Rare and sought-after 1998 2cd set.
Listed as secondhand, the item remains in excellent to NM condition.
All tracks are the 1998 remasters
28 track compilation of twelve inch remixes, B-sides and demo versions. This collection cover's the band's years with EMI, as they started out as a bouncy New Wave quartet but ended up a brooding Art-Rock trio. Contains all non-album tracks including the original extended versions of 'Talk Talk', 'Today', 'It's My Life', 'My Foolish Friend', 'Such a Shame', 'Life's What You Make It', 'Living in Another World', 'Dum Dum Girl' and more! Nearly all of the tracks are on CD for the first time. Features brilliant original artwork by James March.
Disc 1 - The Longer Versions
1-1 Talk Talk (Extended Version) 4:34
1-2 Today (Extended Version) Mixed By Mike Robinson 4:33
1-3 My Foolish Friend (Extended Version) 5:30
1-4 It's My Life (Extended Version) Remix [12" Remix By] Tim Friese-Greene 6:19
1-5 Such A Shame (Extended Mix) Remix [12" Mix By] Tim Friese-Greene 7:00
1-6 Such A Shame (Dub Mix) Remix Steve Thompson 6:33
1-7 Dum Dum Girl (12" Mix) Remix Steve Thompson 5:23
1-8 Without You (12" Mix) 5:55
1-9 Life's What You Make It (Extended Mix) Remix Tim Friese-Greene 7:01
1-10 Living In Another World (Extended Remix) Remix Gavin MacKillop 8:58
1-11 Pictures Of Bernadette (Dance Mix) 8:06
1-12 Happiness Is Easy (12" Mix) Remix Lee Harris, Paul Webb 7:02
Disc Two - The Extra Tracks
2-1 Talk Talk (Demo Version) 3:23
2-2 Mirror Man (Demo Version) 3:30
2-3 Candy (Demo Version) 4:24
2-4 Strike Up The Band 2:45
2-5 ? 4:08
2-6 My Foolish Friend 3:19
2-7 Call In The Night Boy (Piano Version) 3:49
2-8 Why Is It So Hard ? (7" Version) Mixed By Steve Thompson 4:04
2-9 Again A Game Again 4:11
2-10 Without You 3:26
2-11 Dum Dum Girl (U.S. Mix) Remix Steve Thompson 3:39
2-12 It's Getting Late In The Evening 5:45
2-13 For What It's Worth 5:21
2-14 Pictures Of Bernadette 5:03
2-15 Eden (Edit) 4:21
2-16 John Cope 4:39
Below, a rather decent review of the set.
First and foremost this album should be taken for what the record company were attempting to achieve (i.e. a compilation of the vast majority of the tracks Talk Talk released as remixes or b-sides back when vinyl ruled). The band's side of the story is, however, represented by the album cover (as always, drawn by long term Talk Talk collaborator James Marsh) which shows the goose that layed the golden egg being hanged (probably by EMI's marketing men)!
The remixes on disc one are pretty sympathetic to the familiar album versions of the singles - in most cases adding to rather than detracting from the songs. Disc 2 is really where the treasures lie - the original b-sides. The disc starts off with three demos recorded prior to first album The Party's Over (all of which made the final cut, albeit it in re-recorded form) originally released as a bonus disc with the 7" of Such a Shame along with a huge fold out poster (80's marketing at its best (worst?)). These are all much more piano based than the synthesizer versions that made the album - and all the better for it in my opinion - showcasing Mark Hollis's voice and his ear for a tune.
The b-sides from the singles taken from the first 2 albums represent the Talk Talk synth-pop sound and if you love the a-sides you will find much to like here.
The first sign of a more experimental side to the band surfaces with Call in the Night Boy (b-side to between album single My Foolish Friend). Soon to be vastly reconfigured in a pop version for the It's My Life album, the piano sketch here points toward how the band would develop, showing regard for Mark Hollis's love of turn of the (20th) century classical piano pioneers like Debussy. More experimentation lies ahead with It's Getting Late in the Evening (b-side to Life's What You Make It from the Colour Of Spring, but certainly sounding more at home with the final tracks on this disc, Eden and John Cope, which were recorded at the time of final EMI album Spirit of Eden).
This is a great companion to the 4 albums released during the band's tenure on EMI.
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