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Label: Geffen Records
Release Date: 1997-06-17
List Price: $11.98
Buy Now: $2.00 - $9.99
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Additional Info: Tracks Reviews
TAKES ME BACK! (5 stars)
If you were into the british punk thing in the late 70's and early 80's, this one should bring back some decent memories. It really did it for me!Hell, it brought tears to my eyes! Thats all that need be said. |  | | | Fair Compilation (3 stars)
XTC's music is full of great writing, arranging, playing, witty lyrics, and pristine production. Pop music with an attitude. This "sweetest hits" collection, drawing from eight studio releases between 1979 and 1992, would be a good introduction if you don't want to buy (my opinion) their essential studio albums ("White Music", "English Settlement", "Skylarking", "Oranges and Lemons"). The issues I have with this release is there is not one song represented from their first two releases, and like any fan, the songs selected are not exactly what I would pick.
Previous reviewers have pointed out, the lyrics to "Respectable Street" on this disc are altered. The words changed were... abortion to absorption, contraception to child perfection?, and sex position to proposition. If these words are so offensive, another tune should have been selected so the artist's lyrics stay intact. Why butcher the artist's vision? It's puzzling that the bold lyrics of "Dear God" were not changed, but the lyrics above were. Nevertheless, this is a fair compilation from an awesome band.
| | | | A little is not enough (4 stars)
This is one of two strong compilations of XTC, although I had to get it used on Amazon. Geffen has apparently lost the rights to the XTC catalog (and it has trickled out on Caroline), so this great collection is likely going to drift into oblivion. Get it now, because more so than the recently reissued "The Compact XTC," "Upsy Daisy Assortment" delivers XTC's maturation into a first class melodic pop band.
"UDA" bypasses the first two arty albums to focus on XTC's first major statement, the biting but catchy "Drums and Wires" album. The rough edges had been smoothed over to allow for the wittier songs to subversively insinuate themselves, like the brilliant tale of "Making Plans For Nigel." In a distinctly British scenario, our lad Nigel is a boy who "likes to speak and he loves to be spoken to." It laid the groundwork for such delightful political rants like "Generals and Majors" (which would have been a hit if American radio hadn't been terrified of new wave and the RSO original release of "Black Sea" hadn't been still-born by the record company's collapse). After all, the Beach Boys 'oo wee oo' of "Respectable Street" permits a goofy litany of suburban snootiness to skim by and a line like "Saturday I saw him retching over our fence" to breeze through like a perfect pop moment should.
Shortly afterwards, Andy Partridge's disdain for and strain from touring left him physically exhausted, so he abandoned the road to work on music and start a family. The album that preceded the stoppage shows that perhaps he was feeling tired of the pop rat race, as "English Settlement" held psychedelic overtones and a more rustic feel. The hit UK single "Sense Working Overtime" sums that train of thought up best, but the anti-racist "No Thugs In Our House" still packs serious wallop. By "Mummer," though, that bite began to taste bitter, and "Funk Pop a Roll" snarls at what must have been their early distaste for Geffen records ("big money selling you stuff that you really do not need"). Just the same, "Love On a Farmboy's Wages" could easily be the most beautiful song the band ever recorded.
The following record. "The Big Express," finds the band floundering to maintain a sound; "The World Over" was probably the best song on it. It took Todd Rundgren to come in (and the trippy Dukes of Stratosphere side project) to make the band deliver a rejuvenated album. "Skylarking" was easily the most coherent disc in the XTC library. Rundgren's Beatlesque production flourishes and musical linking of songs into mini-suite arrangements brought XTC to a brand new audience, and the bitter anti-hymn "Dear God" got them headlines. But the delightful double-meaning of "Grass" and the production scope of "Earn Enough For Us" also allowed the band to expand on their huge field of ideas. This all finally paid off when the first single from "Oranges and Lemons" became XTC's first major American hit and the album became a success. "The Mayor Of Simpleton" tossed of buoyant hooks with an easy to swallow story lyric, as did "King For A Day." The final gasp of XTC's decade, "Nonsuch," found them fighting with their label (who originally declined the album) and was another modest success. "The Disappointed" is a wistful look at fading loves, as dreamy as "Chalkhills and Children's" nostalgia.
It is at this point that XTC basically went on strike, not releasing any new music till 2000's "Apple Venus." I really can't give "UDA" the five stars I might have because of omissions like "Wonderland," "This Is Pop" or "Sgt Rock." As such, it is still a wonderful tasty assortment of candied goodies. Get it while there's still stock. | | | | "XTC" ecstacy. (4 stars)
As with all collections, there will be "what's here and what's not" arguments, but overall this is a great bunch of "XTC" songs for any fan. It includes the early tracks "Generals and Majors", "Senses Working Overtime", and "Making Plans For Nigel", which "Primus" covered on "Miscellaneous Debris". Plus the later tracks "Mayor Of Simpleton", "King For A Day", and "Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead", which "Crash Test Dummies" covered on the "Dumb And Dumber" soundtrack. Also here is "Dear God", which turns up alot on 80's radio. If you enjoy smart alt-pop, or someone like "Elvis Costello", you'll enjoy "Upsy Daisy Assortment". | | | | Nice collection (5 stars)
This is a great collection of XTC songs. My only complaint is the fact that some of the lyrics on Respectable Street have been changed, apparently to make it "less offensive". | | | |
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