"1981-1998" by DEAD CAN DANCE – Demo Sessions, Album Tracks, EPs, Outtakes, Compilation and BBC Exclusives, Previously Unreleased and Their Last Studio Recording from 1998 – Featuring Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard (November 2001 UK 4AD 3CD and 1DVD Book Set of Remasters (47 Audio and 19 Visual Tracks) with Rare and Previously Unreleased Material) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

 

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This Review and 229 more like it are in my E-Book

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LET'S GO CRAZY - 80ts Music On CD

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45s

All In-Depth Reviews from the Discs Themselves

Over 1,885 e-Pages of Info

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

 

Rating: ****

 

"...The Song Of The Sybil..."

 

I both love and loathe this release.

 

Typical of most 4AD cryptically displayed releases – it has drop-dead gorgeous and deeply pretentious packaging – managing a kind of snooty disdain for actual informational fact that is quite literally breathtaking.

 

But then there's the music inside DCDBOX1 - and of course other adjectives start to surface in your vernacular that are less than sarky and more about ethereal rapture and general head-bobbing in the man-cave - as you glibly praise your consummate good taste for having anything by DEAD CAN DANCE in your house in the first place.

 

I do love me a good ye olde Brendan Perry Renaissance Rhythm with a Gregorian Chant juxtapositioned onto a Modern Classical percussive drone and all wrapped up with echoed I'm-giving-birth-to-a-Centurion vocals from Lisa Gerrard. And then the sung languages I don't understand – yummy. There is a behemoth here to explain, so to The Song of the Sybil...

 

UK released 19 November 2001 - "1981-1998" by DEAD CAN DANCE on 4AD Records DCDBOX1 (Barcode 652637210927) is a 3CD and 1DVD Career Retrospective featuring Demo Sessions, Album Tracks, Non-LP EPs, Outtakes from Album Sessions, Compilation Exclusives, Previously Unreleased and Their Last Studio Recording from 1998. It is presented in a Hard Card Outer Slipcase, Outer Single Page Credits Sheet and inside a 103-Page Embossed Book with Pouches for the 3CDs and 1DVD. It plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (76:17 minutes):

1. Frontier (Demo)

Track 1 is an early version recorded in Melbourne in 1981; included on the 29 June 1987 UK 2LP compilation "Lonely Is An Eyesore" on 4AD CAD 703. There is a version of the song on the debut self-titled album, but that is a re-record and remix from 1986

 

2. Labour Of Love (Radio)

3. Ocean (Radio)

4. Orion (Radio)

5. Threshold (Radio)

Tracks 2 to 5 recorded 19 November 1983 for The John Peel Show on the BBC. "Ocean" and "Threshold" were re-recordings of songs on their self-titled debut album while "Orion" and "Labour Of Love" were new songs and unreleased at the time – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

 

6. Carnival Of Light (Radio)

Track 6 is a second John Peel Session recorded 2 June 1984 for the BBC Radio 1 Radio Show – it is a re-recording of a song that appeared originally in the UK on the 12" 4-Track EP "Garden Of Arcane Delights" released April 1984 on 4AD BAD 408 (see also Track 7)

 

7. In Power We Entrust The Love Advocated

Track 7 appeared originally in the UK on the 12" 4-Track EP "Garden Of Arcane Delights" released April 1984 on 4AD BAD 408 (see also Track 6)

 

8. De Profundis (Out Of The Depths Of Sorrow)

9. Avatar

10. Enigma Of The Absolute

Tracks 8 to 10 are from their second studio album "Spleen And Ideal" released November 1985 in the UK on 4AD CAD 512. Track 8 features Andrew Hutton on Soprano Vocals

 

11. Summoning Of The Muse

12. Anywhere Out Of This World

13. Windfall

14. Cantara

Tracks 11 to 14 are from their third studio album "Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun" released 27 June 1987 in the UK on 4AD CAD 705

 

15. In The Kingdom Of The Blind The One-Eyed Are Kings

Track 15 from their fourth studio album "The Serpent's Egg" released 24 October 1988 in the UK on 4AD CAD 808

 

16. Bird

Track 16 from their first compilation "A Passage Of Time" released 21 October 1991 on CD in the UK on 4AD CAD 1010 CD

 

17. The Protagonist

Track 17 is an Instrumental recorded during the "Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun" sessions in April and May 1987 – released 29 June 1987 in the UK on the 2LP compilation "Lonely Is An Eyesore" on 4AD CAD 703 as an exclusive track

 

CD2 (77:46 minutes):

1. Severance

2. The Host of Seraphim

3. Song Of Sophia

Tracks 1 to 3 are from their fourth studio album "The Serpent's Egg" released 24 October 1988 in the UK on 4AD CAD 808

 

4. The Arrival & The Reunion

5. Black Sun

6. The Promised Womb

7. Saltarello

8. The Song Of The Sybil

Tracks 4 to 8 are from their fifth studio album "Aion" released 2 July 1990 in the UK on 4AD CAD 007 (LP) and 4AD CAD 007 CD (CD). "The Arrival & The Reunion" features David Navarro Sust on Lead Vocals

 

9. Spirit

Track 9 recorded for their first compilation "A Passage Of Time" released 21 October 1991 on CD in the UK on 4AD CAD 1010 CD – but also released September 1993 as one of two extra tracks on the VINYL edition of the "Into The Labyrinth" 2LP set on 4AD DAD 3013 (the other extra track was "Birds" – see Track 16 on CD1)

 

10. Yulunga

11. The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove

Tracks 10 and 11 are from their sixth album "Into The Labyrinth" released September 1993 in the UK on 4AD CAD 3013 CD (CD) and 4AD DAD 3013 (2LP Set)

 

12. Sloth (Radio)

Track 12 recorded live 16 August 1993 in the USA for the Santa Monica Community Radio KCRW Show 'Morning Becomes Eclectic'. Originally titled "Dragging My Feet" in 1993 - a version of the song eventually turned up as "Sloth" on the Brendan Perry solo album "Eye Of The Hunter" released 4 Oct 1999 on 4AD CAD 9015 CD

 

13. Brylar

Track 13 was recorded live 10 July 1996 at the Keswick Theatre in Philadelphia, U.S.A. – first issued as a Lisa Gerrard track on the 1996 US CD compilation "The Echoes Living Room Concerts (Volume 2)" on Echodiscs EDC 1002 (written by Perry and Gerrard) – see also Track 16 for the same sessions

 

14. The Carnival Is Over

15. The Spider's Stratagem

Tracks 14 and 15 are from their sixth album "Into The Labyrinth" released September 1993 in the UK on 4AD CAD 3013 CD (CD) and 4AD DAD 3013 (2LP Set)

 

16. The Wind That Shakes The Barley (Radio)

Track 16 also recorded live 10 July 1996 at the Keswick Theatre in Philadelphia, U.S.A. – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

 

17. How Fortunate The Man With None

Track 17 is from their sixth album "Into The Labyrinth" released September 1993 in the UK on 4AD CAD 3013 CD (CD) and 4AD DAD 3013 (2LP Set)

 

CD3 (71:22 minutes):

1. I Can See Now

2. American Dreaming

3. Tristan

4. Sanvean

5. Rakim

6. Gloridean

7. Don't Fade Away

Tracks 1 to 7 recorded Live at the Mayfair Theater, Santa Monica in California on the 1993 US tour – UK released 24 October 1994 as their seventh album -the Live Set "Toward The Within" on 4AD DAD 4015 CD. The song "Gloridean" was recorded for the movie (on the Video version of the "Toward The Within" release) - but omitted from the Audio Album (released here). Note: Lisa Gerrard did re-record the track as "Gloradin" on her first solo album "The Mirror Pool" released 21 April 1995 on 4AD CAD 5009 CD

 

8. Nierika

9. Song Of The Nile

10. Sambatiki

11. Indus

12. The Snake & The Moon (Edit)

Tracks 8 to 12 are from their eight and final album "Spiritchaser" released 17 June 1996 in the UK on 4AD CAD 6008 CD. The song "Sambatiki" was given away as an exclusive to purchasers of the US "Spiritchaser" Tour Program while "The Snake & The Moon" is a US Radio Edit Version of 4:14 minutes used for Promotional purposes in the USA (Warner Bros PRO-CD-8306-R) – the full album version is 6:11 minutes

 

13. The Lotus Eaters

Track 13 recorded 1998 at Quivvy Church in Co. Cavan in Ireland as a song for the follow-up album to "Spiritchaser" (the same venue used for the "Into The Labyrinth" and "Spiritchaser" albums) – the session were abandoned and this is the only recording from them – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

 

DVD (Video, PAL)

Main Menu Songs (Produced and Directed by Mark Magidson)

1. Opening Credits

2. Rakim

3. Song Of The Sybi

4. I Can See Now

5. American Dreaming

6. Cantara

7. The Wind That Shakes The Barley

8. I Am Stretched On Your Grave

9. Desert Song

10. Oman

11. Gloridean

12. Tristan

13. Sanvean

14. Don't Fade Away

 

DVD Additional Performances

15. The Carnival Is Over (Directed by Ondrej Rudavsky)

16. The Host Of Seraphim (Taken from Baraka: A Mark Magidson Production/A Ron Fricke Film)

17. Yulunga (Spirit Dance) (Images from Baraka: A Mark Magidson Production/A Ron Fricke Film)

18. Frontier (Directed by Nigel Grierson at 23 Envelope)

19. The Protagonist (Directed by Nigel Grierson at 23 Envelope)

 

The plain white Hard Card Slipcase has A Single Credits Sheet glue-attached to shrinkwrap on the rear which of course falls apart the second you unwrap it. Inside that is a 103-Page Embossed Hard Card Digibook sporting 3CDs and 1DVD - all in Pouches (the CDs themselves in protective white inners). Credits for each set of songs follows, then lyrics (only those in English) and loads of mostly nondescript photos that are completely useless. The near 60-page band text history is impressive – peppered with those unexplained photos (too small in a non-LP sized package to be have any impact) and new interviews with the main protagonists – Perry and Gerrard. The front cover has DEAD CAN DANCE 1981-1998 embossed into the card and that's it. None of the pages have numbers, but after the liner notes part, at least the explanations of where each track fits in are thorough enough (I have provided catalogue numbers and full release dates). They also advise what is Previously Unreleased, Last Recording, BBC Material etc - and why.

 

The Audio is fabulous - Remasters by JOHN DENT and JASON MITCHELL done at LOUD except for Tracks 8 to 14 and 17 on Disc 1 which were done by JOHN A. RIVERS. Even as you get into say "De Profundis (Out of The Depths Of Sorrow)" from the album that made everyone sit up and take notice ("Spleen And Ideal") or The Cure-like early stuff like "Carnival Of Light" - the sound borders on Audiophile even it is that old. Dead Can Dance were notorious for Audio perfection (if it could be achieved) and when you listen to the lone guitar notes being picked out at the beginning of "Enigma Of The Absolute" followed by big kettle drums - you have to say that the huge soundscape really pays off in Remastered form. The other thing you immediately notice too is the clever crisscrossing of vocalists in their tunes - LISA GERRARD one moment then the deep tones of BRENDAN PERRY the next - the duo being the core and heart of DEAD CAN DANCE. 

I can vividly recall playing the "Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun" album from 1987 at Reckless Records in Islington and Soho (when I worked there) and punters rushing to the counter wanting to know where all the doomy ethereal was coming from - and how come it sounded so damn good. "Windfall" with its dense keyboard soundscapes and breathy treated flutes always did it too - and here its sounds otherworldly good. And while I was intrigued by the moody organ of "Severance" and the Kettle Drums of "The Host Of Seraphim" with Lisa's staggering old-cathedral chants made real (both on "A Serpent's Egg") - I have to say "Aion" was the album that truly lifted my heart skyward. There is stunning audio on her multi-layered vocals on "The Arrival & The Reunion" while those huge synth and brass notes that backbeat "Black Sun" are killer (Perry wailing). But again if we wanted punters storming the sales counter - we needed only feature the Olde English Court dance of "Salterello" - its rhythms blasting out of your speakers with a clarity that is hair-raising (or is that a jug of Meade). And again the vocal pairing of Perry and Gerrard strikes up genuine magic with the beautiful and moving and yes lonesome "The Song Of The Sybil" - surely where Lisa Gerrard's Oscar winning journey to the soundtrack of Ridley Scott's 2000 movie "Gladiator" begun. By the time I reach CD3 with the prudish and dry "Toward The Within" - it is the "Spiritchaser" and "Into The Labyrinth" albums that kept me playing their albums. And who among DCD fans will be able to resist the fabulous "Spirit" - a groove that even Rock-Soul fans would dig - or the Middle Eastern camel ride of "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove". 

 

I found the Visual side of this release extremely disappointing. First up it's a DVD and not a BLU RAY and while that might sound nitpicking - you very quickly begin to realize the DVD's picture reproduction limitations when you play 'Main Program' which is the "Toward The Within" concert. The audio is fab, but the picture quality is not great at all - blurry in most parts and covering the band of seven musicians in only one or two angles. So when Lisa (looking like a witch version of Rick Wakeman in her long robe) goes into "Song Of The Sybil" - her vocals astound - like Kate Bush's taller and better sister - but the visual is only O.K. and barely moves away from facing her head-on for the whole duration of the tune. Brendan drags out that 12-string for the largely acoustic "American Dreaming" - and what a touching winner it is. The second Main Menu slot is 'Promotional Videos' that offers the five titles listed above. Best visually, musically and just plain Tom Waits mad - is "The Carnival Is Over" - that would be described as a trippy Terry Gilliam visual-fest meets Talking Heads jerkiness as horses in medieval drag and hats and bicycles and dogs go by - and all of it choreographed to Dead Can Dance music (nice). Some of the others are just film of volcanoes or shrubbery or dead tree stumps and quickly become tedious. The last is a 'Discography' - a nice touch and not mentioned in the book.

 

Packaging niggles aside - some years after the 47 Audio and 19 Video components of "1981-1998" sold out and with demand for a sort of Dead Can Dance one-stop compilation more accessible to the masses still in the air – 4AD slimmed down the original release to a 2CD 26-Track All-Audio variant and called it "Wake" (given the crap on the DVD above, it's hardly surprising they dropped all the visual content). 

 

The compilation "Wake" was released 5 May 2003 on 4AD DAD 2303 CD (Barcode 652637230321) – CD1 with 14 Tracks and CD2 with 12 - and with that same quality Remastering - is available from many auction sites often for less than a fiver skydiver – a great British way to get into a great Australian band.

 

But if you want the seriously deep dive into DEAD CAN DANCE and are prepared to pay the big bucks - then "1981-1998" is the Ubiquitous De Profundis Summoning Of The Muse Seraphim Stratagem for you. 

 

Go you Ambient Tribal Ethereal Abstract goer you...

"Another Great Record From The Damned: The Best Of The Damned" by THE DAMNED – November 1981 UK Third Album on Ace Records – Also Their First LP Compilation Gathering Together Tracks from 1976 to 1980 on Stiff, Chiswick, Poker and Polydor Records – Band Included Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, Brian James and Rat Scabies with Producers Nick Lowe, Roger Armstrong and Hans Zimmer (September 2023 UK Ace Records CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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This Review and 229 more like it are in my E-Book

Available on AMAZON 

LET'S GO CRAZY - 80ts Music On CD

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45s

All In-Depth Reviews from the Discs Themselves

Over 1,885 e-Pages of Info

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

 

 

Rating: *****

"...Smash It Up..."

 

To have the accolade of releasing the first UK Punk 45-Single is a nice notch on the old career belt.

 

It happened on the 22nd of October 1976 when The Damned whipped-cream out their debut seven-inch on Stiff Records BUY 6 (only the fledgling label's sixth release) – beating The Sex Pistols by mere weeks when those delightfully woke reprobates bludgeoned British eardrums with the Establishment pants-peeing joy that is "Anarchy In The U.K." on 26 November 1976 (Virgin Records).

 

Such sweet memories... Though I suppose, reaching back to the equally rowdy and snotty sounds of say seven or eight years earlier (The Stooges in 1969 and 1970 for example would be a good starting point) - you could probably argue that historical claim of it was us that issued the first-Punk-Rock single my son until the proverbial cash cows come a hip-swaying home. But here in September 2023 (the time of this reissue) – The Damned are still around and a touring event – which is nothing short of a physical and mental miracle given the larger-than-haystacks characters involved. And that's where this rather tasty reissue-reminder comes a swaggering in – reacquainting us with the bad boys in ripped shirts who got their first.

 

Technically their third album - "Another Great Record From The Damned: The Best Of The Damned" was originally a 12-track Ace Records compilation issued early November 1981. It gathered together singles, album tracks and rarities from 1976 to 1980 (including Non-LP B-sides and one Withdrawn 45). Since then – it has actually become a release fans love – the perfect encapsulation of Punk and New Wave Damned transitioning to a different sounding future on Side 2. Here are the newly remastered old New Roses...

 

UK released Friday, 29 September 2023 - "Another Great Record From The Damned: The Best Of The Damned" by THE DAMNED on Ace Records CDDAM 1 (Barcode 029667030120) is A Straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster (no Bonuses) that plays out as follows (41:25 minutes):

 

Side 1:

1. New Rose (22 October 1976 UK 45-single on Stiff Records BUY 6, A-side)

2. Love Song (20 April 1979 UK 45-single on Chiswick Records CHIS 112, A-side)

3. Neat Neat Neat (25 February 1977 UK 45-single on Stiff BUY 10, A-side)

4. I Just Can't Be Happy Today (16 November 1979 UK 45-single on Chiswick CHIS 120, A-side)

5. Jet Set – Jet Girl [by Captain Sensible & The Softies] (8 April 1978 Dutch 45-single on Poker POS 15077, A-side – and – 1978 German 45-single on Polydor 2040 200, A-side)

6. Hit Or Miss (24 November 1980 UK 45-single on Chiswick Records CHIS 139, Second Track on the A-side of "There Ain't No Sanity Clause") – see also Track 7

7. There Ain't No Sanity Clause (24 November 1980 UK 45-single on Chiswick Records CHIS 139, First Track of Two on the A-side – see also Track 6

 

Side 2:

8. Smash It Up Parts 1 & 2 (LP version from the album "Machine Gun Etiquette" released November 1979 in the UK on Chiswick Records CWK 3011)

9. Plan 9 Channel 7 (from the album "Machine Gun Etiquette" released November 1979 in the UK on Chiswick Records CWK 3011)

10. Rabid (Over You) (June 1980 WITHDRAWN UK 45-single on Chiswick CHIS 130, Would have been the First B-side to "White Rabbit")

11. Wait For The Blackout (from the 2LP set "The Black Album" released November 1980 in the UK on Chiswick CWK 3015)

12. History Of The World Part 1 (22 September 1980 UK 45-single on Chiswick Records CHIS 135, A-side)

 

Tracks 1 to 12 are their third album (first compilation) "Another Great Record From The Damned: The Best Of The Damned" – released 13 November 1981 in the UK on Ace Records DAM 1. It peaked at No. 43 in the UK LP charts. Tracks 1 and 3 produced by NICK LOWE, Track 5 by JAN RIETMAN, Track 12 by HANS ZIMMER – all others by ROGER ARMSTRONG

 

THE DAMNED were/are:

DAVE VANIAN – Vocals

BRIAN JAMES – Guitars

CAPTAIN SENSIBLE (Ray Burns) – Bass, Guitars and Vocals

RAT SCABIES (Chris Millar) – Drums

 

Regular contributor to Record Collector Magazine IAN SHIRLEY does an absolute bang-up job in the 20-page booklet – the text peppered with period photos, 45-single labels for Chiswick and Stiff, black and coloured vinyl, concert posters, trade adverts, Indie chart lists of the day and much more. Shirley is thorough covering the area the LP touches on – 1976 to 1980. You get an advert for the edited "Smash It Up" (released Friday, 12 October 1979) and taken from the album due 9 November (this CD uses the full LP version). There is even an advert for the Cassette of the album "Another Great Record From The Damned: The Best Of The Damned" released 29 January 1982 (Ace Records DAMC 1) at a cheaper dealer price. Although technically it does not say who mastered what or where – the Audio is huge and ballsy and feels like a new Remaster to me – probably Nick Robbins or Duncan Cowell. To the prime-ribs...

 

Coming after the ill perceived and poorly executed second album "Music For Pleasure" (produced by a disinterested Nick Mason of Pink Floyd and complete with perceived Prog Rock artwork that would have wound up every disciple) – the return to basics savagery of "Another Great Records From The Damned: The Best Of The Damned" lured back in some of the party faithful. And after the no-love pasting the band got from both the press and the public for Platter No.2, there was more than a hint of irony in its compilation title – another great record... But then you play the beast and it Rocks like a Peaky Blinder in a Birmingham bar come closing time.

 

Lining up the explosive statement song "New Rose" with the grungy trashing "Love Song" only to follow that with the Punk-on-Speed "Neat Neat Neat" on Side 1 is a masterstroke and suddenly - "Another Great Record From The Damned..." feels true to its tongue-in-cheek title. Smartly toning the barrage down to the sophisticated Keyboard New Wave of "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" – its 1979 origins fit right in. The Sensible Euro-Single gives it some oh-who-who like he's suddenly Plastic Bertrand – but again it works – like it was always meant to be there. Side 1 ends on restless Rockers aplenty – cream of them being "Hit Or Miss" for me – dig the remaster power in that fantastic geetar solo and the one that follows. Recorded in a bucket looms with "There Ain't No Sanity Clause" – angry lyrics spoken and snarled throughout – a great piece of rage at the machine turned into a take-no-prisoners anthem.

 

Side 2 opens with an LP version - The Damned do 5:11 minutes songs! Just when you think you have them nailed down as a straight-up British Punk Band – The Damned hit you with the LP cut of "Smash It Up Parts 1 & 2" – a tune that could be The Jam or The New York Dolls meets Graham Parker – a very clever choice and a song that showed they could grow but still retain that 1976/1977 fire in the belly. Same applies to the huge guitars of "Plan 9 Channel 7" – another LP cut that works – riffage and counter vocals that work so well. The withdrawn single is a Stranglers-sounding gem few Damned fans would have had access to at the time. And while "Rabid (Over You)" might be a tad under-produced – it still packs a band-unleashed punch. More rocking comes in the shape of "Wait For The Blackout" – our heroes in a basement flat waiting for the night. Sounding a little too close to a bad Toto or The Cars, the LP ends on "History Of The World Part 1" - a pointer to a more musically exploratory future.

 

The road from the kick-the-doors-down and basic-as-buttons debut album "Damned Damned Damned" in February 1977 to an expansive "The Black Album" double-set in November 1980 is documented here – Side 2 veering not surprisingly towards their future and newish slightly Prog-ish sound.

 

But in the meantime what a little gem "Another Great Records From The Damned: The Best Of The Damned" is. And earlier in July 2023 – the Vinyl variant of this Reissued LP on Ace Records DAM 1 (Barcode 029667017114) issued 30 June 2023 made No.19 on the Indie Top 100 charts. Almost 45 years on - and still got it...

"Hypnotised" by THE UNDERTONES – April 1980 UK Second Studio Album on Sire Records featuring Feargal Sharkey, Damian and John O'Neill, Michael Bradley and Billy Doherty (June 2009 UK Salvo/Ardeck/Union Square Music '30th Anniversary Edition' Enhanced And Expanded CD Reissue and Remaster with Bonus Tracks and Computer Accessed Video Content) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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This Review and 229 more like it are in my E-Book

Available on AMAZON 

LET'S GO CRAZY - 80ts Music On CD

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45s

All In-Depth Reviews from the Discs Themselves

Over 1,885 e-Pages of Info

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

 

Rating ****

"…More Songs About Chocolate And Girls…"

 

The display sticker on the front cover of the card slipcase that accompanies this 30^th Anniversary Edition of the mighty Undertones second studio album "Hypnotised" (April 1980 on Sire Records) declares them as being 'Ireland's Greatest Ever Band'. Not so sure about that - Thin Lizzy, U2, Horslips, Hothouse Flowers, The Bothy Band, Skid Row with a young Gary Moore, The Boomtown Rats, The Cranberries, Planxty, The Corrs, My Bloody Valentine, Clannad, The Frames, De Danaan etc. But then again (and like so many who lived through their fabulous singles history) - I only have to look at their name and album covers – and I'm a mushball.

 

Their blindingly good self-titled debut "The Undertones" made the 'Q' Magazine's "100 Greatest British Albums" list and Salvo/Ardeck/Union Square Music did the expanded 30^th Anniversary Edition CD reissue and Remaster business by that much-loved album in April 2009 (see separate review).

 

Well here comes round two - "Hypnotised" resplendent in another card slipcase – an Enhanced CD with 21 audio tracks and a Video of the hugely popular single "My Perfect Cousin" tagged on as Track 22 (accessible through your computer). Digitally Remastered by one of my fave Audio Engineers ANDY PEARCE and I am a very happy Wednesday Week Whizz Kid indeed. So here are More Songs About Chocolate And Girls…

 

UK released 8 June 2009 - "Hypnotised" by THE UNDERTONES on Salvo/Ardeck/Union Square Music SALVOCD026 (Barcode 698458812629) is an 30^th Anniversary Edition Expanded CD Reissue and Remaster of their second studio album from April 1980 that breaks down as follows (52:06 minutes):

 

1. More Songs About Chocolate And Girls [Side 1]

2. There Goes Norman

3. Hypnotised

4. Save That Girl

5. Whizz Kids

6. Under The Boardwalk

7. The Way Girls Talk

8. Hard Luck

9. My Perfect Cousin [Side 2]

10. Boys Will Be Boys

11. Tearproof

12. Wednesday Week

13. Nine Times Out Of Ten

14. Girls That Don't Talk

15. What's With Terry

Tracks 1 to 15 are their second studio album "Hypnotised" – released 19 April 1980 in the UK on Sire Records SRK 6088.

 

BONUS TRACKS

16. Hard Luck (Again)

17. I Don't Wanna See You Again

Tracks 16 and 17 are the two Non-LP B-sides of "My Perfect Cousin", 28 March 1980 UK 45-single on Sire SIR 4038

 

18. I Told You So

Track 18 is the Non-LP B-side of "Wednesday Week", 27 June 1980 UK 45-single on Sire SIR 4042

 

19. The Positive Touch

20. You're Welcome

21. When Saturday Comes

Tracks 19 to 21 were recorded 16 November 1980 at Eden Studio in London for the John Peel Sessions at the BBC (Peel Session No. 5) – first broadcast 9 December 1980. All three also appear on the 2004 UK CD compilation "Listening In (Radio Sessions 1978-1982)" by The Undertones on Sanctuary SANCD179

 

ENHANCED CD (Computer Access Only)

22. My Perfect Cousin – Video Directed by Julien Temple for Jon Roseman Television in Derry, Northern Ireland

 

As you can see from the lists above this Salvo/Ardeck/Union Square Music issue has 21 audio tracks plus 1 video track tagged on at the end. There's also a new card wrap outside the jewel case using the original LP artwork, a 20-page booklet inside which pictures ticket stubs, buttons, 7" sleeves and band photos - and there's detailed and witty liner notes by their bass player MICHAEL BRADLEY. Bradley talks of being in America with Joe Strummer of The Clash and touring with Chess Records legend Bo Diddley. He also gives backgrounds into the song creations of tunes for the difficult second album. Bradley remembers praise from David Byrne of Talking Heads who had their album "Fear Of Music" out at the time (also on Sire Records) and so the jagged-rhythms bopper that opens the LP ("More Songs About Chocolate And Girls") is a word-tribute to a band The Undertones admired. There is discussion on the LP's breakfast photo cover (taken in New York on Tour), the Lobster logo, John and Damian O'Neill running out of songs during the sessions and frantic touring schedules – reaching back to Soul compilations for cover versions they could mold into an Undertones song (The Drifters – "Under The Boardwalk") etc. It is a very entertaining yet factual and lighthearted read – Bradley clearly recalling the excitement with glee and pride.

 

The remastering has been done by ANDY PEARCE at Masterpiece and is fantastically clear, really clean and in your face. As a downside, it would have been nice to hear more from either their great frontman and singer FEARGAL SHARKEY or especially JOHN O'NEILL - the band's principal songwriter. Bradley makes quoted reference to them, but their input would have made the whole project better.

 

The self-titled debut had managed a peak UK LP chart position of No.13, so the second LP achieving a No. 6 peak was a clear sign that the band was darlings of both the press and the public. A lot less time and a lot more care, Sharkey and Co sang on the opener "More Songs About Chocolate And Girls" – but better is the racier "There Goes Norman" – a boy busy running after the ladies whilst having the other eye on the valuables in your jacket pockets. Sharkey sounds amazing on the title track "Hypnotised" – and those guitars riffing away as we hear of trances when our hero looks in her eyes. I used to go straight to "Whizz Kids" – a fantastic Undertones crazed rocker – success gone to the heads of big talkers.

 

You would not think a cover of a Drifters classic would suit The Undertones from Derry – but they New Wave it up via Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson – all bass and jagged guitars thrashing about as Fergal sings of falling in love as he and his gal cruise the strip. An album gem comes in the shape of the kiss-shy lad in "The Way Girls Talk" – a typically smart Undertones tune with sharp lyrics about teenage angst. The side romps home with a Nicky Chinn/Mike Chapman-type RAK Records drums and guitar riffer called "Hard Luck" (go Suzi Quatro) – a great track.

 

Side 2 opens with the brilliant (and funny) "My Perfect Cousin" - probably the song that most engendered the whole of Britain to The Undertones. Even now I never tire of it. The perfect Rock-meets-New Wave sound continues twofold with "Boys Will Be Boys" seguing into the not-so-nice-girl haunting "Tearproof" with that Bass in yer face. Apparently the boys predicted the exact chart position of the single "Wednesday Week" after they wrote it – a No.11- and it did just that – went to number eleven. Bradley puts it down to the Summer Strike in 1980 TV (no Top Of The Pops) so that the song made it up the charts on the strength of strong radio play and not what the public saw on telly. One of the first four songs written for the album, "Nine Times Out of Ten" is a slow riffage moocher with a catchy chorus. The side ends strongly with the very cool "Girls That Don't Talk" – a tune The Clash might have been proud of – and then the final hurrah – an acoustic intro that leads into Talking Heads guitars as Feargal worries about Terry and his troubles with his glasses and a dodgy personality behind the motley lot.

 

The great thing about British 45s in 1978 and 1979 was the quality of the B-sides – something bands even thought of as a showcase platform – both sides are good and not just the A. And so the two on the flipside of "My Perfect Cousin" come in after a few seconds delay to signify the end of the album and the beginning of the Bonuses – first up is the largely instrumental "Hard Luck (Again)" - a riffer that is almost too good to be relegated to a B-side had some cool words have been put to it. Even better is the belter "I Told You So" that occupied the B-side of the underrated "Wednesday Week" – a two-minute Rock and Rolling slice of Undertones punkiness – followed by three very well recorded three for John Peel – the best for me being "When Saturday Comes".

 

While "Hypnotised" is no masterpiece in anyone's books (a solid 4-stars) - this is nonetheless a very cool CD Reissue with Extras that genuinely lift up an already good second album into something actually resembling an Anniversary Edition in more than name. 

 

The Undertones may not be Ireland's greatest band (in my opinion) - but Derry's finest are held in huge affection by so many music lovers and not without reason. Them were the days and they were one of the bands that made them so bloody enjoyable...