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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Overdue Tribute To An Often Overlooked 80's Group, July 8, 2008
Yazoo were always more popular in the UK than the US, but their two albums spawned perennial club hits that still get played today. This box set collects the two albums, remastered at last, and finally with their tracklists matching their original UK counterparts.
Many US fans would be surprised to realize that two of the groups biggest club hits, "Situation" and "State Farm", were not originally on the UK versions of their respective albums. Both were B-Sides of singles, and were originally considered throwaway tracks by Clarke and Moyet. Savvy American execs saw the potential in "Situation" and hired Francois Kervorkian to remix the track, creating a dancefloor smash on both sides of the pond. When "Upstair's At Eric's" was released in America, the moody track "Tuesday" was dropped from the line-up to make room for the reworked "Situation", and "Tuesday" did not appear on an album in America until 1999's "Best Of Yaz" compilation CD.
On the American release of "You and Me Both", the track "Happy People" was dropped in favor of the single "State Farm". These decisions were perhaps understandable for the limited time available on vinyl albums, but why these missing tracks were not restored to the original American compact disc versions of the albums is a mystery ( In an odd twist of fate, the British CD release of "Upstairs At Eric"s" saw the US mix of "Situation" added as a bonus track - along with the single-only "The Other Side Of Love"- but this time the avant garde track "I Before E Except After C" was removed. strange, since there was still plenty of room on the disc for all of the tracks...curiouser and curiouser).
Fortunately, the box set restores both albums to their original tracklists and a third CD collects all the singles in their original and remixed/extended versions. Also included is a bonus DVD of television appearances, promotional video clips ( many of which were never shown in America ) and a terrific half hour documentary about the group which answers many questions, and should put to rest rumours about who disbanded the group and why, once for all. The television appearances are almost overkill, since all of them involve the duo onstage at various shows miming to their current hit ( and after you've seen them miming "Only You" once, you can pretty much predict what the next clips are going to look like ). Also included is a lovely booklet about the group which is chockful of pictures and history.
The remastering job is terrific and gives the songs more punch than ever before. There are also very good 5.1 mixes included on the companion DVD which sound great on a surround system.
All in all a great set celebrating the legacy of a short-lived but fondly remembered collaboration of two great talents, Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great re-mastering, but sadly missing a few key elements., August 3, 2008
Criminally overlooked in the United States, Yazoo (Yaz in the US) was a short lived collaboration between Vince Clarke (the founder of Depeche Mode and Erasure) and Alison Moyet. Two albums, four singles, and that was it. Fantastic early 80's electronic pop. The remastering on the re-issues is fantastic, and it sounds like it was recorded yesterday, very crisp and fresh sounding. Having all of the 12" singles digitized and cleaned up is fantastic treat as well, as my old vinyl 12" singles are a bit tired after all these years. The videos included on the DVD are a fun addition. I doubt the TV appearances will bear much repeated viewing, but it is fun to see just how young this dynamic duo looked back then. These are all lip-synched tv appearances, so it's purely enjoyable for the sake of the visuals, albeit with no live performances. The 5.1 surround mixes are done well, but I find very little use for these in general, as I'm usually not sitting still in front of my TV to listen to the perfect audio surround sound mix in the "sweet spot" (though I do appreciate their inclusion here.)
There is bit of disappointment with this otherwise well executed box set, however. Firstly, while it includes the video from the 1990 re-release of "Situation" and the 1999 re-release of "Only You", it doesn't include any of the fabulous remixes from either of these eras. Being a completist, I have all of them on other formats, but I think everyone would have appreciated representation of these remixes, especially the 1990 mixes of "State Farm" and "Situation". There were a ton of remixes released alongside the "Best of" collection in 1999 and it's a shame none of those are represented either. Most heartbreaking is the decision to leave out "Get Set," which is the Holy Grail to Yaz collectors as this gem of a song is, and sadly remains, completely unreleased. Written as the theme song for a BBC music tv program, Vince and Alison decided they didn't want it on this box set because, as Alison states, "We felt that it didn't fit in with our body of work." This box set was really our last hope for this song to see the light of day. It's really too bad... box sets are designed for rabid fans, collectors, and completists and this one falls achingly short of being truly complete.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I Wish I Could Give it 5 Stars..., July 10, 2008
As far as quality of material, the Yaz(oo) albums and bonus tracks included here are superior, and merit a five-star rating. The straight stereo remastering of the two albums and remixes is excellent--it really enrichens the sound--subtly, but noticeably. Most people buying this will have most of this material already, so you know how fabulous the songs are.
As for what's new--the documentary is interesting and informative, but it is the kind of thing you watch a few times at most. The real disappointment is in the 5.1 surround mixes. I will be charitable and say that they don't sound good. At all. They are interesting to a certain extent, as you can clearly identify the parts of the songs, but all of the richness has been drained. This could be due to the fact that the songs were so spare to begin with, and what sounds full coming through two channels seems thin through 5. In any case, these mixes are a failure.
It is nice to have the remixes on the bonus disc--I never replaced my vinyl of "State Farm" or "Don't Go," so it is nice to have them digitized. But there are some rarities missing--and it is a real shame that "Get Set" wasn't included--by the wishes of the artists, but it would have been nice to have. The videos from their BBC appearances are charming, but lip-synched per the standards of the day. I don't think I'll watch them repeatedly. And the booklet is nice.
So the bottom line--the best of what's here was already out there, though we do have it in remastered form. The new elements simply fall short. It is a must-have for die-hard fans like me, but not for everyone.
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