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Label: Caroline
Release Date: 2002-04-02
List Price: $59.98
Buy Now: $30.99 - $59.98
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(Box set)
Additional Info: Tracks Reviews
5 stars for XTC, 1 star for the record label. (3 stars)
"Coat of Many Cupboards" is a somewhat frustrating collection-- on the one hand, the collection, largely consisting of unreleased tracks presented in a four CD boxed set, is full of gems that are bound to bring a smile to the face of the diehard fan. On the other, it smells a bit too much of a marketing ploy. But we'll talk about that later.
The four disc sets follows the band's career with Virgin Records, tracking their evoluition from ska/punk-tinged new wave act to studio-bound pop craftsmen. The first two discs roughly cover the band's live act era, the second the studio-only era. There is no shortage of great material throughout, whether it be for purely historical value or merit of performance.
From the earliest material, an early demo of "Science Friction" shows Andy Partridge singing not in the oddly clipped style he'd use on the band's earliest records, but rather in a full and much calmer voice. A pair of Barry Andrews compositions left off of "Go 2" at Partridge's insistence (which led to Andrews leaving the band) shed some light on what Andrews could have brought ("Things Fall to Bits" is pretty forgettable, but "Us Being Us" proves to be a fantastic guitar-driven punk song), and a handful of live tracks show how even the weakest of the early material could certainly shine brightly under the band's high powered live performances ("Spinning Top").
With Andrews' departure, Dave Gregory joined the band and provided an opportunity for more experimentation in arrangement and texture-- the dueling guitar histrionics of "Sleepyhead" and a great early take of Colin Moulding's "Life Begins at the Hop" show this off nicely, as do a number of fine live performances included in here ("Crowded Room" and the highly underrated "Snowman").
It was the band's (re)discovery of acoustic guitars that really led to a serious shift, and nowhere is this more evident than the fascinating acoustic guitar-and-vocal demo of "Senses Working Overtime". With the emphasis shifting from energy to pop hooks, it's clear even in this primitive presentation that Partridge had something going on. But with the band being studio bound, there's no chance to see how they evolved live, instead we get a picture of their demos. Curiously, many of these home demos sound pretty much like the final track ("Love on a Farmboy's Wages", "Wonderland"). On the other hand, several of them are fascinating-- "Wake Up" is a bit more subdued and while the guitars are a bit recessed, I prefer Moulding's vocal on this take. Ditto for the band demo of "Dear God", where intricate guitar work shines and Partridge's somewhat more aggressive vocal comes forth. And while it totally lacks the power the final version would have, the early work tape of "Mayor of Simpleton" is absolutely fascinating.
And while on the subject of the good, the sound quality is pretty much superb throughout-- clean and crisp, and while some of the demos are a bit shaky, by and large the set sounds fantastic. Also, the extensive liner notes (including track-by-track commentary by Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding) makes for a highly entertaining read.
Still, as great as this is, there's a lot here that's less than fantastic-- the way the CDs are held for example. Mine keep sliding out and I'm in terror that a big ugly scratch is coming. Even bigger than this though is the arrangement of the content-- there's less than four hours of music total on the set, which could have fit on three CDs. But even more to the point, 15 of the 60 tracks are available on the band's albums (well, one is a bonus track on the reissue, but it's there), and taking these out (since I can't imagine anyone buying this who doesn't have them already), there's about 2 hours and 45 minutes on the set of music. That doesn't seem like a heck of a lot when you consider that if you cut one of the tracks that sound nearly identical to the album take ("Helicopter" for example), you could squeeze this on two CDs. It ends up sounding a bit too much like a major label marketing ploy to me.
Bottom line, any fan of the band is going to want this, but I can't in good faith review this fairly without considering the complete package. 5 star for value of the unreleased stuff, 1 star for the presentation. |  | | | For the diehard XTC vet only (5 stars)
This is a treasure trove of goodies for XTC fans. Alternative versions, early demos, rejected singles and live tracks pepper this "odds and sods" collection. You can probably cherry pick your way to a really grade A single disc here but hey, as rabid XTC fans we must have EVERYTHING!
However, if you're new to XTC I would suggest one of the 'hits' compilations out there. | | | | Hidden tracks Notice!!!! Easter EGGING (4 stars)
I've had this set for a while now, but recently discovered two hidden tracks.
The won't play automatically as most hidden tracks do as these are buried in the pre-roll BEFORE track 1. Insert disc 2, hit play, as the track begins to play, pause and rewind/review back past the beginning.
The First on is on disc 2. The next is on disc 3, and it is 9 minutes of live material. | | | | Pure XTC (4 stars)
IÕve always had a great fondness for XTC. Andy Partridge and Colin MouldingÕs stubborn commitment to their idiosyncratic musical vision doomed them to commercial obscurity even as it endeared them to fans who eagerly stuck with the band through a number of personnel changes and stylistic shifts.Coat of Many Cupboards is essentially a closet-cleaning exercise; a 4-disc set comprised mostly of live, rare, and unreleased tracks, scattered (seemingly at random) with a handful of album tracks. ItÕs an embarrassment of riches even for the casual XTC fan. The first two discs, which cover White Music through Black Sea, are absolutely stellar. The incredible live cuts reveal the live XTC to have been wound incredibly tight, a juggernaut of jerky adrenaline and velocity. The other standouts are variant versions of several tracks from Drums and Wires, nearly all of which eclipse the album versions. Discs 3 and 4, which cover the remainder of the Virgin years, are a bit spottier. Home demos take the place of the live cuts, and these sometimes shaky efforts will be of more interest to established fans than to newcomers or more casual listeners. That said, thereÕs plenty of great material here too, including a wonderful live version of Yacht Dance and several outtakes from Sklarking. The only real disappointment here is that the Dukes of Stratosphear (XTCÕs tongue-in-cheek psychedelic alter-ego) are represented only by a pair of previously released album tracks; it would have been nice to delve a little deeper into the vaults of the Dukes. To top it all off, the entire set is beautifully and cleverly packaged. The booklet contains a long essay that focuses, lovingly and in some detail, squarely on the music. Partridge and Moulding also add extensive track-by-track commentary. Highly recommended. | | | | For Fans, It's Great (4 stars)
Some wonderful treasures are unearthed. The two songs Andrews wrote for "Go 2" that didn't make the album, prompting him to leave ... the wild "Let's Have Fun" ... Many of the songs which appear here are in some alternate form. Some were re-recorded with other producers to get more "commercial" versions of songs that could be singles. Sometimes the version here beats what was previously available - the "Ball and Chain" and "Punch and Judy" A and B-side here, for example. There are too many home demos here of songs that were done better in the studio. This could easily be reduced to a 2 or 3 CD package. But, much good music is on here. XTC deserve an "Anthology" styled treatment like this, in my opinion. They are one of the truly great bands we've been blessed with. Buy this, buy "Rag and Bone Buffet" which is another collection of unused scraps, buy the "Fuzzy warbles" discs of even more demos and unused material on Andy Partridge's APE label. | | | |
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