97 posts
Reissues
Angelo Badalamenti’s lush, dreamy film and TV soundtracks seduced many a leftfield musician and James’ Tim Booth was no exception. In thrall to the American composer’s succulent symphonies, he was…
Reissue Review: Heaven 17 – Bigger Than America
Having been defenestrated from Virgin Records in 1988, it took Heaven 17 eight years to get around to releasing their first independent album. By 1996, acid house and Madchester had…
Reissue Review: Electrical Language – Independent British Synth Pop 78-84
The history of UK electropop is so often reduced to a handful of big names and chart-straddling stars that rare compilations such as this 4CD set are a valuable counterbalance…
Reissue Review: A Certain Ratio – ACR:BOX
Fortieth anniversaries for post-punk outfits are coming thick and fast, with veteran Factory/Mute stalwarts A Certain Ratio the latest band to commemorate the end of their fourth decade. They do…
Reissue Review: Ash – ’94-’04: Singles Boxset
Supergrass were fond of proclaiming that they were everybody’s third-favourite Britpop band. By the same token, Ash probably rank fifth in most people’s affections. It would certainly be impossible to…
Reissue: Ian Dury & The Blockheads – Do It Yourself
As punk rock morphed into post-punk and new wave at the end of the 1970s, disco remained the shaping force of the Top 40. It was to attract some highly…
Reissue Review: Stevie Nicks – Stand Back 1981-2017
Think that Stevie Nicks is all about flowing skirts and ethereal vocals? Think again… She was the all-American middle-class girl who became a watchword for narcotic hedonism and rock’n’roll excess;…
Album review: Howard Jones – Transform
The keyboard wizard’s 11th album, Transform, may not convert sceptics, but long-term fans will definitely find that things just got better… Back in 1984, Howard Jones told us he’d like…
Reissue review: Prince – Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
Credited with piloting the success of Bruce Springsteen and Whitney Houston, legendary US label head Clive Davis also reignited the career of Santana in 1999 when he persuaded the fading…
Reissue review: Kate Bush – The Other Sides
After the fanfare of the reissue of two CD and four vinyl Kate Bush Remastered boxsets last November, as well as separate remastered versions of every album, Kate Bush now…