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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
In the beginning, August 8, 2000
When the single "Getting Away With It" hit the airwaves in late 89/early 90, I fell instantly in love. Even without knowing anything about the group, I was able to identify the New Order and Pet Shop Boys elements (I didn't know about the Smiths) - a fact that I was quite proud of, and I immensely enjoyed the results. Labeled here as an EP (after all, it took almost a year after this single was released for me to find Electronic's first full album), this first single from Electronic's self-titled debut was a relative radio and dance floor hit here in the States. This release served as a great introduction to this ingenious conglomeration of members of New Order, the Smiths, and the Pet Shop Boys. I'll go ahead and discuss the songs in the order presented here (the tape has "Lucky Bag" interspersed to break up the mixes of "GAWI"). The Full Length Version is the fun NO/PSB combo bouncy dance tune you heard on the radio and will find on the album. The Extended Version is different from what I was expecting, since the verse orchestrations are pared down some, and they introduced some funky (even for New Order) guitar work. The break in the middle seems contrived and doesn't add much since it's so shallow and unimaginative. Then what's weird is the song picks back up again, but it sounds like they just pasted in the original, since the funky guitar and pared down verse orchestrations are gone in favor of the original orchestrations. The main redeeming quality to this mix is the string section solo at the end that sounds every bit of PSB. Light and airy, the Instrumental version is very relaxing as Bernard and Neil's voices waft through your head as just a memory. A nice feature is that they decided to pick up the orchestral solo from the Extended Version, which makes for a pleasant ending. Remixed by Mike Pickering and Greame Park, I don't care much for either the Nude Mix or the Vocal Mix. While the new orchestrations are somewhat interesting in the Nude Mix, the minor harmonics are disturbing and not nearly as fun as the original. Also, there are some definitely 808 State influenced elements, from orchestrations to the way the ending is handled. That's not to say it's a bad thing; it's just blatantly obvious. The song just isn't the same song any more, and the only thing tying you back to the original are Neil's backing vocals (Bernard's vocals are dropped completely). Maintaining some of the elements from the Nude Mix, the Vocal Remix reintroduces Bernard's vocals and the main piano line, tying us back to the original song. They also added some funky jungle beat drums and some odd pan flute programming. Then we get to "Lucky Bag," a bonus song that does not appear on Electronic's debut. This is a fantastic techno instrumental piece that is a very fun bit of New Order-ish fare (circa Republic). Very dance friendly and relatively deep, Lucky bag is a great addition. My only complaint with the original version is that the song ends so abruptly. The Miami Edit is almost better than the original with even more dance friendly drum beats and more programming depth. Overall, I give the "Getting Away With It" EP 4 stars. I really loved this song and its lyrics, and this was the only thing I had to live on of Electronic for almost a year before the full album came out. I'm somewhat disappointed in the remixing, though, hence no full 5 stars. Both New Order and Pet Shop Boys had awesome remixers at their disposal back in the late 80s/early 90s. Why those remixers weren't used here is somewhat beyond me, though it might have been to try to get away from the standard NO/PSB sound. They certainly achieved a new sound with the remixes, but I'm not overly impressed. Fans of New Order and the Pet Shop Boys should definitely have this one. You'll find elements of each band in this release with satisfying results. Fans of Electronic that picked up on the band at their second or third album might want to pass this up, unless they are also NO/PSB fans. Electronic had not quite found its voice in these initial offerings, so they tended to sound like some combination of New Order or the Pet Shop Boys (I never really heard any Smiths influence, but then I'm not a huge Smiths fan). This is the one that started it all. If you're a fan of any of the bands involved, this release is a definite must have for your musical history archive.
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by Electronic 
