"The Prisoner: The Complete Series In High Definition" – A Review of the Limited Edition BLU RAY Box Set released 28 September 2009 by NETWORK of the UK - Versus The '50th Anniversary Edition' from 2017 (reissued in 2019) – A Review by Mark Barry...

The September 2009 Issues - Standard and Deluxe

The 2017 '50th Anniversary Edition' Issues - Standard and 'Village Editions' Deluxe 

The 2019 Reissue of the 2017 Standard '50th Anniversary Edition' 

"…We Have A Citizen's Advice Bureau Up There…They're Very Good Apparently…"

When the 1st episode of "The Prisoner" was aired by ITV in September 1967 in the UK (June 1968 in the USA by CBS), "Sgt. Peppers" was still at number one and the Summer of Love was in full swing. All things seemed possible - and at the same time, with the Vietnam War, Race Riots and the escalation of Government control over personal lives - many things seemed slightly sinister too...

Enter into this volatile soup the cocky and charismatic actor Patrick McGoohan fresh from his global TV success as John Drake in "Danger Man". The distinctly voiced actor (born in New York, but raised in Ireland and Britain) had a mind-bending idea for a new "spy" TV series limited to only 7 episodes. "The Village" would be a self-contained world where no one had a name but a number and would act as a sort of containment home for retired secret agents that big-brother Government wanted to control and keep an eye on. Each week would see a new Number 2 trying to crack Number 6 (McGoohan) through ever more elaborate means. Escape was curtailed by a moving floating blob called "Rover" – this giant boob chased, cornered and then suffocated its victims up against a wall or into the sand (nice). The futility of even 'trying' to escape was reinforced by the insidious repetition of phrases like "be seeing you" - an early version of wordplay and spin-doctors playing us. It was a brilliant pitch and Lew Grade (head of Independent Television) thought it was "...crazy enough that it might just work...". But come February 1968 when the 17th truly-out-there "Fall Out" episode was finally aired (some saying it made little sense), McGoohan was on the defensive and practically being run out of his own country by angry and confused fans... How utterly cool! Now let's get to its transition on HD BLU RAY...

VERSIONS:

28 September 2009 saw TWO issues – the UK standard version (Region B only) with Prison Bars artwork and a blue clip case is Barcode 5027626700348 whilst their was also a Limited Edition in a Beautiful Box with Number 6's Kit-Car on the cover (the one I've reviewed) with an extra paperback book inside. The problem/confusion for buyers arises because it has no barcode on the rear so you can only differentiate by asking the seller or checking their photos as to what issue you're buying. The Box Set variant (pictured above) as you will find out is long deleted and has acquired something of a nasty price tag – but it is in my mind the prettiest variant. There are of course US variants (there's was issued October 2009) with slightly altered artwork too and most tend to be REGION 1 only. 

30 October 2017 saw 'The Complete Series' reissued as a 50^th Anniversary Edition and again in TWO variants. I'll deal with the Standard Edition first because it's the one most people will see or try to buy because of its cheap cost. In a Network Exclusive Digipak ("The Complete Series starring Patrick McGoohan" is the title on the cover), compared to that gorgeous 2009 issue, the artwork on the Standard Edition is abysmal (Barcode 5027626804343). It has a treated profile face shot of McGoohan against the backdrop of the village – just mostly white artwork. That in itself has been reissued 29 July 2019 and it appeared again in October 2019 – same artwork (Barcode 5027626830144).

You get a flimsy card wrap on the outside that really is as unappetising as the artwork on Amazon suggests. That same crap blurry cover picture is on the fold out card inner which contains the discs and there's a foldout page that barely lists the titles - and that's your lot. With the 2009 standard Blu Ray case version on Amazon for £25 or less (with all 6-discs containing the beautifully remastered programs from the 60s cult classic) - this is hugely disappointing and a poor effort for forty quid. I couldn't stand to look at it and sent it back for a refund immediately. What a downer...avoid.

But to annoy us even further, also issued 30 October 2017, there is a Network UK '50^th Anniversary Limited Edition' that goes all bells and whistles. This variant is loosely called 'Village Editions' (because of its artwork on the front cover). It comes with a new documentary called "In My Mind" with footage from 1983 cobbled together with a reluctant Patrick McGoohan, 6CDs of Remastered Music from the show called 'Village Recordings', the 6 restored BLU RAY discs now labelled as 'Village Films', visual stuff called 'Village Books' which features the hardback book 'An Illustrated History' by ANDREW PIXLEY – and all of this is contained in an outer 'Village Editions' box (Barcode 5027626816346). They come as boxes within boxes – so the ‘Village Films’ outer contains the shitty looking standard edition BLU RAY set within. It was initially pitched at about £70 but that is of course deleted and prices now vary hugely on the auction market for this pretty looking set – somewhere between £150 and £260 at times.

But for the purpose of this post, lets review the September 2009 Box Set...

UK-released on BLU RAY in September 2009 (Oct 2009 in the USA with different packaging) - the UK packaging is a box-of-chocolates shaped cardboard box with two compartments - the first contains a near-300 page paperback book entitled "The Prisoner - A Complete Production Guide" by ANDREW PIXLEY. It was originally produced exclusively for NETWORK and their 2007 remastered DVD box and is reprinted here; the second inset has a 6-disc BLU RAY clip box (each disc features a different picture). Discs 1 to 4 contain all 17 episodes - the complete series - and each episode with its own special features. Discs 5 and 6 have staggering amounts of further extras including input from those involved, previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage, a different version of "Arrival" and several commentaries by the production crew. It's exhaustive stuff. Only the BLU RAY set itself inside the box has a Barcode - 5027626700348

While the paperback is fan-obsessed with details and a truly informative account, it is completely devoid of any photographs, which I feel is not just disappointing, but does this otherwise fantastic presentation a major disservice. While there are loads of pictures on Disc 6 (in High Def) and fabulous complimentary features too - it would have been nice to trawl over a really good book featuring photos of those superb production values. No disrespect to the author whose work here is incredible and must have taken years of research, it's just that all words and no visual make it a very dry read (it was probably too cost-prohibitive).

But that minor niggle quickly pales into insignificance once your eyes see the frame-by-frame fully restored 35mm print. Presented in 1:33:1 aspect and filling the full screen - it is ABSOLUTELY GLORIOUS TO LOOK AT - and puts many a modern production to shame. I noticed maybe only one or two occasions where the image had lines or some other stock fault - for 98% of the time, the digitally restored high definition print is faultless and a constant joy and revelation to look at.

Filmed in a real-life folly called Portmeirion in Gwynedd in Wales (fans still visit the town in Prisoner regalia), the entire seaside town was the dream of architect Clough Williams-Ellis who purchased the peninsula in 1923 and began building his own Mediterranean village there complete with an English twist. Portmeirion had in fact featured in previous "Danger Man" episodes and McGoohan and his family had often holidayed there. With a budget of £50,000-per-episode, a large uniquely clothed cast of extras and an entire town bathed in summer sunshine to play with, the extraordinary location and production values collided to produce a vision that stuns to this day.

The clarity is AWESOME... There's a scene in Episode 1 "Arrival" where McGoohan is offered a chair in Number Two's lair - a hole in the floor slides across and up pops a stool - but this time you can clearly see that the hole is cardboard - and not steel. In Episode 2 "The Chimes Of Big Ben" when Nadia Gray wakes up as Number 8, you can see her hair is immaculate and her eyelids are heavily pasted in blue makeup... (the episode also features Finlay Currie as the General who was Magwitch the Convict in David Lean's masterpiece "Great Expectations")  - and on it goes!

In the 90-minute extra "Don't Knock Yourself Out" actors, producers and editors describe McGoohan on set in 1967 as charismatic, brilliant and a visionary - while others like Leo McKern and one actress in particular loathed McGoohan the man to the point of distraction - calling him monster, maniacal, brutish and a bully. Oddjob actor Patrick was undoubtedly the whole lot.

And like William Shatner and his 'big role', Captain Kirk from Star Trek, McGoohan had an equally spiky relationship with the character and TV series that both defined and pigeonholed him for decades. Still, you can't help but feel that Patrick is up there right now (whatever mood he's in) beaming down at this wonderful box set.

Is "Number 1" that part of you that capitulates - as McGoohan seems to suggest when one of the masks is unveiled in "Fall Out"? I don't know. But that's what "The Prisoner" is like - even after more than four decades, it's still thought provoking, wildly imaginative and stunningly relevant - especially on the core subjects of individual freedom and Governmental control. And now on BLU RAY it has the box set it has always deserved, even if the paperback is a wee bit of a letdown.

I've reviewed quite a few superlative restorations before this - "North By Northwest", "The Italian Job", "Cool Hand Luke", "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning" and "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner" (see reviews for all), but this takes the gong. "The Prisoner" on BLU RAY is bound to make many fans go weak at the knees and will hopefully draw in a new generation of lovers for one of the most extraordinary television programs ever made.

Downsides – crappy reissues - without doubt and in March 2020 – it seems amazing to me that either the lovely-looking September 2009 box or the October 2017 '50th Anniversary Limited Edition' Box Sets aren't generally available and instead we're left with that awful-looking 2017/2019 issue with its crap white artwork and an almost complete lack of physical visuals. 

Time for another reissue I think. We wait in hope. Good hunting and be seeing you...

"Ad Astra" - The 2019 Sci-Fi Movie with Brad Pitt, Donald Sutherland, Tommy Lee Jones, Liv Tyler and Ruth Negga - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...I Wov U Daddy...Even Though You're A Complete Nutter And A Bit Of A C**t..." 

- The Tosh That (Unfortunately) Is "Ad Astra"

I'm a huge Sci-Fi fan. Kids of my advanced age all are (62 in September 2020, if I make it that far) - raised as we were on triple-bill diets of Star Wars and Trekkie etc. Our generation would watch any old cack with a time space continuum in it or even a wormhole that leads to a factory that makes libido lollipops when you go through to the other side. We’d watch any old tut, we really would. But it's hard to describe just how bad "Ad Astra" is even if the trailer makes it look like a rockin' ride to the other side of the galaxy...

Everything seems to go wrong here. Although Pitt's acting is possibly the strongest he's ever done in this film - his casting in the lead role is a huge misjudgement. Every second on screen, the normally likeable Pittster seems wildly out of place and even about to burst into laughter.

But then it gets worse, character cliché after character cliché flows at you in an array of scenes you’ve seen in so many buddy-buddy space movies. There are feelingless Sergeants, Space.com executives who care even less, the crewmembers who seem clueless, freeze or freak out - every bloody one of them wooden or borrowed. Other silly inclusions include Ruth Negga and Liv Tyler who get to do so little. Donald Sutherland does his "Space Cowboys" schtick and again it just feels wrong.

But what about the set scenes, say you of special-effects heroin-addiction. Sure, many look good. But none of it is in the service of a good story as it jumps from one ludicrous scenario to another. Things crop up as if they were casual events in space – a chatty woman receptionist at the space station entrance area, gabbing on like she’s having her hair done. Best is - Brad swimming under a lake of pitch-black water on Mars (wait for it) in a fully loaded white clunky spacesuit with a helmet on that doesn't leak - just in time to climb out of a steel hatch on the Martian surface, run across the dust and climb (manually) up the side of a rocket counting down in seconds to blast off with six gazillion pounds of trust below you. And he makes it in through the hatch with just two seconds to go, then all three leave their seats to fight him (during launch sequence) and he kills all of them so he can have those deep chats with Daddy-done-a-bunk hovering (as you do) around Neptune these last 30 years. And don't get me started on the monkeys in space (that's right, you heard me) eating astronauts. And then there's an underlying signal thing coming from Neptune that might destroy the world but I'm not sure what happened or how they were generated because when the end of the film came, it isn’t really explained nor did I care.

But these are nothing to the clunky dialogue that simply hammers you with disbelief time and time again. Coming on like a wannabe "Interstellar" or even "2001..." but without any of the good ideas - there is a persistent narrative from Pitt that hankers back to his father (played by Tommy Lee Jones). Deep meaningful passages just come off as dreck, naval-gazing that’s trying to make the film feel like it's saying something. Unfortunately I'm reminded of those now notorious horrible Cannes Film Festival moments when the assembled audience laughed out loud at Bruce Willis in trailer clips of "Armageddon" instead of being awed. At least "Armageddon" turned out to be a hugely entertaining film that didn’t take itself seriously (unfortunately "Ad Astra" does).

And on it goes with a meandering story for what seems like longer than its two hours duration. The only saving grace is some really great special effects along the way. But as good as they are and as you're watching the movie, you still feel like "Ad Astra" is a spoof of the film "Gravity" now renamed "Gravity - The Even Sillier Version". A damn shame really, because I know from the trailer, many were looking forward to seeing this.

Pitt would redeem himself with Tarrantino's weird "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" film (an Oscar for that half-baked cack, give me a break). But "Ad Astra" has to be the kind of film that turkey jokes were invented for and that can't be good in any man's language...

"Braveheart" on BLU RAY (2009) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 "…A Cun-Three Of Hour Owen!"

Re-watching 1995's "Braveheart" on a 2009 BLU RAY - you're struck by several things...

The downsides - Mel Gibson's truly awful mime of a Scottish accent (title above)...his ludicrous hair and wigs...and it just goes on for too long.
 
Upsides - Mel was also the most handsome man on the planet at the time of filming, Patrick McGoohan was chillingly brilliant as Longshanks The King, it had loads of tremendous support actors throughout (Brian Cox as Wallace's Uncle, Brendan Gleeson as Hamish his friend, Angus MacFayden as the Scottish King in waiting, David O'Hara as a fighting clansman, Ian Bannen as the Leper and the mad-eyed James Cosmo). And to top it all off - you get both Catherine McCormack and Sophie Marceau in the same film - easily two of the most beautiful women in the world. And of course there's also James Horner's haunting musical score - a beautiful air played on the Pipes which kicks in at key moments in the story; it can still bring a tear to your eye and a quickening to the pulse...

But most of the time you are seriously impressed with the cleaned up PRINT - because on BLU RAY - "Braveheart" is BEAUTIFUL to look at - it really is. Apart from a few lines in the opening shots of the Highlands, the transfer is almost faultless throughout and really adds to your enjoyment of the scenery, the costumes and the fantsically well-staged battle scenes. In fact, I also now remember why I liked it so much at the time - it had passion and fire - like "Gladiator" did - and still does.

The original bonus material remains intact, there's two extra hours of added-on special features and the whole 2-Disc set now comes in a tasty outer card wrap (like the Bond titles).

On BLU RAY "Braveheart" is a very handsome thing indeed - a sweetheart. And it has never looked this good and that's for damn sure.

Recommended.

PS: for other superb restorations on BLU RAY, see also my reviews for "The Italian Job", "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning", "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner", "Zulu", "North By Northwest", "Cool Hand Luke", “The Dambusters” and “The Prisoner – The Complete (TV) Series In High Definition”, “The Ladykillers”, “Snatch” and “The African Queen”

"Close To The Edge: How Yes's Masterpiece Defined Prog Rock" by WILL ROMANO (2017 Backbeat Book) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"Close To The Edge: How Yes's Masterpiece Defined Prog Rock"  

A Book by 

WILL ROMANO 

This Review Along With Over 310 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites
CADENCE /CASCADE 

PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
And Others Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Remasters

Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On

Fusion Rock, Acid Folk, Art Rock and Underground 

Just Click Below To Purchase

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Total Mass Retain..."

I've been pouring over Will Romano's book for about a fortnight now and there's both good news and bad - with the bad being largely out of his control and the good news outweighing annoying omissions.

At the age of 58 (I'm 59 this September) - I'm probably one of the old gits this New York writer has aimed his book at. Romano has already penned a book on the subject of Progressive Rock - "Mountains Come Out Of The Sky: The Illustrated History Of Prog Rock - Prog Rock FAQ" - which was an excellent and truly informative read. Romano has also scribed a Blues tome (a fave subject of mine as well) called - "Big Boss Man: The Life & Music Of Bluesman Jimmy Reed". So he's not new to this music-book malarkey...

"Close To The Edge: How Yes's Masterpiece Defined Prog Rock" was published March 2017 by Backbeat Books in oversized paperback - 288-pages of seriously in-depth detail about a September 1972 album that amazed then - and is still making jaws drop 45 years later in 2017.

The fourth YES album "Close To The Edge" had only three tracks - one of which was the 18-minute 4-part "Close To The Edge" suite on Side 1. The others over on Side 2 were "And You and I" - four-parts at just under eleven minutes - and "Siberian Khatru" (all one track) at just under ten minutes. "Close To The Edge" had taken months to rehearse and record and cemented the rep given this most British of bands by adventurous Rock with "The Yes Album" and "Fragile" from either end of 1971.

Centred are 12-pages of photos - but only one of the cover – no rear, no inner gatefold, no inner bag? For an album that was so dominated by Roger Dean's artwork - especially the inner painting and the beautifully CTTE scripted lyric bag - it's absence here gives you no insight into what the actual LP looked like - that whole tactile thing. I dare say Romano and Backbeat couldn't get clearance from Dean to reproduce that inner sleeve that so many of us poured over back in the day (I even copied the writing into my schoolbooks) or even show the other three unused RD paintings that turned up for our titillation on the Steve Wilson Remixed 'Panegyric' reissues of 2013 (CD and BLU RAY).

He does reproduce the American A-side label for Atlantic SD 19133 - but sloppily it's a late 70s pressing with the corporate Warner Brothers logo and not an American original. Besides - where's the British original LP label for such a very British band - the Orange and Yellow variant of Atlantic K 50012? The other photos are of band members - the sadly passed Bassist Chris Squire in a church choir as a child - an Atlantic Records 'Gold' LPs trade advert for 1972 and so. They’re good – but I think they missed a trick here by not having the actual artwork…

Impressively detailed reminiscences come from Engineer Eddy Offord, lead singer Jon Anderson, keyboard-whiz Rick Wakeman and everyone else who was key to the project. There are histories of each player (Wakeman with The Strawbs - Bruford with King Crimson etc) - the torturous recording process where certain tracks ended up in a bin by mistake - the endless layers on layers - Steve Howe's amazing guitar playing - Wakeman the same.

This is a good book on an album that actually bears up to this level of scrutiny. It’s just a shame that the very thing that turned us on (as much as the awesome music did) - isn't here – how it looked - the visuals. Fans will know what I mean…

But the best compliment I can pay "Close To The Edge" the book is that it made me want to drag out my Steve Wilson Remastered CD reissue again. And as those 'climb clear of the morning' lyrics and gorgeous acoustic guitar themes kicked in on "And You And I" - not for the first time with this groundbreaking record - I shed a little Proggy tear.

Nice one Will...

"The Cider House Rules" - The 1999 Film Now Reissued On A 2011 Studio Canal BLU RAY - A Review by Mark Barry...

 "…She Was Killed By Secrecy…She Was Killed By Ignorance…"

Lasse Hallstrom's 1999 adaptation of John Irving's 1985 book (of the same name) is a rather lovely little film - that's genuinely been upgraded by BLU RAY. It's not note-perfect as a transfer by any means (soft focus here and there, a bit of grain and blocking too) - but when it's good (which is a lot of the time) - it's really gorgeous to look at.

You notice the improvements especially when the story gets to the home and lands of Olive Worthington and her son Wally (great casting in Kate Nelligan and Paul Rudd). She's an estate-owning boss and he's a dashing young Airforce Pilot who is waiting for overseas action in the Second World War. Even the indoor scenes in the live-in hut where all the apple pickers live (the 'Cider House' mentioned in the title) are very clear and at times amazingly so. The faces and clothing of the actors are razor-sharp too (superb cast choices in Delroy Lindo, Erykah Badu, Evan Park, Heavy D, and K. Todd Freeman). So too when Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire's character) is out walking with Wally's beautiful and vivacious fiancé Candy Kendall (Charlize Theron) while Wally's away at war - the shots by the Sea and the nearby lobster fishing port are beautiful to look at.

Acting-wise - there is so much to savour here. A huge part of the film's heart has to go to touching performances from children - Erik Per Sullivan as the bronchial Fuzzy, Kieran Culkin as the troubled Buster and Paz De La Huerta as the young teenage girl who fancies Homer way too much for her own good. Throw in Kathy Baker and Jane Alexander as elderly nurses with an abundance of unconditional paternal heart - and it feels good the second it opens. The story then moves as Homer does away from the snowbound hills and rivers of Maine to the sunny fields of working orchards in South Carolina.

But the movie belongs to its two principal leads - Michael Caine as Dr. Wilbur Larch and Tobey Maguire as the emotionally stilted orphan boy - Homer Wells (named after a cat and someone whose deep). First up is Caine who is simply sensational. Moving like a force of benevolent kindness amid the cold wooden rooms of "St. Clouds" (a 1930's and 1940's Orphanage he runs) - he is pragmatic and practical to the visiting pregnant women who don't need judgement (dialogue above) but an operation that is illegal. Describing himself as "...a caretaker to many, father to none..." - he mother hen's over a lively cast of young children abandoned in the big house with an almost casual cruelty. Each hurt child of course longs to be genuinely wanted - to be taken away by childless parents who occasionally come to visit and adopt. The scene where one pretty girl appeals to a couple - so they take her - but leave the rest behind - is heartbreaking. Caine imbibes so many of these difficult moments with a huge humanity - he's an actor capable of conveying extraordinary compassion and anger - sometimes one after the other. The film was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and won 2 - one for Caine as Best Supporting Actor and the other for Best Adapted Screenplay by John Irving.

Tobey Maguire excels too - his performance is full of quiet acceptance at first - but then moves into a longing for a more varied life outside of his mentor's 'doctoring' requirements. Homer's journey to his own 'purpose in the world' is long but convincing. Maguire is very, very good here. As is Charlize Theron - not just a beautiful woman - but a hugely accomplished actress. Watch out too for John Irving the Author in a tiny cameo as a Station Master at the beginning (doing his Hitchcock).

The "Making Of" interviews all the principal actors - as well as John Irving on adapting his own book, Stephen King (the Author) on Irving's writing and Lasse Hallstrom the Director on shooting such a huge book. Its default aspect is 1.2:35 so it has bars top and bottom of the screen - but even stretched to full screen - it still looks great.

"The Cider House Rules" is a warm film - and one I thoroughly enjoyed re-watching. But more importantly - if you're a fan and have love for this movie's combined cruelties and charms - then you need to see it/own it on BLU RAY. 

Highly recommended.

ASPECT:

1.2:35:1 Ratio

SUBTITLES:

English for the Hard-Of-Hearing

EXTRAS:

Making Of "An American Classic"

Deleted Scenes

Trailer

PS: for other recent reissues on BLU RAY - see also reviews for:

"Amelie", "Beautiful Girls", "American Graffiti", "Bright Star", "Shakespeare In Love", "Love Actually", "A.I - Artificial Intelligence", "Bubba Ho-Tep", "Gone Baby Gone", "Michael Clayton" and "Stranger Than Fiction"

"Walking The Ghost Back Home" by THE BIBLE - Debut Album from March 1986 on Backs Records featuring Boo Hewerdine, Neill MacColl (brother of Kirsty MacColl) and Tony Shepherd (October 2011 UK Red Grape Records '25th Anniversary Edition (Remastered And Expanded)' CD Reissue with One Bonus Track) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…You Will Never See Graceland..."

Before THE BIBLE signed their major-label contract with Chrysalis Records in 1988 and released their 2nd album "Eureka" to much acclaim - they issued "Walking The Ghost Back Home" – their debut LP on the independent label Backs Records.

The vinyl album came in March 1986 (NCHLP 8) with the CD variant 2 years later in 1988 with added tracks (NCHCD 8). There was yet another CD reissue in 1996 on Haven Records.

UK released 3 October 2011 - this '25th Anniversary Edition' CD reissue of "Walking The Ghost Back Home" by THE BIBLE bases itself on that Haven CD and is a fully Remastered version on Red Grape Records RGTB01 (No Barcode) - ‘Expanded' with one more Bonus Track. It plays out as follows…

1. Graceland (Remix)

2. Mahalia (Remix)

3. Walking The Ghost Back Home

4. Kid Galahad And The Chrome King

5. (Talk To Me Like) Jackie Kennedy

6. King Chicago

7. She’s My Bible

8. Sweetness

9. Spend, Spend, Spend

10. High Wide And Handsome

11. Glorybound

BONUS TRACK:

12. She's My Bible (Demo Version)

The album has a convoluted history on CD as I’ve already said but its worthwhile explaining as there's bugger all info on this new release. Recorded in December 1985 - fans will know that the original 1986 UK LP had only 8 tracks - the non-remixed versions of "Graceland", "Mahalia", "Walking The Ghost Back Home" and "Kid Galahad And The Chrome King" made up Side 1 - while "(Talk To Me Like) Jackie Kennedy", "King Chicago", "She's My Bible" and a song called "Red Lights" made up Side 2. When the 10-track Backs Records CD arrived in 1988 - "Red Lights” was dropped and replaced with three new songs - "Sweetness", "Spend, Spend, Spend" and "High Wide And Handsome".

That 10-track version was in turn superseded in 1995 on Haven Records HAVENCD 4 - but this time with both "Graceland" and “Mahalia” replaced by Boo Hewerdine 'Remixes' (Tracks 1 to 10 above). For the 25th Anniversary Edition - that 1995 version is used but with one more Bonus Track added on - "She's My Bible (Demo Version)". It's an obvious set of omissions - but the original 1986 versions of "Graceland” and "Mahalia" along with the original "Red Lights" now seem to be permanently AWOL for this debut album in the digital medium because principal bandleader and songwriter Hewerdine wants it that way.

The black gatefold card digipak of this 25th Anniversary Edition CD Remaster is a very dull affair indeed (as was the original LP’s artwork). There’s no booklet – with all details for its 12-tracks downloadable from their website TheBibleTheBand.com. But the music still stands up big time…

Musically I’m reminded of Lies Damned Lies, The Silencers, Love And Money, It’s Immaterial, The Big Dish and even Prefab Sprout. "Kid Galahad And The Chrome King" has a fabulous melody and I never tire of the "...you will never get to..." longing in the lyrics and tune of "Graceland". The Remaster is warm and full - songs like "She's My Bible" and "Glorybound" sound superb. The Demo is sparse but nice and I can see why it was included - full of atmosphere.

In December 2012, a 13-Track 2LP variant of the ‘25th Anniversary Edition’ by THE BIBLE turned up on Vinyl 180 Records VIN180LP053 (Barcode 5038622127916). Sides 1 and 2 play at the standard 33 1/3 speed but Sides 3 and 4 are at 45 rpms and the song “Red Flag” ending Side 2 is a bonus track not on the CD.

As a band of the period, The Bible is all but forgotten now. Me – I’ve always loved them and I can even recall a support slot with another up and coming Scottish band called Deacon Blue. I’ve also reviewed Cherry Red’s superlative 2CD reissue of The Bible’s second and last album “Eureka” from 1988 (reissued as “The Bible” in 1989) that contains a version of “Red Lights”.

But this is where that musical journey began. Shame they didn’t do more with the packaging (docked a star for that) but the music is absolutely worth it…