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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why, oh why, did they have to break up?, June 15, 2005
That's what you'll be asking yourself after you finish listening to this compilation, which was the result of an online fan petition to convince the record label and the band to release it. First, I'll start with disc 2. This is the only disc that has completely previously available material on it. Mansun released 14 EPs (singles plus multiple b-sides) and this CD contains the best bits as voted in online by fans. Great stuff here, including Take It Easy Chicken, Flourella, Ski Jump Nose, Skin Up Pin Up, and Been Here Before. I have all of their EPs, so nothing new here for me, but still a nice compilation for the new fan (plus, the EPs are damn hard to find!). Disc 3 contains outtakes, demos, and live/radio tracks. Good stuff here, but certainly the weakest disc. Now, getting to disc 1....Mansun's 4th album, which was to be titled Mansun, was never released, and here we have what was just about ready for final post-production when the band split. All I have to say is, WHY DID THEY BREAK UP? This material is first-rate. The production is a little raw, yet polished at the same time, which gives the songs and instruments a great sound and feel. And the songs.....Getting Your Way, Slipping Away, Keep Telling Myself, Wanted So Much....they're all top-notch with GREAT vocal performances from Paul Draper and great playing from the band as a whole. A shame this wasn't completed properly and released, as it's obvious Mansun had a lot of greatness still in them. But with this collection, you can enjoy the "lost" 4th album repeatedly (I Have!). Great box set, although I would adivse getting the UK versions of Mansun's first 3 albums before snagging this.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It IS quite a steal, really... worth every penny., January 25, 2006
They're a band who needs no introduction -- save the saving-face of informing those new to the band that "it's Mansun with a 'u'... no, they don't wear makeup... no, they didn't do that 'Mmm-Bop' song..."
As an American, I can say that I'm part of a small but deadly circle of Mansun fans. From the moment "The Chad Who Loved Me" from "Attack of the Grey Lantern" entered my virgin ears, I was hooked. To the uninitiated, Mansun fans -- especially American Mansun fans -- are going to seem a little "off." But we can't help it. Simply put, Paul Draper's Accounts-Payable-to-Hell croon and Dominic Chad's dance hall afterburner guitar stylings combine favorably across nearly every song this band ever put to tape. And it's that kind of consistency that most bands, British or American, have trouble maintaining these days.
So, predictably enough, Mansun have broken up. "Kleptomania" collects their unreleased tracks, b-sides, and the recording sessions for their salivatory fourth album.
The b-sides and knickknacks are great, but the fourth album is probably what most fans were most eager to get their mitts on. The wildly original and beautifully anti-radio experimentation of "Six" is absent, but the fourth album reminds more of "Attack of the Grey Lantern" than "Little Kix," the latter of which was a flop commercially and among dedicated fans.
There's some floaty, bubbly chamber pop ("Harris") mixed in with more typical Mansun-sounding tracks like opener "Getting Your Way" and "Wanted So Much," which plays off a complex electronica head into a soaring, singalong Brit-rock chorus. It's well-written, well-instrumented pop music. You'll find yourself humming or attempting to sing along to the majority of the songs here. And if you're a guitarist with any sort of pop leaning, well... you're in for a treat with any Mansun album.
Quite a steal. Pick it up, then just try to put it down. I'm going to bet that you'll just buy their whole back catalog instead.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
They ended on a high note........, February 1, 2006
Little Kix had some great moments, but it was not what most people fell in love with Mansun for. I am reviewing Kleptomania a little after a year to simply say Mansun is missed. The unreleased 4th album sessions sit right beside the first two full-lengths. The b-sides are nice if you don't have them, and by all means, get the rest of them. The third cd has a little bit of everything, some stuff I haven't heard (Love Is demo is ace) - and overall, just brilliant. On a side-note, you could hear so many bands within many of their songs. I would have enjoyed them doing a cover of Queen's We Are The Champions. Anytime I hear that track, I think they are the only band in the world who could pull it off with style. I remember hearing Disgusting for the first time, thinking it sounded like in the chorus Roland Orzabal (sp?) from Tears For Fears....Six reminded me of a Kubrick soundtrack. The unreleased sessions are stripped drastically from the previous albums, a naked effect that bares no smoke or filler to what they do best. I am really happy this was released, for Mansun to leave on the highest note, being looked at as one of the best acts to emerge from the 1990's. I am lucky to have known them as the records were released, but listening to them now - most of the songs haven't aged a bit.
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