Customer Reviews

Singles & Sessions 1979-81

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

WOW, this CD is great.I was always curious about Delta 5 knowing they ran in the same circles as Gang of Four & the Mekons.Similar in sound to bands like Au Pairs,The Slits,Raincoats, Bush Tetras & the aforementioned Gang of Four.Something must be in the water during that time because they all share a similar sound, funky rhythmns, angular guitar, female vocals..This CD has all their singles,Peel sessions, & a few songs from a live gig from Berkely in 1980.Excellent.

While it is nice to see some of this excellent bands music back in print I can only rate at 3 stars. My biggest problem is that all the releases by this band, 3 early 7" singles, 1 LP, an unreleased 7" b-side (Leaving), and their final 7" Powerlines b/w The Heart is a Lonely Hunter could have fit on one cd. Why issue this recording with only the first 3 7" singles, a few LP tracks, and 3 live tracks?

The 1980s has an undeserved reputation for bad music, bad everything, in fact. But it wasn't all dancing around handbags to cheesy pop. The late seventies and early eighties produced some of the most cogent and urgent music in the punk/post-punk vein.

Leeds-based Delta 5 (part of the college scene that also produced the Mekons and Gang of Four) were part of a wave of all female or female-fronted bands during this period, that also included the Au Pairs, the Raincoats and the Slits, who produced bolshie, in your face, uncompromising, political music. Those were the days, hard for younger people to imagine, before the main topic of conversation was house prices. But the best thing about the music was its defiant attitude and its sheer energy. Listening to the best bands of this period, it is clear that since then, angry guitar music has rarely been bettered, and the best guitar bands of today draw heavily from these pioneers.

On this collection of Delta 5's singles and sessions recorded between 1979 and 1981, some for the legendary His Greatness John Peel, the listener can get a good feeling for this great band. One of their best known cuts, Mind your own business, has lost none of its power. Neither have Now that you've gone, colour, Delta Five, Triangle, Innocent, Train song. But overall, not a lemon here

I always loved Delta 5. They were a unique band that had 2 guys and 3 girls. 2 bass players and sometimes 3 singers. The girls ran the show. The female voices would weave in and out of the labyrinth of lyrics. They had a great sound that stood out from the crowd.
This CD is a great collection of singles, rarities and live material. The band made great singles. Both sides being worthy of "A" side status. Their lone album "See The Whirl" left much to be desired, as the sparse production of their singles was thrown to the wayside in lieu of "better" production, but that's a matter of taste. Having horns on the album seemed out of place with the sound they had created from the singles.
Delta 5 really shines with the live tracks. I hope that one day, somebody puts together an entire CD package of their live material. When you saw them live, you knew you were catching something magical and special. The album made them seem ho-hum run of the mill.
If you've been searching for See The Whirl, foget about it. You will be much happier with this collection. For one thing, STW didn't have any of the singles, "You", "Anticipation", "Now That You're Gone", or "Mind Your Own Business" that this package does, along with later singles like, "Try".
D5 had a lot of good things going for them, but for whatever reasons, they never caught on big time. It's a shame. Who knows what wonders they would have created had they stayed together. Lot of good sounds and ideas from that band.

I've only had a few experiences with the Kill Rock Stars label, and neither have been good. They are notorious for releasing CD's mastered from vinyl sources, many times sounding worse than what you could achieve at home with the most rudimentary equipment. This CD is not much different, though not as god awful as their Essential Logic CD.

"Singles and Sessions" is really nothing more than the three singles Delta 5 released on the Rough Trade label, as well as a selection of radio sessions and live tracks. The six Rough Trade songs have clearly all been mastered from vinyl. You have the standard clicks and pops that were missed by their cheap auto pop removal, which damages the music. You also have the ever-present turntable rumblings. The radio sessions and live songs came from tapes, probably because there was no cheap shortcut around that since they didn't ever exist on vinyl.

As others have pointed out, there is far too much missing from this CD, but then I'm not too concerned because if they licensed the Pre/Charisma material, they'd have just mastered those from records as well. I'll make my own CD and be happy with it.

Delta 5 is often hailed as Post-Punk legends. While I appreciate their unique style, dueling basses and dual female vocalists, most of the songs were pretty good, though few were stunning. Ironically, the bands best songs, "Power lines" and "The heart is a lonely hunter", were released as their final single in 1982, after a dramatic line up shift. Had they continued to record a second album, I can only assume it would have been brilliant.

This CD does contain a couple songs from radio sessions which were not ever officially released. Of those, "Singing the praises" is the best. While it was pretty good, it wasn't enough for me to hold on to this CD. I parted with it via eBay, and vow never to purchase another CD released by Kill Rock Stars. Message to KRS, and any other cheapskate or lazy indie label: MASTER TAPES, MASTER TAPES, MASTER TAPES!

The Delta Five's short lifespan has meant that they are less well remembered than Leeds compatriots Gang Of Four and the Mekons. The entire recorded output of the standard line-up of Bethan, Kelv, Ros, Julz and Alan for Rough Trade comprised just three seven-inch singles released in 1979 and 1980 (an album and single for Charisma's Pre subsidiary appeared in 1981, and a final single with a changed line-up in 1982). However, these historically important six recordings (two with the Bad Manners horns) can finally be appreciated in the digital age in all their edgy, angular glory thanks to this collection from Kill Rock Stars.

The album is fleshed out with BBC session tracks and concludes with three previously unreleased committed live recordings from their US tour, captured at Berkeley Square, Berkeley CA on 27 September 1980.

The band recorded two sessions for John Peel in 1980 and one on 16 July 1981 for Radio One's Evening Session, hosted by Richard Skinner. Their excellent 1981 session, including two songs from their album See The Whirl in improved, less-produced versions, is included in full, but sadly of the 9 songs recorded for the Peel Show only three make it here, despite a modest CD playing time of 45 minutes.

I remember first hearing Delta 5 about 1980 on WNYU in New York, and this CD totally brought me back to those days. Very similar to Gang of Four and Au Pairs, the group has great bass lines and great vocals, as well as a screechy, jangly guitar that jumps about the songs. If you liked many of the UK groups from this time period, pick this up!

Post punk is way too broad a label It encompases the depressive tendencies of bands like the Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen and the start stop blasts of noise that began with no wavers such as Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and morphed into the Fall and Gang of Four. Delta 5 is very similar (without being derivative) of Gang of Four. However, I find the same thing lacking in both bands in that the music verges on didactic retorts. The lyrics to Delta 5 songs seem to be making feminist statements (kind of a precursor to Riot Grrl) but that works against the band because it gets in the way of the music. X-Ray Spex (though clearly pure punk) had more fun with gender politics without sounding arch or didactic which is what makes Delta 5 less than a masterpiece but still worth picking up.