Love Bites (Spkg) [Extra tracks]

Buzzcocks | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 9, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 1978
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Extra tracks
• Label: Mute U.S.
• ASIN: B0031ZWZSG
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,020 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Real World

2. Ever Fallen in Love

3. Operators Manual

4. Nostalgia

5. Just Lust

6. Sixteen Again

7. Walking Distance

8. Love Is Lies

9. Nothing Left

10. ESP

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Love Is Life (Lies) (demo)*

2. Just Lust (demo)

3. Operatoros Manual (demo)*

4. Ever Fallen In Love (demo)*

5. Nothing Left (demo)*

6. Sixteen Again (demo)*

7. Raison D'etre (demo)*

8. Real World *

9. Nostalgia (demo)*

10. E.S.P (demo)

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Love Bites is the second disc covering the associated singles: "Love You More" and "Promises", and two Peel sessions as well as thirteen demos from summer 1978. As an added bonus, there is the full concert from the Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1978, an exercise in instant nostalgia filmed by Granada TV under the guidance of Tony Wilson. Love Bites came at a troubled period for the group and the culture that had formed them. After the demise of the Rotten Sex Pistols in January 1978, Punk was seen as over. Buzzcocks were in danger of becoming yesterday's future. But 1978 was an extraordinary year for the group. They released two albums, five singles - with two in the UK top twenty - and toured relentlessly.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ...has aged so well, March 8, 2010

By 

Stargrazer "the lost mixtape of my life" (deep in the heart of Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Love Bites (Spkg) (Audio CD)

Following up the superb debut "Another Music In A Different Kitchen" and their slew of excellent singles, the Buzzcocks had their work cut out for them on their sophomore platter, "Love Bites." You can hear them working a little bit harder at the songwriting, it's not quite as natural and effortless as on their debut, and from all reports some tensions were forming in the band as well, and lots of drugs -- especially acid -- were being consumed. That makes for an erratic work environment to put it mildly, but by and large the band pulls it off with their reputation for razor-sharp pop intact. In fact, "Love Bites" contains a couple classic tracks, not just as Buzzcocks songs, but as perfect or near-perfect pop songs. For example, "Ever Fallen In Love," which was a pretty big hit back home in England. Along with other well-known songs like "Just Lust," this album contains some great fare like "Real World," the acoustic-driven "Love Is Lies," the storming instrumental "Walking Distance" (which the Descendents certainly learned from) and the krautrock-y "Late For The Train."

The remastered version includes the usual riches of this reissue series: the singles "Love You More," "Noise Annoys," "Promises," and "Lipstick" -- four of their most concise and blistering tunes; a slew of demos; several Peel Session tracks from '78-'79; and a live set from Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall from July 21, 1978.

"Love Bites" has taken a lot of guff over the years for being "less essential" than "Another Music In A Different Kitchen" or "Singles Going Steady." That smacks of damning with faint praise. Granted, it may have been a slight letdown when it first came out, but that's because the band had been hitting such consistent highs that anything less than perfection seemed a grave departure. We have the luxury of hindsight now, and "Love Bites" stands up pretty damn well on it's own. Apples to apples, the first three albums and "Singles Going Steady" are all pretty essential. If you like what you're hearing on any one of those releases, you're in for more of a good thing. The Buzzcocks had a unique talent for making all their albums sound like singles collections.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Songs In The Key Of Love, May 29, 2009

By 

Coincidence Vs Fate (Warwickshire, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Bites (Spec) (Audio CD)

"Love Bites" probably falls into that "difficult second album" category of releases that have sent many bands on a one-way trip to oblivion. It's an easily forgotten album, being sandwiched between the pure energy of "Another Music" and the self-imploding, ecstasy adrenalin-rush of their final album "A Different Kind Of Tension". That's odd as the album contains their most successful single, "Ever Fallen in Love", which has deservedly moved into Classic Single Mansion.

The first thing you'll notice is the cover and lack of any design element. It's very, er...white. There's none of Malcolm Garretts' usual design flair seen on the bands singles and one album up to that point. If you're new to the band, have a search on the Internet for their sleeves and you'll see that they're beautiful pieces of artwork in themselves, from the cut-and-paste ideal of their controversial debut "Orgasm Addict", right through to their swansong "Are Everything".

It's remarkable to think that this album was released barely six months after their debut. In a time where you'll get an album every four years (if you're lucky) from your heroes, this is quite a feat. Still, everyone was doing it back in them there days. From pop-punk to pop in 24 weeks; brilliant!

"Real World" kicks the whole shebang off with Pete again wishing somebody would love him; "I'm in love with somebody/I wish somebody loved me too", a recurring theme we'd seen many times, "What Do I Get?", for example. The whole sound is, I hesitate to use the word `polished', less rough (?) maybe. Next-up is the aforementioned classic "Ever Fallen in Love". The rest of Side One (I'm old fashioned like that) is made up of the rather odd "Operators Manual" and "Just Lust", the b-side to the hit. Then we are treated to two absolute crackers in "Nostalgia" where Pete is telling us how he's surfing on a wave of nostalgia for an age yet to come and "Sixteen Again" which includes some of their best backing vocals ever; you just listen to the boys singing `and then'. Wonderful.

The rest of Love Bites (side two!) starts off with a great little instrumental written by Steve Garvey called walking distance. The other Steve had obviously had a bang on the head around this time as he contributed "Love Is Lies", an acoustic singer/songwriter type tune, which is so un-Diggle like to be untrue. That's not to say it's not a good track, it certainly is, just well, just not very Steve Diggle. Pete then treats us to "Nothing Left" and "ESP", two tracks which really show us the direction he'd take on "A Different Kind Of Tension" a year later. The albums closure is a band-written tour-de-force instrumental called "Late For the Train", it's no Trans Europe Express, but it's a really interesting piece, that would have baffled their contemporaries, I could never imagine The Clash or Gen X doing something similar. This is why, for me, the `Cocks are head and shoulders above the other bands around at the time.

This expanded release gives us an astonishing 34 extra tracks. These range from associated singles and b-sides from the period, the beautiful "Love You More", "Promises" and a raft of Peel sessions and demos, which are always interesting to hear.

I bought this album on release in 1978, I was 13 at the time, and no other record since has had the same impact, it's not my favourite album of all time or anything, but it does have a special place. I've bought this album a few times over the years in its different guises and have no hesitation of buying it again.

I once read that Paul McCartney bought all his kids copies of "Pet Sounds" to show them how beautiful music can be, he should've given them a copy of this too.

Love bites, you know.