Barbed Wire Kisses [IMPORT]

Jesus & Mary Chain

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 15, 1999)
• Original Release Date: April 1988
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Warner Bros UK
• ASIN: B000025ZUL
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #117,557 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
1988 collection of B-sides, outtakes & rarities by Scottishbrothers Jim & William Reid's feedback-loving post-moderngroup. No longer available in the U.S., 'Barbed Wire Kisses(B-Sides And More)' contains 20 tracks, including thesingles 'Sidewalking' & their cover of 'Surfin' USA', plusthe anti-surf theme 'Kill Surf City'. The full title is'Barbed Wire Kisses (B-Sides And More)'. A Blanco Y NegroRecords release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than B sides, May 3, 2005

By	P. Zane "shadow caster" (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Psychocandy is the album that defined the Jesus and Mary Chain. It was unfortunate that they turned down the distortion petals and created Darklands.

Where does that leave Barbed Wire Kisses, you ask. After all, this review is about Barbed Wire Kisses. Barbed Wire Kisses is a mixed bag of B sides, out-takes, alternate versions and singles only songs. Somehow, this mix blends well, and only in a couple of spots on the album feel disjointed. That said, this album ranks up there with Psychocandy. In fact, I like it more than Psychocandy.

As far as the songs on this album, there is a range from sinister to silly (read 'not serious')... with the covers of Who Do You Love and Surfin' USA being the poles. Who Do You Love is worth the price of the album, a slow and evil nod to Bo Diddley and cooler than George Thorogood's version. 'Kill Surf City', 'Hit', 'Just Out of Reach', 'Cracked' represent the dark side. 'Upside Down' has the distiction of being the greatest distortion-filled sonic assault the Jesus and Mary Chain ever did. It makes the Psychcandy album sound "nice" in comparison. The album is balanced by lighter fare such as 'Psycho Candy' and the acoustic version of 'Taste of Cindy'. And then there are the tunes that are just cool, like a pair of pitch black shades... 'Sidewalking' and 'Bo Diddley is Jesus'.

If anything doesn't work on the album it is the Darklands outtakes and the porta-studio demo 'On the Wall'. They sound out of place.

All in all, this album is one of my Desert Island albums. If I ever have to be a castaway, I better have this with me!

30 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Huh?, December 10, 2005

By	The Slumlord (The melo-drama of the OC) - See all my reviews

If you listen to Jimmy Eats World, your opinion on music is invalid. Enough Said.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars JAMC take u to hell n back..., January 21, 2004

By	Tom Museth (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

Some albums effortlessly morph from being mere musical platters to representing whole chunks of your life. Barbed Wire Kisses, apart from opening my eyes to the JAMC phenomenon, represented 1992 in its entirety for me. (Yeah, I clued on four years after its release.)
Aside from the fact that BWK contains some of the band's best material, as well as their trippiest, oddest, eeriest and rockin'est (Sidewalking is the aural definition of cool), this album should be purchased by every single human being soley for Cracked. Without a doubt, this is the most terrifying song that was ever created. I see Hades every time I hear it. Nuff said.