Customer Reviews

Best of Art of Noise

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This new two disc set celebrating the Art of Noise, truly gets it right. The packaging is magnificent (and if you grew up in the era when these tracks were originally released - packaging is part of the art.) There are extensive liner notes by Ian Peel, that masterfully walk you through the journey of the treasures contained on these two discs. The digital remastering on the tracks is without fault. These tracks truly sound better than the day they were released, a feast for the ears. You can tell that the people involved with this release had a true love for the Art of Noise, for and for the ZTT label.

The first disc walks you through the bands hits and highlights. This disc recaptures both the sheer brilliance that was there in the early days and leads you through the often frustrating decline during their China Records years. The China era is when they broke into the American mainstream by releasing what most of the American public saw as novelty records. There are quite a few high points during the China Era though. "Peter Gunn," with Duane Eddy on Guitar, is still a brilliant and fitting move. I have a soft spot for "Paranomia," featuring Max Headroom, though quite interestingly, this compilation features the "Paranoid Mix"of the track which omits most of the Max Headroom chatter. This makes for a fun romp that works much better within this compilation than the original would have. Now, even the biggest of fans have to admit that the cover version of Prince's "Kiss" with Tom Jones on vocals and the theme to the comedy "Dragnet" were certainly low points in the band's output. But both of these tracks are here, and stick out like sore thumbs. The juxtaposition of "Kiss" with the gorgeous track "Finale" that follows it, is truly a reminder of how frustrating it was to be a fan sometimes. To try to explain the brilliance of this band to people that only knew of them from their most commercial moments was certainly futile. You either got it, or you didn't. I am still happy to have been in on the joke.

The second disc is an added bonus. Bits and bobs, unreleased tracks, live bits, studio chatter. It's an extra kiss on the cheek for the fans, albeit an incomplete one. Let's remember though, to even approach the mountain of unreleased remixes, b-sides, and outtakes that was recorded by the group during their entire career would require a box set of monumental proportions. For those willing to climb such a mountain and take a long look into their ZTT years, And What Have You Done With My Body, God? is an essential (albeit long) listen.

Ultimately, this is a masterfully produced overview of a truly amazing band. Say what you will about their missteps, but the sheer amount of brilliance showcased in just the first few tracks of this compilation make a compelling argument for the band's brilliance. An essential, and yes, influential listen.

Kids, save yourself some money and avoid lots of of extravagant and pointless packaging materials, and wait for this to come out as a digital download. Then, be sure to download "Cassandra" and "I'm a Stranger Here Myself". Sample the other "moments and treasures" and then shell out 99 cents per track here and there as you see fit. As a rarities/outtakes collection, there's plenty of ZTT era stuff, an abundance of stuff from the Debussy era, and extremely little from in between. Unfortunately nothing from the ZTT era on this set is worth a lick if you've already heard the extensive and amazing "And What Have You Done..." boxed set. What we do get from the China years (admittedly when the group was in steady decline) are mostly the annoying singles ("Dragnet", anyone?) For rarities and treasures all we get from the China era are the two above-mentioned standout tracks, and the negligible/junky tracks "Acton Art" and "Krypton Factor Theme". Some of the Debussy-era stuff is quite enjoyable, but belongs on an expanded remaster/reissue of the Debussy album, not as extra padding to disguise an overall lack of truly interesting rarities.

Some notes on individual tracks:

Interlude One: tiny snippet from an interview about the Art of Noise.

A is for Beginning: pretentious Paul Morley spoken word nonsense, intoned over the pretty ambient drone that closes out the Debussy album.

Beep Beep: hard to believe it, but yet another, ever-so-slightly different version of "Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise". (In case you need them, there are also yet still more slightly-different mixes here of "Moments in Love," "Beat Box", "A Time for Fear", etc. Utterly inessential variations of tracks for which we've already heard literally dozens of variations. I never thought I could grow exhausted with those brilliant ZTT-era tracks, but now I have.)

"Dainty" : vocal outtakes from the ZTT era, including the "can I say something?" bit. Spliced together over a bed of chopped-up vocalizing.

"Promenade 1": apparently the group--or the album curator-- considers "Promenades" 1 and 2, and the "Finale", from Below the Waste, to be the only things from that album worth inclusion on this retrospective. Maybe they're right, but I'd take "Dan Dare" or "Robinson Crusoe", or even the silly "Dilemma" or "Flashback", any day.

"Legs", "Peter Gunn", "Paranoimia", "Kiss": I suppose these all fall under the "Hits/Singles" category. Not AON at its worst (OK, "Dragnet" actually is AON at its worst) but it's a shame that the general public will always know AON as mainly that band that did songs with Max Headroom and Tom Jones. "Ode to Don Jose" represents the later group at their best, so it's nice to have it here in case you don't have the In No Sense Nonsense album. But of course, you do have the album. Nobody who's contemplating this purchase is a newcomer to the Art of Noise; we're all the hardcore obsessives who've spent decades now seeking out every remix, outtake, and b-side, and probably bought "Duck Rock" and that Propaganda album as well.

"This is Your Life": Paul Morley talking yet again, over some very slick, over-produced mid 80s pop. Was this really supposed to be Morley/Horn's attempt at a splinter group, after the other three had left? The tracks are of interest only because of their back-story, as something that almost, but didnt quite, rise from the ashes of the original AON. There's also apparently at least one other song from these "Art and Act" sessions, but it's not included here (which is maybe a good thing--but then why do we get two takes of the one track? Puzzling, but at the same time, who cares?)

"I'm a Stranger Here Myself" : finally, an unreleased track that's well worth a listen. (Or ten listens.) This one can hold its own against other sort-of great-ish China-era rarities, such as "Why Me", "A Nation Rejects", and "Hoops and Mallets". Not a stunner, but this collection should have consisted of more material like this track.

"Cassandra"--son, or daughter, rather, of "Camilla". Quite lovely, and again another worthwhile addition to the late China era archives. If you are really looking for AON rarities you must have at least this one and "I'm A Stranger"... (N.B.: the China era master tapes have apparently have all been mysteriously "lost", but I assume they will all be miraculously recovered as soon as it's time to milk the AON cash cow again, say in about three years?)

"Acton Art": this has circulated widely on the net, as an admittedly dirty-sounding bootleg probably digitized from a cassette single, for years. If you're really a completist, you'll have to have it anyhow, but it's an utterly pointless mash-up of snippets from "In No Sense? Nonsense!"--either from the album itself or from the album sessions. Starts with a tiny bit from "Fin du Temps", then cuts to about ten seconds of synthesized brass orchestra-hit filler; then tiny bits from "Don Jose", and "Crusoe." And then a slew of fragments most of which didn't make it to the final "Nonsense" album, including near the end a tiny bit of an alternate "Opus for Four".

"Interlude Three": Vocal only track of the John Hurt narration from Debussy,; includes some unheard bits. John Hurt's unadorned voice sounds great, but as with so much else here, it feels like filler, masking a lack of legitimately interesting rarities and outtakes.

"Dr. Gradus" and "Dr. Gradus reprise" : some of the piano music-- or alternate takes thereof-- used in the into to one of the Debussy tracks.

"Krypton Factor": again, widely circulated for years on the net. Why do we end up this, and not "Hoops and Mallets", or more stuff like "Cassandra", as the "rarities" on this compilation? In any case, it's pretty much the dregs of Art of Noise. Sounds like it took all of forty-five seconds to produce and record on the Fairlight.

"On Being Blue,", "Metaforce", etc.: the bits from the Debussy era are all very elegant and ravishing; but I can't help feeling that this material belongs on an expanded re-release of the Debussy album; here it feels like another way of padding out the track listing to two discs. "Balance", which apparently is a bit pre-Debussy, is of perhaps the most interest from this era, veering between swooning lightness and menace; and "From the Seduction of Claude Debussy" is not bad, either, in its dreamlike way. "Something is Missing",unofrtuantely, sounds like a bunch of middle-aged nerds trying to sound tough and urban. "Beau Soir" is a meandering chamber-orchestra sketch.

"Rutti Tutti Tutti" : more studio-chatter outtakes.

Love the Art of Noise and was happy they came out with another (2) album. Its some songs and versions that have been never released before. Although I've heard quite a few . Then again I've all their albums. The sound quality is great , very detail and as strange as this sound for a cd it was very clear with out being too bright. Very pleased . IF YOU ARE A TRUE DEEP IN LOVE WITH THIS GROUP FAN ( and yes I'm screaming) then you'll love to add this to your collection. Right next to my " And What Have You Done..." boxed set.

39 tracks of Noise. $18. Wonderfully mixed, great sound quality, really good versions (long) of their popular stuff.

Even if you're a new fan of Art of Noise, I think this is the ultimate introduction. It includes a wide variety of their stuff, which is saying a lot. Some of the tracks may seem to repeat a bit, the remixes and alternative versions, but it is a great way to show how much they can change their works. For example, the version of Paranomia that is on this CD is vastly different from the one I purchased on a 12" single years ago.

I highly recommend this collection. Great stuff.

I've been a fan since I was little and I'm still a fan of this group. What i did like about this version of the album was that it had some of the older 7 inch and 12 inch singles of some of the songs. and to put their unreleased version of songs they were working on was also kinda interesting. You can hear versions of one song, but heard when they were just experimenting with them. So, I like this album. If you're a TRUE fan, you'll apprciate it because.......it's the Art Of Noise =>

It's great to get another compilation from the Art of Noise...I have every one of their CDs that I have been able to find.