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5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fascinating Artifact Renewed, May 16, 2011
This review is from: Methods Of Dance (Audio CD)
I owned both the UK albums compiled to make up this long-overdue CD. What makes this CD even more special, is that it includes tracks that were on the cassette only versions of "Methods Of Dance" volumes 1 and 2. So I get to hear Richard Strange [always a pleasure] and Allez Allez [for the first time ever]. Much of this is still unique today and thus this was a CD that I always wanted to get. I have to say the mastering is wonderful. I compared my digitized copy of the ultra-crucial "Secret Life Of Arabia [dub mix]" by B.E.F. and Billy MacKenzie and my poor ears were treated to a superb remaster with no brickwalling and a full and pleasant to hear dynamic range. Discs like this were why we thought CDs were a great idea in the first place! Kudos to EMI's engineers who oversaw this project.
As for the music here, it is a brilliant melange of post-punk and new pop with a rhythmic slant. Listeners are treated to the cream of Virgin's stable of artists from those heady days when it was the UK label to collect. Magazine. Simple Minds. Japan. China Crisis. A still 6:35 unique dub mix of "Do Or Die" from the Human League's "Dare" is a rare treat now widely available. The aforementioned B.E.F. track smokes Bowie at his own game. The pin-sharp B.E.F. production is matched [and possibly exceeded] by the near-hysterics of MacKenzie's full-throated assault. The closest thing to a dull track here is the Disconet mix of Culture Club's "I'm Afraid Of Me," and still; that's not one of their overplayed tracks, so it retains a bit of charm.
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