full length, the earlier EP stood on its own, created its own media buzz and had months to be played over and over by many people. So I suppose the time factor plays a big role too.
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