"A Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology" by MARIANNE FAITHFULL - A 2CD-Only Compilation Covering 10 albums on Island Records Between 1979 and 1995 including New Remasters, Compilation and Soundtrack Rarities, A Non-LP B-side and Promo-Only Track (Both First Time on CD) Plus Five Previously Unreleased Outtakes from 1988 Sessions (October 1998 UK Island/Chronicles 35-Track 2-CD Compilation of Kevin Reeves Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Stranger-Island-Anthology/dp/B00000DC4K?crid=25KNYUEVXDR94&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.j0QyfjZaxUKGdzKaCb5tqQ.-ZTVHPu93VQOjQTb8Pv7Vx4A1apJSTg4-W89oSIsvUU&dib_tag=se&keywords=731452457929&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1734032437&sprefix=731452457929%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=86c838e7bfe80fdec022154748449bbb&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATINGS:

Overall **** to *****

Audio *****

Presentation ****

"…It Is Strange To Sleep Alone In A Place No One Knows…"

Some digital compilations scream class, and you know you must own them. 

Welcome to one such set in Universal's Chronicles Series of the Nineties (1998 in this case). "A Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology" offered up 35-tracks covering albums between 1979 and 1995 by one of Rock's truly great conduits – the heart-on-her-sleeve 60ts ingenue and survivor Marianne Faithfull.

There is a fantastic range of material on this weighty twofer and all of it Remastered to perfection by one of my fave Audio Engineers KEVIN REEVES – a name you see across huge swaths of upgraded CD reissues covering A&M Records, Mercury, Vertigo, Blue Thumb, Verve, Polydor and Island Records to name but a few (all under the umbrella of Polygram and Universal Music Catalogue aka UMC). 

Faithfull has a career heading all the way back to 1965 with Decca and of course The Rolling Stones. This twofer chronicles her real solo years when she broke out of those constraints and forged a legacy of her own. A working-class hero is indeed something to be – lots to discuss in Broken English – to the details…

UK released 27 October 1998 - "A Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology" by MARIANNE FAITHFULL on Island/Chronicles 524 579-2 (Barcode 731452457929) is a 35-Track 2CD Compilation covering 1979 to 1995 (17 years). It has new Kevin Reeves remasters and comprises of 26 Album Tracks, one Kurt Weill CD Compilation contribution, one Soundtrack song, one Non-LP B-side and one Promo-Only 12" Single Version (both first time on CD) plus Five Previously Unreleased songs from various Album Sessions. It plays out as follows:

CD1 (76:32 minutes):
1. Broken English
2. Witches' Song
3. Guilt
4. The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan
5. Working Class Hero
6. Why D'Ya Do It
7. Sister Morphine
8. Sweetheart
9. Intrigue
10. For Beauty's Sake
11. So Sad
12. Truth Bitter Truth
13. The Blue Millionaire (Long Version – see Notes)
14. Falling From Grace
15. Running For Our Lives
NOTES on CD1: 
Tracks 1 to 6 are from the album "Broken English" – released October 1979 in the UK on Island Records M1 and in the USA on Island ILPS 9570
Track 7 is the Non-LP B-side of a May 1982 UK 12" Single for "Broken English (Long Version)" on Island Records 12MF 100; the first seven-inch issue of "Broken English" was released January 1980 on Island WIP 6542 with "What's The Hurry?" on the B-side while the 12" version had "Why D'Ya Do It" on its B-side. "Sister Morphine" was only on the 1982 release. Track 7 is Previously Unreleased on CD
Tracks 8 to 12 are from the album "Dangerous Acquaintances" – released October 1981 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9648 (same details for the US issue)
Track 13 is from a 1983 US-Only Promo-Only 12" Single for "The Blue Millionaire" on Island Records DMD 627; Track 13 is Previously Unreleased on CD
Tracks 14 to 15 are from the album "A Childs Adventure" – released February 1983 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9734 and as "A Child's Adventure" in the USA on Island Records 7 90066-1

CD2 (77:48 minutes):
1. Ballad Of The Soldier's Wife
2. Trouble In Mind (The Return)
3. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
4. Yesterdays
5. Strange Weather
6. Gloomy Sunday
7. Hello Stranger
8. As Tears Go By
9. A Perfect Stranger
10. Conversation On A Barstool
11. A Waste Of Time
12. Isolation
13. Blazing Away
14. When I Find My Life (Live)
15. Times Square (Live)
16. Ghost Dance
17. Sleep
18. Love In The Afternoon
19. Bored By Dreams
20. She
NOTES on CD2: 
Track 1 is from the Various Artists compilation LP "Lost In The Stars; The Music Of Kurt Weill" released 1985 on A&M Records AMA 5104 in the UK and A&M Records SP 9-5104 in the USA
Track 2 is from the Mark Isham and Marianne Faithfull Original Motion Picture Soundtrack LP to "Trouble In Mind" released 1986 in the EU-UK on Island Records 208 056 and in the USA on Island Records 7 90501-1-E
Tracks 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 are from the July 1987 UK LP "Strange Weather" on Island Records ILPS 9874 (Track 6 is an Outtake from these sessions)
Tracks 6, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are Previously Unreleased Studio Recordings – Recorded February 1988 in New York
Tracks 13, 14 and 15 are from the April 1990 UK CD album "Blazing Away" on Island CID 9957 – a live album recorded at St. Ann's Church in Brooklyn, NYC. Note: the title song "Blazing Away" is a Studio Recording done February 1988 in New York – the only studio recording on the album
Track 16 is an Exclusive 1994 Recording from the August 1994 CD Compilation Album "Faithfull: A Collection Of Her Best Recordings" on Island CIDX 8023
Tracks 17 to 20 are from the April 1995 CD Album "A Secret Life" on Island CID 8038

Compiled by BILL LEVENSON and JERRY RAPPAPORT and featuring a new essay by ANN POWERS – the 24-page booklet fills out all the Biographical and Discography details from 1979 to 1995 and a few places before. Album artwork and period photos are peppered throughout the text while Powers fills out the song histories – Billie Holiday doing "Yesterdays" – the live performance of "Times Square" in from of an adoring American audience getting a rare chance to see their hero up close and personal. The track-by-track musician and album credits take up the rest of it. But for me the real meat and potatoes comes with the gorgeous, muscular and not overly trembled KEVIN REEVES Remasters. To the music…

It will come as no surprise to any Faithfull fan that a whopping six of the eight tracks of her huge comeback album "Broken English" from October 1979 are represented on CD1. Armed with a stellar crew of musicians – Barry Reynolds of Blodwyn Pig and Pacific Drift on Guitar, Darryl Way on Violin, Frank Collins and Diane Birch of Kokomo on Vocals with Terry Stannard (also of Kokomo) on Drums, Steve York of Manfred Mann, Graham Bond and Vinegar Joe on Bass, Steve Winwood of Traffic and Blind Faith on Keyboards and Vocals with Joe Cuomo of The Global Village Trucking Co. on Saxophone – the album was packed with Grace Jones-type excellence. Expertly Produced by Mark Miller-Mundy - not only are the grooves of cleverly chosen covers like John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" and Shel Silverstein's "The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan" wickedly good – the emotional gut-punch of her own lyrics in Barry Reynold's "Guilt" and the extraordinary viciousness of "Why D'ya Do It" will shock even in 2024. 

There is a fearlessness in these craftily comforting rhythms – subversive like barbed wire or cut glass. To then have those six complimented by a stunning B-side – her non-LP cover of "Sister Morphine" from The Stones' 1971 "Sticky Fingers" album which she co-wrote with Jagger and Richards as far back as 1969 – only makes CD1 tingle even more. Her equally hurting remake of "Sister Morphine" turned up on the flipside of a 1982 12" Single for the Full-Length Version of the LP title track "Broken English" (Island 12MF 100) and it is surely a prize for collectors and Stones fans.

Her second album for Island "Dangerous Acquaintances" turned up September 1981 and I for one was a bit disappointed. CD1 offers up five of its nine cuts – unsurprising to see the better tracks like Steve Winwood's what-are-you-taking "For Beauty's Sake" and the seven-minute-plus mourning of her lost youth in "Truth Bitter Truth" – a fantastic journey song. By now Guitarist Barry Reynolds was provided a lot of the co-writes with Marianne Faithfull and that hugely produced Grace Jones "Warm Launderette" Compass Point Studios sound was on every track. "Sweetheart" and "Intrigue" go for a sort of Reggae Synth Pop feel – bopping to lyrics about sacrificing too much for a relationship. Softer in "Intrigue" - looking for harmony – looking for hope past the fatigue and the big Herb Alpert-type brass breaks. I have grown to appreciate these grooves more as the years have passed – go back to revisit them more. 

The sound is stupendous and clear on CD1. Never is this more evident that the utterly infectious 8:23 minute 'Long Version' of "The Blue Millionaire" exclusive to the A-side of a US Island Records 12" Promotional Single (Island DMD 627) – I know DJs (when I worked at Reckless Records in the West End of London) who scoured racks for this slightly-forgotten almost secret groove that devastated Electronica and Synth Pop dancefloors everywhere when played. But you would also have to say that even with super-slick production values and now great audio remasters – the other two songs from February 1983's "A Child's Adventure" feel somehow lacking compared to the freshness of the "Broken English" release from four years earlier. Keyboardist Wally Badarou had a co-write hand in "Running For Our Lives" and "The Blue Millionaire". 

What was sent from Oslo or the wealth of Amsterdam to the "Soldier's Wife" – all stomping piano and vaudeville sounds - Faithfull starts CD2 by channeling her inner Tom Waits circa "Swordfishtrombones" or "Frank's Wild Years". "Soldier's Wife" is a contribution to the 1985 compilation "Lost In The Stars: The Music Of Kurt Weill". Far better is a genius complete reinterpretation of a song most closely associated with 50ts Big Joe Turner Rhythm 'n' Blues on Atlantic Records – "Trouble In Mind". An inclusion in a soundtrack called "Trouble In Mind" - our Marianne strips it down to a droning keyboard note while Trumpeter Mark Isham adds pathos jabs to the Paris at Night vibe. The cover version is very Barb Jung - flipping the dynamic - gorgeous audio too. The la-da-da-da mellow continues with five tracks from the "Strange Weather" album of 1987 – the downbeat "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" and just plain sad "Yesterdays". Title track "Strange Weather" is a Tom Waits/Kathleen Brennan song aided successfully by undercurrents from guests - Bill Frisell on Guitars with Accordion by Garth Hudson of The Band.

Track 6 "Gloomy Sunday" begins a flurry of five Previously Unreleased cuts on CD2 (the other four are Tracks 9, 10, 11 and 12). Dr. John provides piano while Avant Garde artist Michael Gibbs arranged the strings for "Gloomy Sunday" – the first of two outtakes from the "Stormy Weather" album (the other is a remake of her 60ts Rolling Stones-associated hit "As Tears Go By"). But you can understand the "Gloomy Sunday" exclusion – well meaning, but essentially too downbeat and a forced vocal. The acoustic-strings remake of "As Tears Go By" however is a lovely find and a genuine bonus for CD2. 

This compilation takes its name from "A Perfect Stranger" – a beautifully recorded ballad that is shockingly one of the unreleased – someone who knows when to leave and when to stay – and isn't it sad that we never had it that way. Another unreleased and another decent-tune shocker - Singer Bono of U2 contributing "Conversations On A Barstool". A sorrow and sympathy tale of a lonely American Bar lady who does not want to dance for senators anymore – Bill Frisell once again adding understated echoed guitar on this $45 ache. A cover of the John Lennon moody "Isolation" is good but not great despite the efforts of Barry Reynolds on Guitar. With one eye on insanity and the other on the wheel (one turning, one burning) – Marianne is "Blazing Away" – the title song from the 1990 CD album. "Blazing Away" is a weird one – an entirely live album – the title song was however the only studio song on it. The other two representatives here are live versions of "When I Find My Life" and "Times Square" – her very appreciative and quiet audience treated to a band featuring Dr. John Piano on TS and Garth Hudson of The Band with his Accordion on WIFML. And on it goes to a slew of Keyboardist Angelo Badalamenti songs on the 1997 album "A Secret Album" – sweet and mournful. 

I appreciate that not everything here will be for everyone – Marianne Faithfull's strained voice alone is enough to divide listeners. But I have always thought this English singer-songwriter brilliant – a more contemplative Grace Jones. 

Forgotten now in the dying embers of 2024 - this wickedly good sounding 2CD set "A Perfect Stranger" only hammers home a level of greatness worth rediscovering...