104 replies to this topic

[Paul]

We got lots of votes, so I'm going to post the top 40 this year instead of just the top 25.




SPOILERS

1 Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool
2 Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue
3 Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol.8/Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006
4 King Khan & the Shrines - 'The Supreme Genius of King Khan & the Shrines'
5 Jay Reatard - Matador Singles 08
6 Jay Reatard - Singles 06-07
7 Pavement -- Brighten The Corners: The Nicene Creedence Edition
8 Neil Young - Sugar Mountain Live at Canterbury House
9 Gas – Nah Und Fern
10 R.E.M. – Murmur (Deluxe Edition)
11 Rivers Cuomo - Alone II: The Home Recordings
12 Whiskeytown - 'Stranger's Almanac (Deluxe Edition)'
13 Belle and Sebastian - The BBC Sessions
14 Maroon 5 - Call and Response
15 Replacements - Tim
16 Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff (Deluxe Edition)
17 Beck - Odelay (Deluxe Edition)
18 Love - Forever Changes: 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition
19 Steinski - What Does It All Mean? 1983 - 2006 Retrospective
20 African Scream Contest: Raw & Psychedelic Afro Sounds from Benin & Togo 70s
21 Replacements--Pleased to Meet Me
22 Clash - Live at Shea Stadium
23 Studio - Yearbook 2
24 Otis Redding - Live In London and Paris
25 Ween - At The Cat's Cradle, 1992
26 David Bowie - Live Santa Monica '72
27 U2 - Boy (expanded and remastered)
28 Replacements - Let it Be
29 Rocket From the Crypt – All Systems Go 3
30 Eels – Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996-2006
31 Smiths - The Sound Of The Smiths
32 Elvis Costello & The Attractions - This Year's Model (28th Deluxe edition)
33 BIPPP: French Synth Wave 1979-85
34 Creedence Clearwater Revival- Cosmo’s Factory
35 J.T. IV - Cosmic Lightning
36 Eels - Meet The Eels: Essential Eels, Vol. 1 1996-2006
37 Arthur Russell - Love is Overtaking Me
38 Jesus and Mary Chain--The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides and Rarities
39 Long Blondes - "Singles"
40 Carl Craig – Sessions

[Duff.]

Rock. I mean, "First," or something.

[Paul]

#40.




Carl Craig - Sessions
(230 Points, 3 Votes)

Tracklist:
Disc: 1
1. Directions- Busted Trees (Carl Craig 'Sessions' Remix)
2. Junior Boys- Like A Child (Carl Craig Remix)
3. Rhythm & Sound- Poor People Must Work (Carl Craig Remix)
4. Chez Damier- Help Myself (Reconstructed by Carl Craig)
5. Paperclip People- Throw (Unreleased Version)
6. Beanfield- Tides (Carl Craig "Sessions' Remix)
7. Paperclip People- Clear and Present
8. Theo Parrish- Falling Up (Carl Craig Remix)
9. Paperclip People- Oscililator (Original Version)
10. Cesaria Evora- Angola (Carl Craig's Mix)
11. Francesco Tristano- The Melody (Carl Craig Remix)
12. Delia Gonzales & Gavin Russom- Revelee (Carl Craig 'Sessions' Remix)
Disc: 2
1. 69- Rushed (Original Version)
2. 69- Pyschobeat (Previously Unreleased)
3. Xpress2- Kill 100 (Carl Craig"Sessions" Remix)
4. Tres Demented- Demented (Or Just Crazy) (Original Version)
5. Faze Action- In The Trees ( Unreleased Carl Craig Remix)
6. Tres Demented- Brainfreeze (Carl Craig 'Sessions' Mix)
7. Carl Craig- Futurelovetheme (Carl Craig 'Sessions' Mix)
8. Carl Craig- Sandstorms (Original Version)
9. Innerzone Orchestra- Bug In The Bass Bin (Carl Craig "Sessions" Mix)

Amazon.com Product Description:
"Sessions" serves both as a retrospective on the work of the Grammy nominated electronic music originator and a collection of his most important remixes. The two disc set is compiled and mixed by Craig himself, and is a fantastic view of the work of a master.

AMG Says:
Compiling each Carl Craig remix would be a several-disc box set undertaking. The pool from which to draw is wide and deep, from Nexus 21's 1989 track "(Still) Life Keeps Moving" through Junior Boys' Grammy nominated "Like a Child." Hopefully just the first way of addressing this large stockpile of varied tracks, Sessions is a two-disc set mixed by Craig that focuses primarily on his remixes (of tracks by others as well as himself) while interspersing a few original mixes of his productions. Though the set reaches back to 1992 for Chez Damier's synthetic-handclap-happy "Help Myself," there's a clear emphasis on Craig's more recent activities, with well over half of the tracks dating from 2004 or later. While he hadn't quite pulled a disappearing act during the late '90s and very early 2000s -- 2002's The Workout being one of the most improperly slept-on house/techno mixes of the last several years -- he underwent something of a rebirth around 2003, releasing a string of unpredictable and high-quality productions while developing into one of the hottest remixers on the planet. Most of the big re-workings are here in original or "exclusive," meaning slightly different, form: the low-key hiss-and-ping of Junior Boys' "Like a Child," Faze Action's searing/surging "In the Trees," Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom's spiraling "Relevee." In most cases -- Theo Parrish's "Falling Up" being the one major exception -- Craig's versions outstrip the originals not just by making them more palatable to moving bodies but also by teasing out elements and supplementing them with new wrinkles to make headphone listening as stimulating as dancefloor play. Remaining vital in any field for 20 years is an achievement, but doing so while forecasting and riding the rapid developments in dance music is something else entirely. This release goes some distance -- about as far as possible in two and a half hours -- to acknowledge that notion.

Ranked Highest By: vurt(#4)

Amazon Link

[Paul]

#39.




The Long Blondes - "Singles"
(235 Points, 3 Votes)

Tracklist:
1. "New Idols"
2. "Long Blonde"
3. "Autonomy Boy"
4. "Giddy Stratospheres"
5. "Polly"
6. "Darts"
7. "Appropriation (By Any Other Name)"
8. "My Heart Is Out Of Bounds"
9. "Lust In The Movies"
10. "Separated By Motorways" (Demo)
11. "Big Infatuation"
12. "Peterborough"

Amazon.com Product Description:
2008 release that collects together the UK band's four pre-Rough Trade singles, all highly sought after limited seven inch vinyl pressings available here for the first time on CD. This album also features two bonus tracks, and captures the energy and excitement of The Long Blondes at their best. The CD features a brand new painting by singer Kate Jackson especially for this release, and a poster sleeve designed by The PIX magazine features rare early pictures, interviews and sleeve notes by the band. 12 tracks. Angular Records.

AMG Says: n/a

Ranked Highest By: Mitchell, Bobzilla (#6)

Amazon Link

[Paul]

#38.




The Jesus and Mary Chain - The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides and Rarities
(242 Points, 4 Votes)

Tracklist:
Disc: 1
1. Up Too High(Demo '83)
2. Upside Down
3. Vegetable Man
4. Suck
5. Ambition
6. Just Out Of Reach
7. Boyfriend's Dead
8. Head
9. Just Like Honey(Demo Oct. '84)
10. Cracked
11. Taste Of Cindy(Acoustic)
12. The Hardest Walk
13. Never Understand(Alternate)
14. The Living End(Demo)
15. Some Candy Talking
16. Psychocandy
17. Hit
18. Cut Dead(Acoustic)
19. You Trip Me Up(Acoustic)
20. Walk And Crawl

Disc: 2
1. Kill Surf City
2. Bo Diddley Is Jesus
3. Who Do You Love
4. Everything's Alright When You're Down
5. Shake
6. Happy When It Rains(Demo)
7. Happy Place
8. F.Hole
9. Rider
10. On The Wall(Porta Studio Demo)
11. Surfin' USA(April Out-Take)
12. Here It Comes Again
13. Don't Ever Change
14. Swing
15. Sidewalking
16. Surfin' USA(Summer Mix)
17. Shimmer
18. Penetration
19. Break Me Down
20. Subway
21. My Girl

Disc: 3
1. In The Black
2. Terminal Beach
3. Deviant Slice
4. I'm Glad I Never
5. Drop(Acoustic Re-Mix)
6. Rollercoaster
7. Silverblade
8. Lowlife
9. Tower Of Song
10. Heat
11. Guitarman
12. Why'd You Want Me
13. Sometimes
14. Teenage Lust(Acoustic Version)
15. Reverberation(Doubt)
16. Don't Come Down
17. Snakedriver
18. Something I Can't Have
19. Write Record Release Blues
20. Little Red Rooster

Disc: 4
1. The Perfect Crime
2. Little Stars
3. Drop-Re-Recorded
4. I'm In With The Out Crowd
5. New York City
6. Taking It Away
7. Ghost Of A Smile
8. Alphabet Street
9. Coast To Coast(Alternate-William VOX)
10. Dirty Water(Demo-William VOX)
11. Till I Found You
12. Bleed Me
13. 33 1/3
14. Lost Star
15. Hide Myself
16. Rocket
17. Easylife, Easylove
18. 40,000k
19. Nineteen666

Amazon.com Product Description:
Founded and led by brothers William and Jim Reid - guitarists and vocalists both - these Glasgow-based post-punk icons changed the course of alt-rock with their bold Velvet Underground-meets-Brian Wilson sound.

AMG Says:
The Jesus and Mary Chain's 2008 Rhino four-disc box set The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides & Rarities, collects all of the influential Scottish noise-pop band's various B-side singles, cover songs, and sundry demos in one terrific package. Fans of JAMC who already own the band's albums should be pleased to see that none of the original album tracks are included here. For those who don't own them, Rhino's 2006 bonus disc reissues of Psychocandy, Darklands, Automatic, Honey's Dead, and Stoned & Dethroned is the place to start. However, in many ways The Power of Negative Thinking is a more honest portrait of JAMC than even the studio albums reveal. Often mischaracterized as gloomy, goth rock misanthropes -- only partly true -- JAMC were in truth huge fans of '60s sunshine pop, surf rock, and even hip-hop and aspired to a kind of D.I.Y. Phil Spector Wall of Sound aesthetic that found them substituting Spector's strings and horns with walls of feedbacking guitar. These are rough demos meant to capture the Reid brothers' raw creative vision of rock music that -- as guitarist Jim Reid says in the liner notes -- had, "the pop sensibilities of the Shangri-Las, but with the production values of the Birthday Party." In that sense, we get JAMC from their dreamy lo-fi punk roots with the 1983 drum machine-driven demo for "Up Too High" and 1984's sludgy feedback-laden "Upside Down," to their time as '90s alt rock icons on such pristinely polished efforts like shimmering 1992 ballad "Why Do You Want Me?" and the catchy folk-rock of 1994's "Something I Can't Have." We even get one of the few non-Reid entries in bassist Ben Lurie's pop nugget "Rocket." Also enlightening are such giddy cover songs as JAMC's version of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love," Prince's "Alphabet Street," and the Temptations' "My Girl" which purportedly JAMC were so drunk during the recording of they could barely hold their instruments. It's also true that the Reid brothers were big fans of Bob Dylan and that many of these songs were written on acoustic guitar. Not surprisingly, here we get blissfully melodic acoustic versions of "Just Like Honey" and "Taste of Cindy," which actually come fairly close to fulfilling JAMC's Spector-ish aspirations. Ultimately, The Power of Negative Thinking isn't the whole JAMC story, but it's the whole story behind the scenes and A-side singles, and sometimes the B-sides. Even better.

Ranked Highest By: SimulatedStereo (#7)

Amazon Link

[Paul]

#37.




Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me
(242 Points, 3 Votes)

Tracklist:
1. Close My Eyes
2. Goodbye Old Paint
3. Maybe She
4. Oh Fernanda Why
5. Time Away
6. Nobody Wants A Lonely Heart
7. I Couldn't Say It To Your Face
8. This Time Dad You'Re Wrong
9. What It's Like
10. ELI
11. Hey! How Does Everybody Know
12. I Forget And I Can't Tell
13. Habit Of You
14. Janine
15. Big Moon
16. Your Motion Says
17. The Letter
18. Don't Forget About Me
19. Love Is Overtaking Me
20. Planted A Thought
21. Love Comes Back

Amazon.com Product Description:
Hailed by a two generations of listeners as one of the most important (and overlooked) songwriters of the last 25 years, Arthur Russell's music remains as contemporary today as when it was first recorded. Over the last four years, Audika Records has diligently mined Russell's vast archive of previously unreleased music with the critically lauded albums Calling Out of Context, Springfield, World of Echo, and First Thought Best Thought. Now, the label completes the oeuvre, showing Russell's singer-songwriter side. Love Is Overtaking Me collects the best of the previously unreleased folk, pop, and country stylings from Arthur Russell's archive. Compiled from over eight hours of material and three years in the making, the album includes some of Russell's earliest '70s compositions through to his very last at-home recordings in 1991. Several of these tracks are featured prominently in Matt Wolf 's film Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, including "Close My Eyes," "Eli," The Letter," and "Love Is Overtaking Me." The album is compiled from several sources, including the legendary demos made for John Hammond Sr., a demo of a country song written for Randy Travis, and the late '80s collaboration with Steven Hall recording as Bright & Early. Extensive liner notes from Russell's longtime companion Tom Lee provide perspective into the intimate nature of Arthur's process and songwriting.

AMG Says:
Since 2005, New York City's Audika imprint has dedicated itself to releasing the recordings of the late composer, cellist, and singer/songwriter Arthur Russell, a musical polymath who was as comfortable in the discos of Manhattan as he was in a cowboy hat in the fields as he appears here, on the cover of Love Is Overtaking Me. Audika has issued four albums -- three different compilations centering on different aspects of his musical adventurousness, an EP, and his seminal World of Echo album. Love Is Overtaking Me contains 21 tracks recorded between 1974 and 1990. It reveals another dimension of this seemingly limitless musician: his pop and country-ish recordings, done solo as demos, in session with the brilliant John Hammond at Columbia, and with musicians from the East Village and downtown scenes including Peter Gordon Ernie Brooks, Andy Paley, Jerry Harrison, Steven Hall, Larry Saltzman, Jon Gibson, Jimmy Chamberlain, David Van Tieghem, and Peter Zummo. Some of these are rehearsal versions of tunes he performed and recorded with his bands the Flying Hearts and the Sailboats project with Hall.

Russell's companion Tom Lee wrote the liner notes to this set and discusses the sheer possibility for mass appeal in these songs; he's not exaggerating. Take a listen to the demo of the title track recorded with Hall on guitar, drummer Rob Shepperson, and conguero Mustafa Khaliq Ahmed. Its verse/chorus structure is woven straight from classic organic pop/rock melody -- think a less twisted Jonathan Richman -- and is utterly infectious. Elsewhere, in "I Couldn't Say It to Your Face," one can hear traces of John Lennon, James Taylor, and Randy Newman. Recorded by Hammond, this cut featured a full band with Gibson, Brooks, Gordon, Paley, trombonist Garrett List, and bassist Jon Sholle. The melody shimmers underneath a lyric that contains warmth, love, anger, and irony. The very next track, "This Time Dad You're Wrong," with a standard rock quartet, features a shuffling country rhythm under a melody that combines the sophistication of Big Star and the poetic directness of Willie Nelson. The latter is exaggerated a bit on the spoken/sung "What It's Like," but it's a story song and it works. The opening number, "Close My Eyes," is a pure country waltz, with Russell accompanying himself on a guitar -- he was almost as deft on it as he was on cello. These tunes reflect Russell's California origins. But there's the other side too; the New York side in the rockin' "Big Moon" and "Janine," which, though utterly friendly and even beautiful, is a kind of fractured future pop that transcends its form. On "Love Comes Back," Russell accompanies himself with a cheap drum machine and keyboards; he closes the entire argument as to what he was about artistically no matter how wide-ranging his recordings were: he was a composer and songwriter who wished -- and succeeded -- to express tenderness, empathy, and gentleness in everything he did. Russell's music connected with so many of his peers -- no matter what scene they were in -- and with his posthumous listeners for that reason alone. Russell was 100-percent genuine, and as Ted Berrigan once wrote, "on the level, everyday." This is one of the finest chapters yet in Audika's continuing retrospective. Let's hope there is still more where this came from.

Ranked Highest By: dicorice (#3)

Amazon Link

[Paul]

EDIT: Skipped #36. That will be up in this spot in a minute.


#36.




eels - Meet The eels: Essential eels 1996-2006, Vol. 1
(246 Points, 2 Votes, One #1 Vote)

Tracklist:
Disc: 1
1. Novocaine For The Soul
2. Susan's House
3. My Beloved Monster
4. Your Lucky Day In Hell
5. 3 Speed
6. Last Stop: This Town
7. Climbing To The Moon (Jon Brion Remix)*
8. Flyswatter
9. I Like Birds
10. Mr. E's Beautiful Blues
11. It's A Motherfucker
12. Souljacker Part 1
13. That's Not Really Funny
14. Fresh Feeling
15. Get Ur Freak On*
16. Saturday Morning
17. Love Of The Loveless
18. Dirty Girl (Live At Town Hall)
19. I Need Some Sleep
20. Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)
21. I'm Going To Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart
22. Trouble With Dreams
23. Railroad Man
24. Losing Streak

Disc: 2 (DVD)
1. Novocaine For The Soul
2. Susan's House
3. Rags To Rags
4. Your Lucky Day In Hell
5. Last Stop: This Town
6. Cancer For The Cure
7. Flyswatter
8. Souljacker part I
9. Saturday Morning
10. Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)
11. Trouble With Dreams
12. Dirty Girl (Live at Town Hall)

Amazon.com Product Description:
MEET THE EELS: ESSENTIAL EELS VOL. 1, 1996-2006 spans the first decade of the EELS with 24 selections on CD and 12 previously unreleased videos on DVD. Featuring fan favorites culled fromthe EELS critically acclaimed releases on Dreamworks and Vagrant. ESSENTIAL EELS also includes 2 previously unreleased tracks, the Jon Brion remix of "Climbing To The Moon" and a cover of Missy Elliot's "get ur freak on."

AMG Says:
For Eels fans, and especially those obsessed with Mark Oliver Everett, the man who created and fronts the ever-changing lineup as well as writing its songs, 2008 kicked off anything but quietly. Despite a mere six studio and one live record in the band's catalog, E and Universal/Geffen have issued what amounts to a truckload of backlog material on two separate -- some would say excessive -- releases: Meet the Eels: Essential Eels 1996-2006, Vol. 1, a CD/DVD package, and Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities, and Unreleased 1996-2006. The latter includes two discs of music and a live DVD documenting the band's 2006 Lollapalooza performance.

Meet the Eels is, arguably, the way a "hits" compilation should be presented, to fans as well as the merely curious. It's loaded to the gills with 24 cuts that include the unreleased "Get Ur Freak On." The rest of this monster is culled with cuts from Beautiful Freak (four) Electro-Shock Blues (two), plus an unissued remix of "Climbing to the Moon," by Jon Brion.This decade gets the lion's share of the material naturally, with four tunes from 2000s Daisies of the Galaxy, and a trio off 2001's Souljacker; a pair of tunes were tacked on from Shootenanny! (still the most confounding toss of the band's history), and a whopping five from Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. The latter was the band's best-selling record and yet it's still debated hotly among fans. One thing is for sure: for the first time since Beautiful Freak it drew new listeners in droves. Also included here for some unfathomable reason is "Dirty Girl," from the Live at Town Hall offering, and luckily, "I Need Some Sleep," from the soundtrack album for Shrek 2. Right, you guessed it, nothing here comes from A Man Called E, making it an incomplete Everett document, but it's close enough.

Simply put, there is no reason to go into the track choices, they are listed below and can be debated endlessly anyway. This tri-fold digipack is loaded with photos, E's own elliptical annotations for the tracks, and a wonderfully long and now legendary piece by Mark Edwards from the Sunday Times in London. Some of E's notes are clever, and some seem just plain tossed off, as if they are memories he really doesn't have any longer but needed to get down on paper for this. That's OK -- his very natural ambivalence is part of the appeal in his idiosyncratic, adventurous, and original songs. The DVD contains virtually every video the band shot and released for commercial play; they are compiled and available as a retail item for the first time. As great an introduction or mix the CD makes, it's the video collection that makes it all worth the cash. Given the kitchen sink approach of it, it offers an even more diverse and undebatable document; showcasing everything from original conceptions by directors to the escalator to the oblivion lineup changes. There is simply no better way to get acquainted with an enigma.

Ranked Highest By: Mike Schank (#1)

Amazon Link

[Paul]

#35.




J.T. IV - Cosmic Lightning
(270 Points, 2 Votes, One #1 Vote)

Tracklist:
1 - Waiting For The Cta
2 - Death Trip
3 - The Monitors
4 - Song For Suzanne
5 - In The Can
6 - Out Of The Can
7 - Destructo Rock
8 - I Really Love You / You Know That I Love You, Don't You?
9 - One Fine Day With The Karma Man
10 - Go Wild

Amazon.com Product Description:
Like a bolt from the black, COSMIC LIGHTNING has struck again but who felt the shock the first time around? The sounds of J.T. IV were too much for 1980s Chicago. Now they can be truly absorbed, twenty years after they first flashed.

AMG Says: n/a

Ranked Highest By: Ted Falconi (#1)

Amazon Link

[Mitchell]

Good to see The Long Blondes sneak in.

[Paul]

#34.




Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory
(281 Points, 3 Votes)

Tracklist:
1 Ramble Tamble
2 Before You Accuse Me
3 Travelin' Band
4 Ooby Dooby
5 Lookin' out My Back Door
6 Run Through the Jungle
7 Up Around the Bend
8 My Baby Left Me
9 Who'll Stop the Rain
10 I Heard It Through the Grapevine
11 Long as I Can See the Light
12 Travelin' Band [*]
13 Up Around the Bend [live/*]
14 Born on the Bayou [*]

Amazon.com Product Description:
If, as many contend, Creedence Clearwater Revival was the foremost singles rock band of its time, Cosmo's Factory is the ultimate end-of-the-'60s singles album. Indeed, seven of the album's 11 tracks turn up on Chronicle, CCR's best hits collection. That said, Cosmo's is really a must-own in its entirety. No other album so adeptly laces together the various strands of the CCR sound. John Fogerty's ready-for-AM-radio knack surfaces in "Lookin' Out My Back Door" and "Up Around the Bend." His sober side is in evidence on "Who'll Stop the Rain" and "Long As I Can See the Light." And no white group of its time could cover black music with as much natural flair; check out the 11-minute cover of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" for proof. The band broke up two albums after the release of this, their apex LP, but Cosmo's Factory cemented CCR's standing as a great American band.

AMG Says:
Throughout 1969 and into 1970, CCR toured incessantly and recorded nearly as much. Appropriately, Cosmo's Factory's first single was the working band's anthem "Travelin' Band," a funny, piledriving rocker with a blaring horn section -- the first indication their sonic palette was broadening. Two more singles appeared prior to the album's release, backed by John Fogerty originals that rivaled the A-side or paled just slightly. When it came time to assemble a full album, Fogerty had only one original left, the claustrophobic, paranoid rocker "Ramble Tamble." Unlike some extended instrumentals, this was dramatic and had a direction -- a distinction made clear by the meandering jam that brings CCR's version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" to 11 minutes. Even if it wanders, their take on the Marvin Gaye classic isn't unpleasant, and their faithful, exuberant takes on the Sun classics "Ooby Dooby" and "My Baby Left Me" are joyous tributes. Still, the heart of the album lays in those six fantastic songs released on singles. "Up Around the Bend" is a searing rocker, one of their best, balanced by the menacing murkiness of "Run Through the Jungle." "Who'll Stop the Rain"'s poignant melody and melancholy undertow has a counterpart in Fogerty's dope song, "Lookin' out My Back Door," a charming, bright shuffle, filled with dancing animals and domestic bliss - he had never been as sweet and silly as he is here. On "Long as I Can See the Light," the record's final song, he again finds solace in home, anchored by a soulful, laid-back groove. It hits a comforting, elegiac note, the perfect way to draw Cosmo's Factory -- an album made during stress and chaos, filled with raging rockers, covers, and intense jams -- to a close.

Ranked Highest By: Mike Schank (#3)

Amazon Link

[Pavement Ist Rad]

Best fucking album.

[Paul]

#33.




BIPPP: French Synth Wave 1979-85
(300 Points, 2 Votes, One #1 Vote)

Tracklist:
1. WC Contagion A Trois Dans Les
2. Ping Pong The Act
3. Je T'Ecris D'un Pays Les Visiteurs Du Soir
4. Terroriste Vox Dei
5. Touche Pas Mon Sexe Comix
6. Partie 1 Tgv
7. 20H25 CKC 3:09
8. Pretty Day Marie Moor
9. Game and Performance Deux
10. Polaroid/Roman/Photo Ruth
11. Aller Simple Vitor Hublot
12. Jour Se Leve Visible Le 3
13. Viol Af Dis Casino Music
14. Rainbow Man Busy P

Amazon.com Product Description: n/a

AMG Says:
The eternal impulse to collate, collect, and revisit never dies, though at times it can gain unexpected accents. And in a time when roughly recorded obscurities from non-Western countries tend to get such a focus, the idea of a collection of French post-punk efforts getting an album showcase might seem curious. But that's precisely what BIPPP is, collecting efforts recorded during the late '70s and early '80s from bands that were as in thrall to the possibilities of electronics in rock & roll as any number of counterparts in other countries. If much of the compilation will suggest more familiar Anglophonic analogues for many listeners, at its best there's a deft display of familiar elements at work -- the blend of spiraling, nervous guitar and keyboards on Act's "Ping Pong" suggests everything from Andy Summers' work in the Police to early New Order's tentative explorations. In keeping with the subtitle of the compilation, synths play a key role on nearly every track, and if things sometimes aren't much advanced beyond evident appreciation of the Human League, Gary Numan, Soft Cell, and of course Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode, hearing moments like the weird raindrop chimes in the background on "Je T'Ecris d'Un Pays" by Les Visiteurs du Soir and the clipped horn breaks on Ruth's "Polaroïd/Roman/Photo" leaven the mix. Full-on synth-only efforts are in the minority, but Comix's "Touche Pas Mon Sexe" and Visible's "Le Jour Se Leve" fly the flag. Hearing the singer for A Trois dans les WC gasp/whine out the title of "Contagion" may be a bit surprising but it's impossible to knock the bass-heavy, crisp, and weird glide of the music, while it's a bit amusing how the start of Marie Möör's "Pretty Day" uncannily resembles a slowed-down take on the Fall's "The Man Whose Head Expanded" -- but likely it was the same keyboard being used.

Ranked Highest By: Hewletts Daughter (#1)

Amazon Link

[Paul]

#32.




Elvis Costello & the Attractions - This Year's Model (28th Deluxe Edition)
(314 Points, 4 Votes)

Tracklist:
Disc 1
1. No Action
2. This Year's Girl
3. The Beat
4. Pump It Up
5. Little Triggers
6. You Belong To Me
7. Hand In Hand
8. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
9. Lip Service
10. Living In Paradise
11. Lipstick Vogue
12. Night Rally
13. Radio, Radio
14. Big Tears
15. Crawling To The USA
16. Tiny Steps
17. Running Out Of Angels
18. Green Shirt
19. Big Boys
20. Neat Neat Neat
21. Roadette Song
22. This Year's Girl
23. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea

Disc 2
1. Pump It Up
2. Waiting For The End Of The World
3. No Action
4. Less Than Zero
5. The Beat
6. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
7. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
8. Hand In Hand
9. Little Triggers
10. Radio, Radio
11. You Belong To Me
12. Lipstick Vogue
13. Watching The Detectives
14. Mystery Dance
15. Miracle Man
16. Blame It On Cain
17. Chemistry Class

Amazon.com Product Description:
THIS YEAR'S MODEL is packaged with a 28-page booklet that includes rare photos and printed song lyrics. For his second album, Costello fine-tuned his aesthetic by abandoned the California studio cat accompanists of his debut for the more aggressive, quirky and very British Attractions, who would virtually define EC's sound over the next several years. Where MY AIM IS TRUE highlighted Costello's rootsy influences (the Band, etc.), THIS YEAR'S MODEL wholeheartedly embraces the "new wave" out-with-the-old mindset, favoring tightly-wound ferocity over back-porch-isms.

Irresistibly catchy, in a twitchy, neurotic, white-knuckled way, THIS YEAR'S MODEL is Costello at his edgiest. The classic "Pump It Up" pummels the listener with garage-band organ, pounding drums, and HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED-style ranting. "Radio, Radio" turned into something of an anti-authoritarian anthem for Costello. The snaky guitar and reggae-tinged drums of "I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea" complement Costello's verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown vocal performance nicely. Come to think of it, so does nearly everything else here.

AMG Says:
For those keeping score, Universal's 2008 Deluxe Edition of This Year's Model is the third expanded reissue of Elvis Costello's classic 1978 album. Like its 2002 predecessor from Rhino, Universal's expanded edition is a double-disc set, sharing many, but not all, of the same bonus material from that previously released package. Rhino shuffled off all the bonus tracks to a separate second disc running 12 tracks, whereas Universal adds ten tracks to the 13-track album on the first disc, then presents a full concert -- recorded on February 28, 1978, at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C. -- on the second disc. Of those 12 tracks from the 2002 edition, three of them have been excised -- excellent Capital Radio versions of "You Belong to Me" and "Radio, Radio" plus a BBC version of "Stranger in the House" -- while "Tiny Steps," which was included on the 2002 Rhino expansion of Armed Forces, was added. All in all, a fair trade -- quite frankly, the three songs aren't missed as much as Costello's terrific liner notes; without them, the packaging of this Deluxe Edition feels a bit bare-bones -- and the concert on the second disc, while not as memorably unhinged as the legendary Live at the El Mocambo recorded less than a week after this gig, is still invigorating and worthwhile listening for hardcore Costello fans. Of course, the question is whether those hardcore fans are willing to purchase this album for the fourth or fifth time just to hear a good concert, as all the really essential bonus material was on both the Rhino disc and the previous Ryko/Demon reissue of the '90s. Those who have the budget and inclination will surely be pleased by this set, but any fans who decide to sit this out either on matters of budget or principal can rest assured that they're not missing something monumental.

Ranked Highest By: RabbiSchmoiley (#4)

Amazon Link

[Paul]

#31.




The Smiths - The Sound of The Smiths: The Very Best of the Smiths
(318 Points, 4 Votes)

Tracklist:
Disc: 1
1. Hand In Glove
2. This Charming Man
3. What Difference Does It Make(Peel Session Version)
4. Still III
5. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
6. William, It Was Really Nothing
7. How Soon Is Now?
8. Nowhere Fast
9. Shakespeare's Sister
10. Barbarism Begins At Home
11. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
12. The Headmaster Ritual
13. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
14. Bigmouth Strikes Again
15. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
16. Panic
17. Ask
18. You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby
19. Shoplifters Of The World Unite
20. Sheila Take A Bow
21. Girlfriend In A Coma
22. I Started Something I Couldn't Finish
23. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

Disc: 2
1. Jeane
2. Handsome Devil (Live)
3. This Charming Man (New York vocal)
4. Wonderful Woman
5. Back To The Old House
6. These Things Take Time
7. Girl Afraid
8. Please, Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
9. Stretch Out And Wait
10. Oscillate Wildly
11. Meat Is Murder (Live in Oxford)
12. Asleep
13. Money Changes Everything
14. The Queen Is Dead
15. Vicar In A Tutu
16. Cemetry Gates
17. Half A Person
18. Sweet And Tender Hooligan
19. I Keep Mine Hidden
20. Pretty Girls Make Graves(Troy Tate version)
21. Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
22. What's The World (Live in Glasgow)
23. London (live in London)

Amazon.com Product Description:
Deluxe 2 CD version, with disc 2 containing choice B sides, live cuts, and rarities. The Smiths formed in Manchester in 1982 and quickly rose to become the quintessential British indie rock band of their day. Powered by the collaboration between lead singer and lyricist Morrissey and lead guitarist and co-songwriter Johnny Marr, their sound had a literary and musical depth that was complex, emotional and often controversial-at the same time, it rang with The Smiths' unique twist on timeless melodic pop sensibilities. On Rhino's new compilation, the group's biggest hits and most important tracks are represented.

AMG Says:
Depending on your count, The Sound of the Smiths is the third or fourth posthumous Smiths compilation -- a number that may be a bit excessive considering the group's rather concise catalog, containing just four studio albums and singles rounded up on three singles compilations (and two of those covered the same essential territory, too). That's a lot of repetition but whether it's taken in either its single-disc or double-disc deluxe editions, The Sound of the Smiths is the best of these posthumous overviews. The single-disc -- which is the first disc of the deluxe set -- is the hits disc, containing every cut from the 18-track 1995 compilation Singles and expanding it with five cuts all dating from the mid-'80s: "Still Ill," "Nowhere Fast," "Barbarism Begins at Home," "The Headmaster Ritual" and "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby." As a Smiths-basics goes, it's first-rate, an introduction and summary that's compulsively listenable. The second disc on the deluxe The Sound of the Smiths splits the difference between a rarities compilation and a "more of the best" collection of album tracks, rounding up non-LP singles and B-sides like "Jeane," "Wonderful Woman," "Money Changes Everything," and the New York Vocal version of "This Charming Man," live versions of "Handsome Devil," "Meat is Murder," "What's the World?" and "London," the Troy Tate demo of "Pretty Girls make Graves," and a bunch of great Smiths songs including a hefty chunk of The Queen Is Dead. It falls short of being the long-awaited collection of Smiths rarities, the absence of which remains a mystery, but it's the best stab at one to date and a pretty entertaining listen in its own right. [A deluxe edition was also released.]

Ranked Highest By: Waterloo (#3)

Amazon Link

[Paul]

#30.




eels - Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996-2006
(320 Points, 2 Votes)

Tracklist:
Disc: 1
1. Novocaine For The Soul (Live From Hell)
2. Fucker
3. My Beloved Monster (Live From Tennessee)
4. Dog's Life
5. Susan's Apartment
6. Manchester Girl (BBC)
7. Flower (BBC)
8. My Beloved Mad Monster Party (BBC)
9. Animal
10. Stepmother
11. Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas
12. Your Lucky Day In Hell (Michael Simpson Remix)*
13. Altar Boy
14. Novocaine For The Soul (Moog Cookbook Remix)
15. If I Was Your Girlfriend (Live)*
16. Bad News
17. Funeral Parlor
18. Hospital Food (BBC)
19. Open The Door (BBC)
20. Birdgirl On A Cell Phone
21. Vice President Fruitley
22. My Beloved Monstrosity
23. Dark End Of The Street (Live)*
24. The Cheater's Guide To Your Heart (Live)*
25. Useless Trinkets*

Disc: 2
1. Mr. E's Beautiful Remix
2. Souljacker Part I (Alternate Version)*
3. Dog Faced Boy (Alternate Version)*
4. Jennifer Eccles
5. Rotten World Blues
6. Can't Help Falling In Love
7. Christmas Is Going To The Dogs
8. Mighty Fine Blues
9. Eyes Down
10. Skywriting
11. Taking A Bath In Rust
12. Estranged Friends*
13. Her
14. Waltz Of The Naked Clowns
15. I Like Birds (Live)*
16. Sad Foot Sign
17. Living Life
18. The Bright Side
19. After The Operation
20. Jelly Dancers
21. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Live At Town Hall)
22. Mr. E's Beautiful Blues (Live At Town Hall)
23. I Want To Protect You*
24. I Put A Spell On You (Live)*
25. Saw A Ufo*

Disc: 3 (DVD)
1. Saturday Morning
2. Eyes Down
3. My Beloved Monster
4. A Magic World
5. Not Ready Yet
6. Souljacker part I*previously unreleased

Amazon.com Product Description:
Highlights within the 50 CD tracks EELS USELESS TRINKETS: B-SIDES, SOUNDTRACKS, RARITIES AND UNRELEASED 1996-2006 are longtime concert favorite "Living Life" fromthe Daniel Johnston tribute album, the previously unreleased 2006 cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You" and other covers including James Carr's "Dark End of The Street" and Prince's "If I Was Your Girlfriend." USELESS TRINKETS also includes a large handful of BBC performances, unique live versions of "Novocaine For The Soul" and "My Beloved Monster," tracks from films - The End Of Violence, Holes, Levity and How The Grinch Stole Christmas andmany previously unreleased tracks including the original collections title track which frontman Everett performs backed by a 28 piece orchestra. The DVD features six performances fromthe EELS'Lollapalooza 2006 performance, including a gospel rave-up take on "My Beloved Monster" and a high octane rumble through "Souljacker part I."

AMG Says:
Being released on the same day as the companion piece to the CD/DVD package Meet the Eels: Essential Eels, Vol. 1, Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996-2006 is a true delight for those who have followed the unwieldy, elliptical career of Mark Oliver Everett (aka "E"), who has employed more musicians than probably even he can count under the Eels moniker. There is a DVD in this triple-disc set. It contains the band's 2006 performance at Lollapalooza. It's a nice adage, the show was fine, but it's almost an afterthought for anyone who digs into these cuts with anything approaching earnestness.

First off, there are 50 of them spread over two discs. From the beginning E expresses his own ambivalence with a "Live from Hell" version of "Novocaine for the Soul." How do we know? The opening annotation in the liner notes simply states: "When you have a hit song, you're expected to play it every single day of your life. Good luck not going crazy." The performance reflects that truth. But it is followed immediately by the delightfully poignant, I-love-you-I-hate-you ditty of truth called "Fucker," (according to his notes, it was his girlfriend's nickname for him). There isn't anyone who hasn't been involved deeply with someone who doesn't get every word of this simple construction. "Dog's Life," written in a 30-minute Jon Brion-forced basement time-out for E is full of not only wonder-words, but strings, loopy textures, and sparse guitars. E confesses he has no idea if it was even recorded in Tennessee. Of course the soundtrack tunes and rarities are awfully welcome — especially now, before the Eels' single, EP, and movie tunes shelf gets any larger. But E's sense of pulling covers out of his hat walks the same knife-edged push and pull between hell and something less than hell — purgatory maybe? It adds immeasurably to what's here. The sense of the abject in "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You," accompanied only by his piano, is the opposite of the Elvis version. Elvis begs as a youth begs, E sings into the void of an empty apartment knowing that this confession isn't ever going to be heard because he's already tried that. The reading of the Hollies' "Jennifer Eccles," has a beautiful Chamberlain played by Brion and a very skeletal Gretsch played by the same. Where the Hollies sang this song with its requisite teen confidence, E's comes from the hall of memory before it fades into the ether. The line "I know that Jennifer Eccles/Is going to follow me there..." takes on a chilling significance. The version of "Dark End of the Street" (a Dan Penn/Spooner Oldham soul classic, is performed by everybody but it still belongs to James Carr) has a mournful horn section — and perhaps it's Lisa Germano on the backing vocal. Prince's "If I Was Your Girlfriend" is treated with a sublime post grunge feedback anti-funkiness to begin, but E nails the tune in his way. And the version of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" simply has to be heard to be believed; if you haven't already heard it, E sounds like a man possessed with a band out to tear itself apart.. In addition are both sides of the "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" remix — the controversy has finally been resolved: "Rotten World Blues" is only on the U.S. version of the disc, kinda making up for the fact that the remix of "Souljacker" was only included in the U.K. edition.

But there's more. There are alternate readings of album cuts which prove to be just that, alternates without any true revelations, though they are perfectly fitting in this context.

The booklet is bursting at the seams with craziness, memorabilia, weird observations written on hotel room stationary, annotated stoicisms, photographs galore, and some hilarious asides. This is, despite its incredible excess, an imperfect but better blueprint for how these kinds of collection should be done. What will attract people is that rather than try to paste it all together in a box set, giving people who a load of stuff they already have, you can do a basic hits collection with a bonus DVD, providing it contains all the videos (are you listening, Tom Waits? Where the hell is yours?). Then, especially for the fanatics, plug in something to cover most if not all of the holes in the tracks, replace bootleg versions, and add an unreleased concert to the mix to make it irresistible. It's still marketing, but at least it's semi-honest. The Essential Eels collection contained those videos for the sake of a kind of complete-ism (and to get the hardcore faithful to buy both sets). It's understandable but utterly questionable. Trinkets would have been perfect had it contained those videos as well as the concert on a single DVD — there was room. But as it is, it's not to be missed for having the marginal asides collected so handsomely and carefully.

Ranked Highest By: Paul, UselessRocker(#2)

Amazon Link

[Paul]

#29.




Rocket From The Crypt - All Systems Go, Vol. 3
(324 Points, 3 Votes, One #1 Vote)

Tracklist:
1 Falling Down Stairs 2:00
2 Total Bummer 3:00
3 Chariots on Fire 2:36
4 Little Shaver 3:50
5 Canyon Killer 1:53
6 Don't Wanna Be Touched 3:03
7 Orange County 2:56
8 Pictures of Lenny 1:32
9 Man Down 0:34
10 Summer Survivor 2:57
11 Lick Is the New 13 2:37
12 Tiger Mask (Instro) 2:10
13 When in Rome (Do the Jerk) 4:02
14 Dick on a Dog 3:10
15 Dynamite! 2:50
16 Due Warning 2:54
17 The Whip 2:50
18 Come on Everybody 1:17
19 No Way at All 1:33
20 This Way Out 2:48

Amazon.com Product Description:
Rocket From The Crypt return with the third CD in their All Systems Go series. The CD contains lost master 8 track demo recordings, including many available for the first time. 20 tracks in all.

AMG Says: n/a

Ranked Highest By: no magnets (#1)

Amazon Link

[Paul]

#28.




The Replacements - Let It Be (Expanded Edition)
(327 Points, 5 Votes)

Tracklist:
1. I Will Dare
2. Favorite Thing
3. We're Comin' Out
4. Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out
5. Androgynous
6. Black Diamond
7. Unsatisfied
8. Seen Your Video
9. Gary's Got a Boner
10. Sixteen Blue
11. Answering Machine
12. 20th Century Boy
13. Perfectly Lethal
14. Temptation Eyes
15. Answering Machine
16. Heartbeat -- It's a Lovebeat
17. Sixteen Blue

Amazon.com Product Description: n/a

AMG Says:
Let It Be looms large among '80s rock albums, generally regarded as one of the greatest records of the decade. So large is its legend and so universal its acclaim that all the praise tends to give the impression that the Replacements' fourth album was designed as a major statement, intended to be something important when its genius, like so many things involving the 'Mats, feels accidental. Compared to other underground landmarks from 1984, Let It Be feels small scale, as it lacks the grand, sprawling ambition of the Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime or the dramatic intensity of Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade, or if the other side of the Atlantic is taken into equation, the clean sense of purpose of The Smiths. Nothing about Let It Be is clean; it's all a ragged mess, careening wildly from dirty jokes to wounded ballads, from utter throwaways to songs haunting in their power. Unlike other classics, Let It Be needs those throwaways -- that Kiss cover, those songs about Tommy getting his tonsils out and Gary's boner, that rant about phony rock & roll -- to lighten the mood and give the album its breathless pacing, but also because without these asides, the album wouldn't be true to the Replacements, who never separated high and low culture, who celebrated pure junk and reluctantly bared their soul. This blend of bluster and vulnerability is why the Replacements were perhaps the most beloved band of their era, as they captured all the chaos and confusion of coming of age in the midst of Reaganomics, and Let It Be is nothing if not a coming-of-age album, perched precisely between adolescence and adulthood. There's just enough angst and tastelessness to have the album speak to teenagers of all generations and just enough complicated emotion to make this music resonate with listeners long past those awkward years, whether they grew up with this album or not.

All this works because there is an utter lack of affect in Paul Westerberg's songs and unrestrained glee in the Replacements' roar. Sure, Let It Be has moments where the thunder rolls away and Westerberg is alone, playing "Androgynous" on a piano and howling about having to say good night to an answering machine, but they flow naturally from the band's furious rock & roll, particularly because the raw, unsettled "Unsatisfied" acts as a bridge between these two extremes. But if Let It Be was all angst, it wouldn't have captured so many hearts in the '80s, becoming a virtual soundtrack to the decade for so many listeners, or continue to snag in new fans years later. Unlike so many teenage post-punk records, this doesn't dwell on the pain; it ramps up the jokes and, better still, offers a sense of endless possibilities, especially on the opening pair of "I Will Dare" and "Favorite Thing," two songs where it feels as if the world opened up because of these songs. And that sense of thrilling adventure isn't just due to Westerberg; it's due to the 'Mats as a band, who have never sounded as ferocious and determined as they do here. Just a year earlier, they were playing almost everything for laughs on Hootenanny and just a year later a major-label contract helped pull all their sloppiness into focus on Tim, but here Chris Mars and Tommy Stinson's rhythms are breathlessly exciting and Bob Stinson's guitar wails as if nothing could ever go wrong. Of course, plenty went wrong for the Replacements not too much further down the road, but here they were fully alive as a band, living gloriously in the moment, a fleeting moment when anything and everything seems possible, and that moment still bursts to life whenever Let It Be is played. [Rhino's 2008 reissue of Let It Be is bolstered by six bonus tracks: a heavy cover of T. Rex's "20th Century Boy" that seems focused compared to the shambolic covers of the Grass Roots' "Temptation Eyes" and the DeFranco Family's "Heartbeat -- It's a Lovebeat," the session outtake of "Perfectly Lethal," a home demo of "Answering Machine," and an alternate of "Sixteen Blue" with different lyrics.]

Ranked Highest By: Mike Schank (#5)

Amazon Link

[Paul]

#27.




U2 - Boy (Expanded and Remastered)
(340 Points, 4 Votes)

Tracklist:
Disc: 1
1. I Will Follow
2. Twilight
3. An Cat Dubh
4. Into The Heart
5. Out Of Control
6. Stories For Boys
7. The Ocean
8. A Day Without Me
9. Another Time, Another Place
10. The Electric Co.
11. Shadows And Tall Trees

Disc: 2
1. I Will Follow (Previously Unreleased Mix)
2. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
3. Touch
4. Speed Of Life (Previously Unreleased Track)
5. Saturday Night (Previously Unreleased Track)
6. Things To Make And Do
7. Out Of Control
8. Boy-Girl
9. Stories For Boys
10. Another Day
11. Twilight
12. Boy-Girl (Live at The Marquee, London)
13. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock (Live at The Marquee, London - Previously Unreleased Version)
14. Cartoon World (Live at The National Stadium, Dublin - Previously Unreleased Track)

Amazon.com Product Description:
A standard CD and a bonus CD. Bonus CD includes b-sides, live tracks and rarities. Also includes a 32 page booklet with previously unseen photos, full lyrics, new liner notes by Paul Morley, and explanatory notes on the bonus material by The Edge.

AMG Says:
U2's earliest recordings -- their debut EP U2 Three, several non-LP singles and B-sides -- haven't exactly been buried, but they have been orphaned, never seeing an official reissue until they popped up double-disc deluxe reissues of 1980's Boy, 1981's October, and 1983's War in 2008. Prior to this, these stray tracks did leak out on the iTunes exclusive release The Complete U2 (tied into the 2004 release of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, discontinued by the time these reissues showed up), but apart from "Trash, Trampoline and the Party Girl" -- which surfaced on the B-sides compilation that was added as a second disc to deluxe editions of 1998's The Best of 1980-1990 -- they never appeared on CD. So, this group of reissues is a major archival release, as it unveils the rarest released recordings from one of the world's biggest bands, music that should be available for historical reasons even if it's not very good -- which often it is not, at least not on the bonus disc of Boy. On these 14 tracks, U2 sound impossibly green, working out their fetish for Factory bands while occasionally taking a stab at the barbed punk of the Undertones or Buzzcocks, as on the coiled "Boy/Girl." Rhythms are leaden, the Edge has yet to learn how to paint with his effects, Bono yelps far too often, and they not only lack the majesty that is such a key part of their mystique, they sound slack even on the live tracks from a September 1980 show at the Marquee in London (including the previously unreleased "Cartoon World"). These live tracks are admittedly the closest this music gets to kinetic, but that's not for lack of trying. U2 did attempt to really rock, as on the flatly bizarre unreleased "Saturday Night," which plays like un-ironic arena rock and shows that this is a band that's always been better with big ideas than with small ones. Here, they were surely striving for something huge, but they had little idea of how to execute their ideas. Based on these rarities -- which include all of their first EP, U2 Three, distinguished by different early versions of "Out of Control" and "Stories for Boys"; the B-side "Twilight" (different from the LP version); and both sides of the "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" single, including the flip "Touch" -- it's hard to believe that this quartet could ever conquer the world, but that's exactly why they're worth hearing: these 14 tracks provide a useful lesson that sometimes early recordings aren't harbingers of what's to come.

Ranked Highest By: Pookie (#3)

Amazon Link

[Mitchell]

This Year's Model is the 30th Anniversary edition, 28th Deluxe Edition was my joke on how many re-releases it has had.

[Paul]

#26.




David Bowie - Live in Santa Monica '72
(370 Points, 5 Votes)

Tracklist:
1. Hang on to Yourself
2. Ziggy Stardust
3. Changes
4. The Supermen
5. Life on Mars?
6. Five Years
7. Space Oddity
8. Andy Warhol
9. My Death - David Bowie, Blau, Eric
10. The Width of a Circle
11. Queen Bitch
12. Moonage Daydream
13. John, I'm Only Dancing
14. Waiting for the Man - David Bowie, Reed, Lou
15. The Jean Genie
16. Suffragette City
17. Rock 'N' Roll Suicide

Amazon.com Product Description:
In 1972, David Bowie set out on his first US tour. He'd recently introduced the world to his Ziggy Stardust persona with his top 5 album 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars' and had completed a hugely successful UK tour. The Santa Monica concert, David's first live US radio broadcast, was aired live on KMET in L.A. Over the last 36 years this historic recording has only been occasionally available as a bootleg. For many, ownership of this concert was regarded as a true test of being a 'proper Bowie fan'. This powerful, galvanizing show allows a more than 70 minute glimpse into the earliest nationwide live radio exposure granted David and the Spiders. The set list is compiled primarily from the 'Hunky Dory' and 'Ziggy Stardust' albums and features two covers, Jacques Brel's "My Death" and the Velvet Underground's "Waiting for the Man," alongside the awesome power of 'The Man Who Sold The World' centrepiece "The Width Of A Circle" (this version is a ten and a half minute sonic assault) and an 'Aladdin Sane' previewing "The Jean Genie." The set list is also quite different from the Ziggy terminating 'Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture Soundtrack. Accompanying David was The Spiders From Mars: Mick Ronson - guitar, vocals, Trevor Bolder - bass, Mick "Woody" Woodmansey - drums and Mike Garson - piano. This is David Bowie at the pinnacle of his creative power - in 1981 NME critics called it, "(quite simply) ... the performer's, and one of rock's, best ever bootlegs". The CD will be released as a limited edition with special packaging featuring shots taken at the actual gig for the first time. The double LP will be a heavyweight vinyl one off run. David says:- "I can tell that I'm totally into being Ziggy by this stage of our touring. It's no longer an act; I am him. This would be around the tenth American show for us and you can hear that we are all pretty high on ourselves. We train wreck a couple of things, I miss some words and sometimes you wouldn't know that pianist Mike Garson was onstage with us but overall I really treasure this bootleg. Mick Ronson is at his blistering best."

AMG Says:
Among Bowie aficionados, the live recording from the Santa Monica Civic Center in 1972 ranks as perhaps the best document of the Spiders from Mars at their peak, certainly outranking the Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture soundtrack, which may have documented the band's fabled final gig, but didn't capture the band at full flight. This recording -- frequently bootlegged, often popping up on semi-official releases, finally released officially by EMI in 2008 -- does just that. Here, the Spiders sound otherworldly, lean yet monstrous, simple and lethal on "Hang on to Yourself" but majestic and dramatic on a ten-minute "The Width of a Circle," flipping a hat to Jacques Brel via Scott Walker on "My Death," then stripping down such grandiose Hunky Dory tunes as "Life on Mars?" to the essentials. The grand thing about Live in Santa Monica '72 is that it doesn't feel like a special gig: it may have been Bowie's first American radio broadcast, but that's secondary to how it feels like a snapshot of the band during its prime. It's tantalizing to think that this is just how the band was in 1972 and that there may be plenty of other great performances never recorded. What's special about this is that a night like this was indeed captured -- and with each passing year this seems more and more like the best Bowie live album.

Ranked Highest By: SonicAlligator (#5)

Amazon Link