Cleaning The Ashtray (4 CD Box) [Box set, Import]

Lloyd Cole | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 10, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set, Import
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: 101 DISTRIBUTION
• ASIN: B001LRI7PG
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,487 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. 'L' Word

2. Mannish Girl

3. The Witching Hour

4. Wild Orphan

5. Don't Look Back [Origianl Mix][#]

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Butterfly

2. 4 M.B.

3. Love You So What

4. Morning Is Broken [Alternate Mix][#]

5. Too Much of a Good Thing [Alternate Mix][#]

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. I Will Not Leave You Alone

2. Most of the Time

3. Baby [Original Demo]

4. Traffic [Long Version]

5. Millionaire

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Clairefontaine

2. I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself

3. Artificial Tears

4. If You Gotta Go, Go Now [#]

5. Tie Me Down [#][Demo Version]

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Review

Disc: 1
1. L Word, The
2. Mannish Girl
3. Witching Hour, The
4. Wild Orphan
5. Don't Look Back
6. No Blue Skies
7. Blame Mary Jane
8. Everyone's Complaining
9. Shelly I Do
10. Somewhere Out In The East
11. Chelsea Hotel No 2
12. Pay For It
13. Weeping Wine
14. Weird On Me
15. Children Of The Revolution
16. She's A Girl And I'm A Man
Disc: 2
1. Butterfly
2. 4 MB
3. Love You So What
4. Morning Is Broken
5. Too Much Of A Good Thing
6. For The Pleasure Of Your Company
7. Radio City Music Hall
8. Eat Your Greens
9. Vicious
10. Mystic Lady
11. Silder, The
Disc: 3
1. I Will Not Leave You Alone
2. Most Of The Time
3. Baby
4. Traffic
5. Millionaire
6. Happy For You
7. Sentimental Fool
8. Like Lovers Do
9. Baby
10. Sold
11. Brand New Baby Blues
12. Missing
13. Rain On The Parade
14. Millionaire
15. Steady Slowing Down Of The Heart
16. It'll Never Happen Again
Disc: 4
1. Claire Fontaine
2. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
3. Artificial Tears
4. If You Gotta Go Go Now
5. Tie Me Down
6. Fool You Are
7. Fool You Are
8. That Boy
9. Si Tu Dois Partir
10. Santa Cruz
11. Late Night Early Town
12. My Alibi
13. For The Good Times
14. Coattails
15. Romany Soup
16. Claire Fontaine --Track listing

Product Description

2011 four CD set containing a treasure trove of unreleased and rare tracks from the Scottish-born and New York-based singer/songwriter. For singer/songwriter Lloyd Cole, now is the time for sorting through dusty boxes of cassettes, DAT tapes and CDs in his Easthampton hideaway, to take stock and find all those lost songs; half remembered sessions, much-missed fellow-musicians and gifted co-producers. A goldmine of music from 21 years as a solo artist. Here, then, are 59 - count `em - nuggets from the Cole vaults. A boxset bursting with unreleased songs, alternate versions, rare b-sides, cover versions (Lou Reed, Marc Bolan and Leonard Cohen songs), and a few tracks that the record companies - and on occasion, even Lloyd himself - just didn't get at the time. Cole has researched and compiled the `Cleaning Out the Ashtrays' project himself.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing collection, April 1, 2009

By 

Tim "Sig" (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cleaning The Ashtray (4 CD Box) (Audio CD)

I will start with Lloyd's method of choosing the tracks for this great collection 'Cleaning Out The Ashtrays' is a four volume, 59 song collection of b-sides, album outtakes, alternate mixes and pretty much every studio recording from 1989 until 2006 which was intended for commercial release, but which did not end up on an album. Demo's are not included unless they were actually b-sides. The packaging alone in special, with a 7000 or so word document about the various time periods and a clever package that mimics the storage of these tracks over the years.
This is more than good packaging though. The tracks are varied and show an artist pushing various musical styles from rock to straight pop, electronica, orchestration to a folk sound. The tracks all blend well and each disk covering a time period this brings these styles together well. Lloyd Cole is a great master of the word, and the songs often tell a story or have clever references. It is often amazing that these tracks did not make the album they were intended and listening to them there are many that could have. There are also interesting takes on released tracks giving them new flavours. The musicians that worked on these tracks are also top shelf.
It is hard for me to list favourite tracks on this collection. I would be best to list least favourite, this for me would be the Romany Soup cover though I have read a review that listed it as a highlight. The tracks are just too amazingly good and I have many highlights. This is one of the best albums I have purchased, it sums up an amazingly rich songwriting talent.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank You For Smoking, January 21, 2010

By 

Richard Hine "Russell Wiley Is Out to Lunch" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cleaning The Ashtray (4 CD Box) (Audio CD)

For Lloyd Cole fans, and lovers of good music everywhere, the 59 songs contained in Lloyd Cole's CLEANING OUT THE ASHTRAYS--primarily B-sides, alternative mixes of album tracks and songs whose planned releases never materialized--offer a treasure trove of lyrical and vocal brilliance.

As excellent as the music is, there are just as many heartbreaks, bittersweet moments, heroes and villains contained in the liner notes as on the disks themselves. In the booklet that comes inside this attractively packaged 4-CD box set, Cole's personal essays tell not only the stories behind the songs but also provide an intriguing look at the challenges of keeping a musical career moving in the right (or any) direction throughout all the recent convulsions of the record business.

Why did some of these tracks stay unreleased for so long? Cole informs us, for example, that "Bad Vibes sold so badly that we never made it to releasing the third single..." How easy is it to build on a successful single? After `Like Lovers Do' from 1995s Love Story became a hit in the UK, Cole notes that, "`Baby' failed to chart and we were back to business as usual..."

Read along as you listen, or just sit back and enjoy alternate versions of Cole classics such as: Don't Look Back, No Blue Skies, Butterfly, Morning Is Broken, Like Lovers Do and Sentimental Fool. Plus great B-sides like: The Witching Hour, Wild Orphan, Blame Mary Jane and Millionaire. I'm also partial to his various Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Marc Bolan and Burt Bacharach cover versions, including: Chelsea Hotel #2, Vicious, Mystic Lady, Children of the Revolution and I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself.

CLEANING OUT THE ASHTRAYS gets five stars from me. No ifs or butts.

5.0 out of 5 stars Sadly..., December 11, 2011

By 

dweed "chuck" (Chicago, Il, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cleaning The Ashtray (4 CD Box) (Audio CD)

...there is no room in today's music world for some one like Lloyd Cole. Thankfully for, we the faithful, this collection has come along to remind us what an elite group we are in, and how thankful that we should be to be in it. Outstanding.