Fine Art of Surfacing [Extra tracks, Import, Original recording remastered]

Boomtown Rats, Boomtown Rats | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 8, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 1979
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Ume Imports
• ASIN: B00076SJPA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,975 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #40 in Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative > British Punk

Editorial Reviews

2005 remastered reissue of 1979 and 3rd album from The Boomtown Rats featuring frontman Bob Geldof. Contains 4 bonus tracks 'Real Different' (B-side), 'How Do You Do' (B-side), 'Late Last Night' (B-side) & 'Nothing Happened Today' (live in Cardiff). Mercury.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat puzzling..., March 19, 2005

By 

eveoflove (North York, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fine Art of Surfacing (Audio CD)

Made in EU in 2005, Serial# 982-677-5, Playing Time 53:03

Most of lyrics enclosed...

If you're like me, you've been waiting to "retire" your vinyl pressing of this as soon as a CD version was made available.

Like all 6 re-releases of their albums, the remastering job is excellent! If you're reading this, you probably don't need a description of the genre of music (and talent) included.

Instead, I'll focus this somewhat brief review on the differences in content between the North American vinyl pressing and this CD issue:

a) "When The Night Comes" has been edited from a 4:58 track to a 4:44 version.
b) track 11 ("Episode #3") is now in its proper logical position (i.e. at the end) and has been restored to its full length glory (it was at the end of side 1 on the vinyl)
c) track 12 ("Real Different") was originally released on the "Rat Tracks" EP
d) track 13 ("How Do You Do?") was originally released on the 1992 CD edition of "A Tonic For The Troops"
e) track 14 is a "real" bonus track!
f) track 15 (the live version of "Nothing Happened Today") is a different recording than released on the "Rat Tracks" EP

In my opinion, THE best re-issue of the 6...

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Many consider it their best; great remaster, odd track order, March 25, 2005

By 

FangsFirst "FangsFirst" (Durham, North Carolina United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fine Art of Surfacing (Audio CD)

Thankfully, this 1 re-release, out of 6, has an unperverted track order...but the price is still ridiculous, so check with the new/used dealers in the top right instead of Amazon...

Anyway, I'm writing this review to note, for the less informed, to correct/make notes on the other reviews which are incorrect in their claims about original versions of the albums/sources of tracks:

"Real Different" was ORIGINALLY released as the B-side to Elephant's Graveyard in 1981, about 6 months before the release of Rat Tracks.
Rat Tracks, much like the Rolling Stones' Flowers "album" was a fabricated release made by North American record companies, outside the band's control. The same sort of treatment most bands used to get (and sometimes still do) when their music crosses the oceans to reach North America. A stupid, but very common, activity on the part of North American record companies.

"How Do You Do?" was ORIGINALLY released as the B-side to "Like Clockwork" in 1978.

Not intending to pick fights or criticize, mind you, I'm simply obsessive about the original placement of non-album tracks.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Boomtown Rats succumb to the Loudness War, March 5, 2011

By 

B. L. Trudell (Sunland, California USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fine Art of Surfacing (Audio CD)

When reviewing an album of *great music*, it's troubling to have to talk about something as apparently trivial as AUDIO QUALITY and SOUND DYNAMICS. Most record labels no longer care about it, so why should the fans? The sad fact is that most albums are now being remastered to sound good only on FM radio and ipods. If you dare to listen on headphones (as a previous reviewer discovered) you'll be shocked at how bad it sounds. Even if you ignore the audible crackling, your ears will be so physically fatigued by the looming white noise that you'll struggle to listen through to the beginning of "Mondays".

If you know what I'm talking about, I advise you to return these botched "remastered" CDs for a refund. If you don't, just Google "loudness war" and educate yourself to this mess. The major labels are ruining great albums like this and yet they wonder why their industry is dying?