5 comments about Fear Is on Our Side.

1. I have never heard any of the songs by this band but this is the greatest record of all time based on the name of the band alone. I will die happy knowing that these boys are fighting the good fight. Oh, man...



2. THIS ALBUM ROCKS!!!!!!! If you are looking for an alternative to the cheesy, thinly veiled "dark" pop albums that seem to be coming from all angles these days, check out ILYBICD, they are the real deal. It is really hard to avoid comparisions to Interpol, or the editors, and especially Joy Division here, because they are all valid comparisons, except for the fact that there is a darker underlying feel to this album that the others don't have. Where the Editors have a dark, heavily guitar driven sound, and interpol has its deeply synthesized sound coupled with very strange lyrical pairings, ILYBICD has an almost viceral sounds that would be moving even if you removed the music component, or vice versa. I would have to say that ILYBICD sounds more like an old Bauhaus album to me, with its dark imagery and alternating hard and light songscapes. A definite must have for anyone who considers themselves a fan of dark and melancholy music.



3. great album by Ilybicd, dark mood, good performace, good songs especially the ghost & lets ride together



4. The Austin, TX band I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness boasts one of the most unusual band names I have ever encountered, and it begs the question: does it distract from the music, or does it complement it? After the band's self-released 2003 EP, now finally comes the full-fletched debut album.
   
   "Fear Is On Our Side" (12 tracks, 52 min.) fleshes out (and matures) the sound of the 2003 EP, with great results. If you are not familiar with their sound, imagine a mix of the 80s Cure-meets-nowadays-Interpol. The band creates a mood with dark yet at times poppy and even danceable songs, to great effect. Check out the opener "The Ghost", which sets the table for the album. "Lights" is one of the few truly upbeat songs, along with "At Last At All". There are a couple of instrumentals along the way, creating more of the dark (but not scary) mood. Other highlights include "Last Ride Together", which truly is reminiscent of the 80s Cure sound, just great, and the closer "If It Was Me".
   
   This is a great album. And it even translates better in a live setting. I saw ILUBICD in concert recently, and these songs ROCKED hard, much more so then on the studio versions. People may scratch their heads at the unusual band name, but I hope they will go beyond that and give this band a chance. Highly recommended!



5. I found this band looking for music that resembled The Bravery, Depeche Mode, and a few of my other favorite bands. While 'I love you..." is a different band altogether, I was very happy to add this album to my collection. The music is very dreamy and even though a song will start with a strong bass or drum riff, you will be surprised how the song will descend into a calming soundscape. For me, this band is perfect to listen to when you are in a mood to relax. Not gym music.
   Newbies to the band should check out their first single "According to Plan". For me, I don't particularly have a favorite song because the album blends together so well and I simply enjoy it as a whole (although one would be pleased to check out "we choose faces").
   This is one album you will be happy to say you own, and a band you will be proud to say you started listening to before they hit it big.

5 comments about Kissing to Be Clever.

1. I would say that I can't fathom why so many people have given this rather spotty album such glowing 5-star reviews, but then again, a lot of people seem to have a tendency to judge things based on nostalgia and sentimentality from their childhood or teen years instead of looking at a product honestly, without the rose-colored glasses. I myself have great sentimentality for Eighties music, but this album doesn't make me feel nostalgic and sentimental at all. The album doesn't stand up all that well over time, unlike 'Colour by Numbers,' which I absolutely love. Too many of the songs on KTBC just strike me as unmemorable and not very distinct from one another. The songs on a truly classic album shouldn't be sounding so similar. There are even three songs in a row with incredibly similar titles, "White Boy," "Boy, Boy (I'm the Boy)," and "White Boys Can't Control It." (At least they were all in a row on the original release; I don't know why the CD reissue scrambled the order of all of the tracks!)
   
   In my opinion, the only songs on this album that really stand up to multiple listens and have held up well over time are the three hits, "Time (Clock of the Heart)," "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?," and "I'll Tumble 4 Ya." The lattermost might be rather trite lyrically, but at least it's catchy, and is more distinct and memorable than most of the rest of the songs on this album. A couple of other songs aren't that bad, like "I'm Afraid of Me" and "White Boys Can't Control It," but overall they just don't make up what I would consider a timeless classic great album. Although if these tracks were played separately at an Eighties-themed dance party, instead of all in a row, they might not seem so similar and underdeveloped.



2. "Time (Clock Of The Heart)" was a heavenly musical marriage of Brit-Pop, Philly Soul and Adult Contemporary...and a truly definitive and undisputed classic slice of '80s Pop. This album and its huge hit singles defined the sound and style of 1980s music and set a prototype for bands that came afterward. If you (like me) were a 1980s kid then waste no time in getting this CD as this music will bring back many memories and take you back to a time when all was (compared to today) right with the world. Best of all, this remastered edition has GREAT sound quality plus several bonus cuts. Enjoy!



3. Its a great album, and The Boy sounds really sweet.Its a must have for anyone that loves BOY GEORGE.



4. This album is one of my favourites.I think that Kissing To Be Clever is the best album by Culture Club.I got it from my grandma to my name day and I was surprised.
   Do You Really Want To Hurt Me is my favourite song at this album.I think that this song is very good.It is melodical and peaceful.Murder Rap Trap feat.Captain Crucial is my second favourite song.The song sounds funny with voice of Captain Crucial.
   Love Is Cold and Love Twist are also my favourite songs,because they are melodical and quite fast.The other songs are good too.You must own this album,if you're an old Culture Club fan.



5. Don't bother with the other reviewers who dismissed CC's brilliant debut album - along with COLOUR BY NUMBERS, it's their strongest, sexiest, and just plain addictive album ever! The writing, the production, the vocals, the groove, the design - they all really take me back to my early teen years circa 1982, a simpler, happier time when CC were charting a bold new world in pop music & beyond - once you hear WHITE BOY, I'M AFRAID OF ME, DO YOU REALLY?, TIME, and many more, you won't be able to get them out of you head...and trust me, they really get a party started right! BOY himself sounds naive, in love, and confident all at once - and who can forget the delicious shock of seeing him dominate early MTV with a string of cool videos that launched them around the globe? BONUS tracks here are a nice addition - hard to believe the first CD issue of this LP never even included TIME?! *I think it was recorded later as a stop/gap single, which explains its late inclusion. No matter, KISSING TO BE CLEVER is a bargain with stunning REMASTERED sound and BONUS cuts you won't find anywhere else - a must-have addition to any true CC fan's collection!

5 comments about The Essential Clash.

1. Anyone who loves the Clash should absolutely buy this dvd - the videos are great to have, and it's awesome that you can create your own playlist and listen to/watch them in whichever order you want. I also loved the silent video they made (Hell W10), which is super amusing/entertaining and is set to an excellent soundtrack. I am sooo glad I bought this dvd...go for it if you love the band - seriously.



2. lots of Clash footage, plus the home movie was enjoyable.... like a student film but a good one, done in B&W, silent, funny, different



3. There really isn't much one can say about this product. It has the Clash's videos, and if you are into the Clash, you can get all of their videos plus some extra "stuff." The Clash are what they are, which is a damn fine rock and roll outfit. The videos are okay, even very good in one or two instances, but nothing about this disc is remarkable. It's just fodder for those of us who want or need it.



4. This is the one DVD that I've watched at least 10 times. Seriously. The videos are fantastic, opening with a snippet of Clash on Broadway (with small, interlaced clips of the Clash VS. American interview squads and Joe Strummer solemnly intoning that `the enemy you know is better than the enemy you don't know') It effortlessly documents the Bonds theater fiasco and slips into the band soldiering on for the waiting crowds. `London Calling' fires away like an explosion, and soon cuts and breaks up into `This Is Radio Clash.'
   
   All the videos are superb, but my favorite has to be the one for a live version of `Clampdown.' The visuals are fresh and striking, and it all ties together with the music perfectly.
   
   However, the highlight of the DVD (besides the interviews and performances from 1976) has to be Hell W10, a silent gangster movie written and directed by Mr. Strummer himself. It stars Paul Simonon as Earl, a cool Brit who gets caught up with rival mobsters, particularly Mick Jones as the evil Socrates. (The scariest thing? Jones' performance is so scary it's actually good. Or he's good and the character's scary... oh, you just have to watch it.) The film also features brief parts with Joe Strummer as a mustachioed policeman/gangster (and is he or isn't he the blind man `narrating' the story?).
   
   All in all, this is a pretty awesome buy, and worth popping into your DVD player on any rainy night.



5. This DVD is the best rock DVD I've ever seen, not even led zeppelin's "the song remains the same" is better than this one. What I've come to do is to write an entire review about the whole DVD.
   
   Tracklisting:
   1.- Clash on Broadway including "London Calling" (live) and "Radio Clash": the London Calling live is really cool, I just love it but the radio clash song isn't that cool. Vote 8.5/10
   2.- White Riot: this was the song that made them become famous among "punk" listeners. Vote 9/10
   3.- Complete Control: I like it a little bit. Vote 8/10
   4.- Tommy Gun: this one is very very very cool and catchy. Vote 9.5/10
   5.- Clampdown: this is my second-favorite of this DVD collection. Vote 10/10
   6.- Train In Vain: the song in the london calling album is cool, but played in a live concert is even better. Vote 10/10
   7.- London Calling: I've seen this video hundreds of times, but I never got bored of it, the song is really great. Vote 9.5/10
   8.- Bankrobber: I love this song you just can't immagine, the best on this DVD and the video is just as cool as the song. Vote 13/10 (no kidding)
   9.- The Call Up: the only song from Sandinista! album, but it's cool, they should have made a video for "Magnificent Seven" song, but whatever. Vote 8.5/10
   10.- Rock The Casbah: very very nice song and funny video. Vote 9/10
   11.- Should I Stay Or Should I Go: maybe their most-known song, it's very catchy. Vote 9/10
   12.- Career Opportunities: this one is the best song on The Clash album, along with "Jenie Jones". Vote 9.5/10
   
   Special Features:
   - HELL W10: this movie is just as cool as any other mafia movie (ok the godfather is a lot better but this one is very cool). You know, music artists aren't that cool in making movies, but this one is really great. Directed by Joe Strummer. Vote 8.5/10
   
   - Promo Footage:
   a) 1977: more or less. Vote 8/10
   b) White Riot: same as before. Vote 9/10
   c) London's Burning: very cool song. Vote 8.5/10
   
   - Discography: here you can check all The clash albums, songs and compilations
   
   - I Fought The Law: many bands have tried to cover this song from Bobby Fuller Four, but I like this one the best. Vote 9/10
   
   - Interview Clip: just an interview on the band
   
   So I guess this is it, I've reviewed anythin that comes on this DVD, and I think it's worth the 15-20 bucks if you like The Clash. Even better than the Westway DVD.

2 comments about In Praise of Older Women and Other Crimes.

1. It's wonderful to see this appear on CD, as there are likely new audiences for the best stuff of Kid Creole and the Coconuts. I'd been following them since "Off The Coast Of Me" and bought this on vinyl right away. Then I bought the cassette and nearly wore it out in a year, traveling the highways of Arizona. My favorites are "Particul'y Int'rested" and "(Darlin' You Can) Take Me" (which is best played loud while cruising at 65 mph with the windows down and the AC on) and "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down." Highly recommended!



2. For years I have been checking to see if they had released this album on CD, and was wondering if they ever would. Here, in 2005, they finally did. I never understood it because to these ears this is the best album Kid Creole & the Coconuts ever made. I saw the band perform most of this album in 1986 at the tiny Trocadero in Philadelphia. Best live performance of music I have ever seen.
   
   The album has four great cuts. Endicott was probably the groups' biggest hit, with considerable play as an MTV video. In it the Kid tries to defend himself against unfavorable comparisons to a paragon of virtue named Endicott. The band is in peak form.
   
   Particul'y Interested, in which the Kid professes love for his latest, has a massive groove that grabs you and won't quit.
   
   Take Me, my favorite song ever by the band, features the Kid being aggressively pursued. The damn thing is one non-stop hook from beginning to end, with the band providing a propulsive force to back a hilarious lyric. How this song gets left off of greatest hits and best of collections totally mystifies me.
   
   Caroline Was a Dropout is an ode to a old flame for whom things didn't turn out so well, done as only the Kid can with a mix of sadness, distain and attitude.
   
   At the time this was released, I walked around wondering why Prince was so big while Kid Creole struggled to get the recognition he so richly deserved. Listening to this, I still wonder why.

5 comments about Behold the Beginning.

1. this is a inspiring cd(more historical)for many people especially for say metallica/megadeth.gives you some insight of there writting and some style but not for everyone.maybe a good place to start listening to DH but possible not there best but it was remastered/rereleased in 87 just in time for metallica to release some more DH covers.I think DH was a vital part of music in their hayday, now ? but I like them some don't.



2. I very much enjoy listening to this classic British metal album.As a
   musician myself,I can appreciate the effort put in to this work.The liner
   notes by Lars Ulrich of Metallica are timeless.



3. Like most other reviewers noted, Metallica was influenced heavily by this band (as well as another great one of the time - Budgie), and rightfully so. These guys were on the 'brink' of what the bands that followed broke in to - but were the first to do it, and they did it SO well! And to tell you, the only difference today sometimes seems to be the quality of equipment and producers, where the 'heart' behind the music seems secondary. This CD was all passion, heart and energy - no gloss and digital sound, just pure rock.

   It is great to hear bands like this - kind of like listening to early Judas Priest or Iron Maiden, and seeing the 'roots' that were planted into the metal bands that followed them. I highly recommend this CD, however if you can score a copy of 'Lightning to the Nations' somehow, I understand that this sounds a lot better than this 'remixed' version...




4. Diamond Head's "Behold the Beginning" is great! I bought it after I saw that several of Metallica's Garage Days tracks were originally done by DH. I don't think it is so much metal as it is just good rock music with some crunchy guitar. Lars Ulrich (Metallica) comments in the liner notes that "Diamond Head has more riffs in one song than Black Sabbath has on a whole album", and he's right. These songs stick in your mind and run a full gamut of intensity - from "Am I Evil", the rocker always associated to Metallica, to "Waited Too Long", a convincing and melodic love ballad with nice guitar embellishments. I highly recommend it.



5. If there was any proof the God's in the heavens existed, this cd is it. In my personal opnion These are truly Diamond Head's greatest hits. Whether you like the pounding style of "Am I evil" Or the almost Saddness provoking "The Prince" Diamond Head truly has a way with music. Why this band never really took off is not for me to say. But if your a heavy metal fan, then come and listen to the Kings of the Metal mountian. Diamond Head.

5 comments about Into the Gap.

1. 1984 was truly the "Year of the Thompson Twins". After they appeared on the 1983 MTV New Years Eve ball, where they debuted a new song of theirs called "Hold Me Now", the Thompson Twins were set for world domination. Their album "Quick Step and Side Kick" had already made a big sensation in the United Kingdom and other European countries, but "Into the Gap" was the album that brought them strong success in the United States.
   
   "Into the Gap" has a strange thing going on. On the one hand, it's a beautifully crafted album, carrying forward with the theme of their previous record, which brought together quirky synth sounds with warm bass and percussion. "Into the Gap" focuses even more on the songwriting and arrangement, with stunning results. And yet....it's 2006, and this album seems to only be remembered by 80s purists. Something about it contributed to it being written off as a period piece, forever identified with the 80s.
   
   I can understand why when you take the band's image, which was very cartoonish and "new wave" (whatever that term was supposed to mean). They had weird hair, strange clothes, and Alannah Currie shaved off her eyebrows. On this record, she even had a "mohawk".
   
   But if you would divorce the Thompson Twins from their then-commercial fashion sense, you'd find a gorgeous album in "Into the Gap". Shimmering synths exist alongside intricately-programmed drum patterns and live percussion that give it depth. Timpanis, bells, toms, the full range of percussion is represented here. Even more melodic than "Side Kicks", this album explores a fascination with Eastern cultures and melodies. Check out the opening track, "Doctor! Doctor!", which features a mesmerizing three-chord progression that evokes exotic adventure, repeated throughout the course of the song in varying combinations. This flavor continues throughout the rest of the album, most notably on tracks like "The Gap", an idealistic exhortation against xenophobia, and "Day After Day", which suggested an agnostic point of view that surfaced in other Thompson Twins songs as well.
   
   There are a few other styles on here as well, like the gospel-reggae song "You Take Me Up", but songs like "Sister of Mercy" (the album's weakest point) and "Who Can Stop the Rain" don't have immediate reference points to them, and they seem to best represent the unique sound that the Thompson Twins acheived. The album contains two ballads as well; the haunting "Storm on the Sea", and the international hit "Hold Me Now", which seems to be the one song that everybody will remember them by.
   
   Truthfully, it is debatable what kind of input Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway actually had on the album. You can hear them in a few places here, contributing backup vocals, but both have admitted much later that they had very little to do with the music, and even felt embarassed about their miscellaneous role in the band. Tom Bailey, on the other hand, is the voice of the band and compliments the music beautifully. His voice was never that strong, but could be warm and friendly or haunting and cold. It sometimes seemed to be on the verge of cracking or breaking, which created a great tension in the music, and at other times he sounded more relaxed and confident.
   
   The following Thompson Twins records, which eventually saw the departure of Leeway, were mixed bags, and they wouldn't find this same alchemy again until their final album, "Queer", which still didn't quite recapture the magic here, at their zenith. Still, I find it amazing that the band's legacy hasn't carried on, if only for the sheer quality of their cornerstone albums, "Side Kicks" and "Into the Gap".



2. This is my very first review on Amazon and I am proud to say that I couldn't live with myself if I didn't start my reviews with the album that started it all for me. THIS IS DEFINITIVELY THE 80's cornerstone in the "New Wave Synth Pop" category that we all love to label. But as you will hear, EVERY song is almost perfectly crafted with a special hand to modern studio musical arrangements with superb technical precision while at the same time it is infused with the utmost warmth and delicateness. The R&B inspired opening track "Doctor Doctor" and the folk sounding feel good but often at the same time tried and weary chain gang anthem "You take me up" set the tone for a rousing musical escapade. It is true that to be a Thompson Twins fan you really have to have a wide open spectrum of musical taste. The over played Mtv generation (which by the way just so proudly happens to be mine), "Hold me now", leaves no pretentiuos or manufactured feelings forced on to us but goes straight to our personal wants and desires on a more intimate and human level, as with the infectious, catchy, but self inquiring "Day after day". Things get sublimely troubled as you hear the lovely and airey "No peace for the wicked", which by the way has great guitar play and wonderful backing vocals. As a teen growing up in the early 80's I can tell you that watching Mtv I was immediately & seductively attracted to their unique sound. What made my love for TT even that more powerful was the fact that they also delved into the New Wave Alternative dance forray scene with "Into the Gap". I can tell you that if you listen this by itself (preferebly the Dance Extended Mix),you can see that they are all about the groove and sound. Mixing exotic sounds of the far east with Allanah Curie's percussion arrangement shows the extraordinary sounds that they magically produce,like no other. As a very avid Ministry,ABC,& Smiths,fan I really appreciate Tom Bailey's vocal range and heartfelt cries. Making music that can be played in and out of music clubs is a very unique task in of itself. They have it down packed. Where TT really cemented me as a fan was with the ultra erie and painfully dogma painted of "Sister of mercy" (not be confused with "Lay your hands on me"/Platinum and gold collection cd version which is much to stripped down and slow moving),and the ever ultra surreal flying & semi-consciously awake "Storm on the Sea". This simmers to a close but just enough to provoke your senses with the ever present and metaphysical cry "Who can stop the rain".
   This album completely withstands any passage of time and will always be the staple TT album. For the few of us that really appreciated unique sounding, groove enchanced, danceable classics along with totally unique ballads this album is it! For me the definitive alternative in post modern "New Wave Synth Pop" masterpiece. There I said it!



3. That's exactly how I remember the Thompson Twins, charming and unique. I was rather an odd creature back in my high school days and I'm sure that the oddity of the Thompson Twins in part drew great appeal for me. However, this album truly started my great interest in the band. I'm still sad that they threw in the hat and that Alannah said she'd never wish again in her life to lay eyes on that old xylophone, however they truly did have something special together back then. I didn't much appreciate anything after "Here's To Future Days" as much as the earlier stuff, but "Into The Gap" will always remain one of my top ten albums of the 80's. "You Take Me Up" have elements that I don't believe have ever been imitated since then. Such uniqueness, they walked their own path and didn't follow the trend at the time, yet they still somehow managed to come out somewhat trendy...on a bizarre unique level. "Hold Me Now" is a classis, as well as "The Gap". One could only hope that they may all reunite one day. What about that show on VH1, maybe they'll pull this old ragamuffin band back together and someone could talk Alannah into dusting off that old xylophone being stored in some closet somewhere. To all those youngins who are diggin through their parents old records and have a curiosity over this band, "Into The Gap" is truly the great starter...if an appreciation can be found with this album, an appreciation can then be found for about all of them on some level.



4. I still love this album! The songs are still in my head. More than just Hold Me Now-the rest of the album is just as superb. Smartly done pop songs with loads of rhythm and catchy choruses. They have some mean funk beds on songs like Into the Gap and No Peace for the Wicked and Who Can Stop The Rain. Doctor, Doctor, while unusual, has some unique pop landscapes. It was the group's finest moment--no other album they did before or after could top this.



5. The second album from the Thompson Twins (trio) saw the music become a bit more polished, romantic and introspective. The album spawned classic hits Hold Me Now and Doctor Doctor. But also include excellent moodier tracks such as Storm on the Sea, as well as experimenting with middle eastern rhythms, most noticeably on the title track. The album was a multi million seller, and deservedly so. There are no dud tracks, and the album has an extremely cohesive flow. A great album to "chill" to. Highly recommended.

2 comments about Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits Of The '80s, Vol. 15.

1. I own several CDs in this series and this one, unfortunately is the one that comes off the shelf the least. Even since loading the contents up MP3 style into my computer and iPod only a few get played. Only a select few truly sound like the alternative radio I grew up with in the 80s.



2. I love listening to the music, but can you please tell me how to find New Wave Dance Hits: Just Can't Get Enough, Vol. 8. I've been looking everywhere for it. Thanks, Cristy

3 comments about Frequency 99: Greatest Hits of '90s.

1. My Friend loves it great item for people who loves the music of the '90s.



2. THIS CD CAME OUT IN 2001;CORRECT ?
   THIS IS CALLED FREQUENCY 99 MEANING 1999 THE LAST YEAR OF THAT DECADE CALLED THE 90'S.NO ?
   THEN WHY ARE ALL THE SONG'S FROM THE FIRST HALF OF THE 90'S DECADE !
   THEY SOULD HAVE MADE THE 1ST DISC 90-94
   AND THE 2ND DISC 95-99
   SEEMS LIKE THE SMART THING TO DO;DON'T YOU AGREE ?
   AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF 75% OF THE SONG'S ARE 1 HIT WONDERS.
   WHY IS THERE M.C. HAMMER & VANILLA ICE ON HERE.THEY COULD NOT FIND TWO BETTER SONG'S;IT SEEMS HARD TO BELIEVE.
   THE GROUPS JESUS JONES AND EMF ARE A BUNCH OF HAS~BEEN GROUPS
   THAT NOBODY WHAT'S TO HEAR.THEY COULD NOT HAVE PUT ON PEARL~JAM
   & SOUND~GARDEN INSTEAD.
   THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR PUTTING ON THE SONGS:
   THE HEIGHTS:HOW DO YOU TALK TO AN ANGEL
   RIGHT SAID FRED:I'M TO SEXY
   HANDS DOWN THE WORST 2 SONG'S OF THE 90'S/OR AT LEAST IN THE TOP TEN WORST SONG'S OF THAT DECADE.
   {TONY~TONI~TON`E}/[ROME,NEW YORK:HOME OF WOODSTOCK 1999]



3. Frequency 99 Greatest Hits of '90s series starts with nothing but the no1tracks from the 90s the first track is by one hit wonder EMF a simply unbelievable dance track what a start then there is Hold On by Wilson Phillips which was NO1 all the way the big tracks rool on HAZARD by richard marx and UB40s cant help falling ice ice baby by vannila ice DISC2 contains a lot of fast moving tracks like Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia - U53, Move This - Technotronic Sadeness - Enigma this cd is definately worth it

2 comments about Rock of the 80's, Vol. 11.

1. On this awesome cd you'll find some great full length songs...some are pretty hard to find elsewhere (if they're even on cd)! If you're lucky enough to find this cd, get it!



2. Yet again Priority Records finds enough good 80's material to fit a (short) CD. Guilty pleasures abound on this disc, including "Puttin' on the Ritz" (cold and cheesy), "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" (which I suppose was funny once) and Pseudo Echo's remake of "Funkytown". Highlights include Talk Talk's "It's My Life" and the dual instrumentals "Peter Gunn" and "Axel F". As usual, there's a few duds - "Cross My Heart" is an uninteresting (but harmless) dance number, and "Where Are You Now?" is a horrible pop ballad which reminds me of Bad English's "When I See You Smile", and no, not in a good way. Not a bad set, but you might want to try somewhere else first.

5 comments about Lullabies to Violaine, Vol. 1.

1. All that is missing of the CT songs I like are "Blue Bell Knoll" and "Carolyn's Fingers". I love the early stuff (the middle part of this collections) and could listen for hours.
   
   This is a no-brainer at full-album MP3 prices. If you like it, also consider Perfume Tree's Lifetime Away for the song "Virgin".



2. Many of the songs on this collection are my favorite music - ever. I actually own the 10 disc box set that has all the same songs that came out years ago. Seems now they've decided that preserving the original EP's wasn't as important as packaging it to be more affordable. Good move. I say.
   
   Just listen to the clips and decide for yourself.



3. Sweep, cinematic, majestic, complex, innovative, beautiful...
   
   These are adjectives I would use to describe Great Songs like Kookabura, From The Flagstones, Pink Orange Red... Some Great music is on the Lullabies To Violaine discs. One word I would NOT use to describe this music is "primitive".
   
   CD's like Victorialand, Blue Bell Knoll, Heaven and Las Vegas are favorites, but some of the Cocteau's greatest work is on these discs. Songs like the acoustic "Pink Orange Red" provides new insight as why their songs work...they are simply beautiful, complex, melodic masterpieces.
   
   In many ways the early work is more keenly, deeply emotional. Like nothing else ever was or ever will be again. This music touches a different part of the brain than the Rolling Stones, Al Kooper, U2...
   
   Highly recommended if you like Mike Oldfied, Tears For Fears, The Cure, Brian Eno...



4. I agree with another reviewer who wrote that Cocteau Twins' older songs are more primitive and less accessible. But is this a bad thing? While I also enjoy their post-"Four Calendar Café" sound, some of the old songs are much stronger than the 1990s bunch. Close your eyes and listen to "Sugar Hiccup", "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops" and my personal favorite "Aikea-Guinea" (all in nice, yet not that different, alternate versions), to name a few - those primitive drums have never sound so good, Raymonde's bass is an artwork in itself, Guthrie's guitar provides the ethereal central qualities so characteristic of Cocteau's music, and the structure development of these songs are as subtle as they are powerful. All this, of course, not to mention Fraser's airy, sometimes slightly eerie vocals. These 1983-85 tracks are as poignant as contemporary music can be and the examples I mentioned above provide enough reasons for buying this collection.



5. It may be unfortunate that I discovered Cocteau Twins later work first. It was somewhat disappointing for me to look back to their earlier work, to find that the first half of their career had a much more primitive and less accessible quality. When they finally got more commercial-sounding, they started making some fine-sounding -- and always distinctive -- music.
   
   This set documents the earlier part of their career. I am far from an expert on the band, but even a relative novice can hear the musical development. The first and earliest releases on disc one have thrumming tribal beats, simplistic and slightly discordant interplay between bass and tricked-out guitars, with Liz Fraser's somewhat feral swooping and warbling and wailing vocalizations flying over the top of the swirling grunge.
   
   Next, they began to find better melodies and get the backup more harmonically organized. The songs still tended to lack for variation and invention, but things were improving. They weren't traditional songs, per se, and perhaps their most dedicated fans like them that way. I think they succeed more in establishing a mood and a trance-like or hypnotic impulse than in communicating a coherently developed musical construction.
   
   At some point Elizabeth's singing developed more sweetness and lilting inflections (melisma) like popular Indian vocalists. The song structures became more confident and normalized -- Iceblink Luck on the second disc is an example of this progression. Of course the "lyrics" were, and continued to be, unintelligable nonsense for the most part. But with the added sweetness and melody one didn't care so much.
   
   From this point, improvements in the band consisted of refining their formula. That refinement is evident on their later albums and singles, represented on volume two of the Lullabies set. I much prefer the fully developed Cocteau Twins music and production we hear on Heaven Or Las Vegas and Milk And Kisses. For me, music can rarely succeed on beat and trance and texture alone, it must have melody and a structure that allows for some tension and release. I'm sure Cocteau Twins fans love the whole body of work, but if you have standards similar to mine, you will find much more to like on volume 2.
   
   In my estimation, Volume One is only a developmental sonic history of how Cocteau Twins learned to play and sing well enough to reach their full potential in their latter years.