Original Sound of Sheffield '78/'82 [Import]

Cabaret Voltaire | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 22, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Mute
• ASIN: B00006IX2X
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,499 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Do the Mussolini (Headkick)

2. The Set Up

3. Baader Meinhof

4. Nag Nag Nag

5. Silent Command

6. No Escape

7. This Is Entertainment

8. Obsession

9. Seconds Too Late

10. Split Second Feeling

11. Spread the Virus

12. Yashar

13. Wait & Shuffle

14. Loosen the Clamp

Editorial Reviews

Full title - The Original Sound of Sheffield, '78/'82. 2002 'Best Of' compilation for one of the most important groups in the history of industrial & electronic music. Includes 14 rare single & album tracks. Mute.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid collection of the Cabs' Phase One, June 20, 2010

By 

H. Jin (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Original Sound of Sheffield '78/'82 (Audio CD)

'The Original Sound Of Sheffield' chronicles Phase One of the Cabs' recording career, collecting important singles and album tracks from their Industrial period. It contains early tracks from EPs, non-album singles, plus selections from their first four studio albums. You could argue that one or two of the album cuts are a bit arbitrary ('Voice Of America' and 'Red Mecca' have other tracks that would fit just as well here), but in general this is a strong collection that contains most of the essential songs from the period.

What this album demonstrates very clearly is the diversity of the Cabs' sound. Nearly every track is different: the sparse squelch of 'Do The Mussolini', the sinister spoken-word minimalism of 'Baader Meinhof', the assaultive 'Nag Nag Nag', the hypnotic 'Seconds Too Late', the gurgling 'This Is Entertainment', the disco of 'Yashar' and the demented dance-funk of 'Wait And Shuffle' and 'Loosen The Clamp'.

Presenting the tracks in chronological order is important, as it showcases the progession of their music during this period toward more accessible and danceable arrangements. Most people regard 'The Crackdown' as the point where the Cabs "went disco" (or more harshly, "sold out"), but listen to this album and you'll see that hints of that direction are clear as early as 'Silent Command', while 'Yashar' is a disco masterpiece recorded when Chris Watson was still around. Their brilliant cover of 'No Escape' also showcased at an early stage how their distinctive sound could work within conventional song structures. There was no "selling out", just a gradual streamlining of their sound, and the album correctly ends at the point where their refined arrangements began breaking into the mainstream.

Since many important Cabs songs didn't appear on studio albums, and many of the original singles and EPs can be hard to find, this collection is essential for fans of the band's early work.