Belly - Star - 1993

My worst and most embarrassing post. 

Back in the day, I did dabble some in the "grunge" thing.  I preferred to call the music that I liked "College Rock".  I was in college, it was Rock, and I would not admit to listening to grunge (although I still have some Nirvana and Soundgarden in my collection (no Pearl Jam!)).

To be completely clear, though, I liked the Pixies in the late 80s and had a lot of their music.  Obviously, Bossanova stands out as one of my favorite albums, probably in my top 200 (maybe).  So, with Frank going solo, and the Breeders taking shape, it was only natural for me to play into Kristen Hersh, Throwing Muses, Tanya Donelly, and of course, Belly.

I used to think this was a great album.  It was fun, catchy, and I loved the vocals.  Mind you, Curve and Lush were big with me at that time, too, so I was obviously drawn to those female vocals.  For the time period, though, the Breeders dominated my likes for this particular genre comparison, but Belly was a close second.

Looking back, I realize that Throwing Muses were so much better than Belly, and the Breeders were trying to hard to be different.  Of the three bands, I think Throwing Muses would be the only one that I would consider relevant.  Throwing Muses to the Breeders would be like the Beatles to Frank Zappa.  And Throwing Muses to Belly would be like Beatles to Strawberry Alarm Clock.  Fur sure.

But, Belly is still interesting to listen to every once in a while.  It brings back memories for me of simpler times in my life, when things were just starting for me and my freedoms were being fully explored.  For others who are new to them, I'm sure that it would be an interesting listen, and a definite niche for your repertoire. The pop songs are still pop songs, and they are still rather good, even though dated.

It would be interesting to see Belly get back together for a new set of tunes, just to see if they could do anything worthwhile or relevant.  Or, better yet, maybe not.  Whatever.

Belly - Star - 1993

Duran Duran - Praetoria South Africa - 1993

Tonight's first show is a fun one.  I say that as it's not one of their best, but it's an interesting look at their evolution, and the definitive interpretations of their songs.  Duran2 had just reinvented themselves for the 90s and with great success.  The Wedding Album was like a breath of fresh air and it seemed at the time that the band had "promised" to deliver a decade of new superstardom and outstanding music.  I had great hopes!

We all know how history played out on that one.....

My best friend and I thought seriously about seeing this show when it came to Kansas City.  Wow!  Duran Duran in KC!  And, I had never seen them before!  BUT, the tickets were 26.00.  Holy smokes, I didn't know if I could part with 26.00, that was a lot of money!  Now, looking back, I kick myself for missing it.  26 bucks is nothing compared to a lifetime of memories.  I was stupid for not laying down my hard-earned and going to see them.....

I chose this show for a number of reasons.  Primarily, it's one of the only soundboard recordings that actually came out sounding good.  Most of the shows were either very shitty soundboard or audience recordings.  I also chose this one because their interpretations of their classics were genius, especially Hungry Like the Wolf.  I love this version.  I wish they still performed it like this, now.  Third, and final, in this leg of the tour we are starting to see the cover versions for Thank You pop up.  They still seem somewhat proto-primitive, but the essence of what they wanted to do for Thank You is there.  One of the only things I hated about this show (and all the shows I have from this tour) is that Warren seemed to play most of the songs acoustically, hardly any hard electric guitar at all.  I also hated the fact that Nick used the same synth settings for every song.  It sounds like that "orchestra hit" setting so it sounds like he's playing a lot of strings.  Good on some, a few, but not all of them.  It's like both Warren and Nick were stuck on that Ordinary World setting for the entire show.  And, Simon's vocal cords had been damaged prior to this, so he is really straining in a lot of places, but he doesn't sound too bad.

For the most part, though, this show really excites me.  I was just coming into my own in college.  My parents had moved away and I was alone to become my own person outside of them.  This was one of those albums that brought me through a lot, and I'll never forget it!

Duran Duran - Praetoria South Africa - 1993

Sting - Ten Summoner's Tales - 1993

When I got this album, it was the first semester of my sophomore year in college at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.  I vividly remember the street I was walking on, and the buildings I was walking between while walking on campus with my headphones on.  So, wanting to be complete and really set the stage for you, I went to Google Maps to specifically find the location so you could see what I saw those two and a half decades ago.  Zooming down to the exact, precise location in my memory on the map, I found myself literally on top of a giant building I had never seen before, in the middle of a garden campus with paths all over.  The entire face of the college has changed.  Some of the buildings are the same, but there is so much that has grown so much in and around what was once downtown Lincoln, it's almost like a cancerous growth.  And people wonder why kids can't afford college anymore.  I would digress, but this isn't the place...

I really liked this album.   Sort of.   I wanted to like it immediately.  And, I did, with IIELMFIY and LISTJ and Fields of Gold.  I said "HOORAY!"  But, slowly, the style and the demeanor of the music changed.  "Gasp!" I said.  "I think Sting's moving into that adult contemporary phase and maturing!  No more rock and roll!"  And, at the time with Grunge, Techno and Madchester in full swing, listening to this one seemed almost boring.

But, as I've listened to it for two and a half decades, I know well that it's an example of Sting's incredible versatility and fearlessness in exploring all musical options.  He has shown incredible strength in writing songs that can inspire and warm the heart, bringing out emotions and conveying them in ways only Sting can. 

After listening to this album as I was working on the cover, I found myself singing Love Is Stronger Than Justice for almost two weeks.  Excellent song.  Love is a big fat river in flood.  Only Sting can do that!

Sting - Ten Summoner's Tales - 1993

Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy - 1993

Yeah, I like this album, sure.  But, tonight's post is specifically for my wife.  She got this album and fell in love with it.  I tried forever to avoid listening to it, but eventually I had to.  Yes, I was impressed, and I like Sarah's other work, too.  But, I'm posting this for my wife, as she has a "group orientation" at a potential job that really isn't what she wants.  But, right now, it's all we have, and we have to put food on the table.

I love you, sweetheart.  I know you'd sacrifice everything for your family.  And, I'm incredibly grateful for it.

Chat with you later....

Sarah McLachlan - 1993 - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy

Sting - The Chicago Sessions - 1991-1993

On the coat tails of the Oasis Demos, I'm posting Sting's awesome Chicago Sessions.  Lord only knows what they were recorded for, or why they were recorded.  All of the sources I've researched just state that they were soundboard recordings.  So, my guess would be it was some sort of show, although there aren't any crowd noises, if that's the case.

You'll find this collection all over the internet.  I am, by far, not the first to post this.  You could probably download these tracks from two dozen different sites, or more.  BUT, I am the only one with such a cool cover that will fit in nicely with all the other Sting albums available.  Sting has a picture of himself on all of his albums, with the exception of Soul Cages.  So, I had to find a good pic circa 91-93 that was in good quality/high resolution, and also not already used.  Trust me, it was hard to find.  But, the pics of Chicago were abundant, and I think I found a great one for the back.

Got this one back when I lived in Kansas City, during my "great depression".  It was a soul-soother.  I got it back when there were still these bootleggers who sold CDs on the web, and I got this one from this site called DMD Digital World. I also purchased three A-ha collections, an INXS live CD, and about five different Duran2 concerts.  I bet I spent 300 bucks with this guy for CD-R burns and laser printed cut out covers.  Stupid.  Now I can get all the material and more, and create my own covers, all for free.  Imagine the things I could have spent my money on instead of some cheap burns and printer paper.  Made in the Czech Republic my ass.

Hopefully, some of you don't have this yet.  If you do, I'm sorry.  Maybe next time.

Sting - The Chicago Sessions - 1991-1993

Outer Rhythm - A Compilation

I can tell by the number of page views, and the lack of comments, that this week isn't quite as popular as I thought it would be.  I'm sorry.  Just hold on, only two more days after tonight, & I promise Sunday night will be worth it, for realz.

This was another label that I really liked, and I think it was their logo that initially drew me to them.  What a cool head!  I love it!  But, unlike Warp, not all of their tracks were great, starting off.  So, I picked and chose some of my favorites and dropped them on two discs.  There's a lot of fun stuff on there, including the Joey Beltram mix of Dominator, a big hit from back then.

Again, a custom cover using only the head logo primarily.  The background was a graphic pulled from the web. 

See you tomorrow night for some more....

Disc One        Disc Two

RaC - The 12-Inch Singles - 1992-1994

I wrote about the history on the back of the sleeve I made for these guys.  They didn't have much if anything for graphics for any of their singles, so I created my own, and tried to keep it in the style of the early 90s Techno albums.

Richard and Chris were an awesome duo who released quite a few singles on the Nucleus and Warp labels.  When I was actively collecting vinyl in the 90s, I had three of these singles, and really took a liking to their style.  But, as I've said in previous posts, when my interest in that early 90s stuff started to wane, I ended up selling them all in a large stack of vinyl that I had taken to a record store in the late 90s.  Back then, though, I was moving around a lot, so hauling close to 8000 comic books, 600-700 action figures, 400 novels - hardcover & paperback, 3000 CDs and close to 800 records became quite a chore.  Hobbies can sometimes be a burden.  SO, I sold them off.  (funny now that I talk about it, I have close to 80,000 comics, 25,000 albums and 3-4000 novels all on 3 external hard drives.  My, how things change!)

Now, I never had all of their stuff, just those 3 singles.  So, while compiling their material from Nucleus and Warp, I've found a lot of stuff I'd never even heard before now.  As I listened to it while making the cover, and as I listen to it now, I'm sure that I will get a lot of airplay out of it.  It brings back some great memories, and is very digestible even now.  THIS was the style of Techno that I really enjoyed back then.  Minimal vocals, lots of beats, and a real lack of that Soul/Hip Hop/R&B sound that a lot of the Techno had back then.  I can't stand the Techno that has all that stuff.  Drives me nuts.

Again, as I collected these singles together for one disc, I came across a lot of material I'd never heard before.  And not just from RAC, but from a lot of other Techno outfits as well.  I'll probably be making more of these artist comps in the future, if you guys like them.  And if you don't, well, I might just make them anyway because they're a lot of fun to put together.

I hope you like this as much as I do...

RaC - The 12-Inch Singles - 1992-1994

 

Mijk Van Dijk - The Future Is Now - 1992-1993

One of the other MFS discs I purchased that one lucky day, was a disc by an artist called Mind Gear.  I loved that disc, great stuff!  I then learned of another artist, at a different time and place, called Loopzone, from the same label.  Great!  I got that one on vinyl.  THEN, I found another tasty slice of vinyl by an artist called Microglobe, on the same MFS label.  SWEET!  I knew then I loved MFS.  All these great artists making great music.

Then, old school Techno faded, and I moved on to other music....  Time passes.....

So, when I decided to do Techno Rave Week, I said "Hey! I should do a MFS comp of all these great artists!"  So, I started doing the research and homework....  What's this?  Mind Gear is by someone named Mijk Van Dijk.  Why does that name sound familiar?  Hold on, now!  the same guy is also responsible for Loopzone!  Holy cow!  So I researched Mijk Van Dijk only to find out that he was actually all three of those "artists" that I had enjoyed listening to in the 90s, plus a hell of a lot more.

This is a compilation of some of MVD's best works for MFS in the 90s.  He did some great stuff, and is also a definitive slice of German Techno.  Listen up....

Mijk Van Dijk - The Future Is Now - 1992-1993

 

Jesus Jones - Perverse - 1993

After Doubt, I was excited for the release of Perverse.  I expected a lot, after the success of the previous albums, and also from the countless interviews I read with Mike talking about songs that would one day be played on elevator music because it was so good it would be considered timeless.  Huge expectations from a lot of us.

But, by the time of this release, Madchester was dying hard and fast, and Grunge and Techno were killing it.  The album sounded lost, like it didn't know where or what it wanted to be.  There are some really great songs on this album, but as a whole, it lacks in execution.  Some songs retained their traditional JJ sound, others tried to move forward, and others tried different styles that just didn't fit with JJ nor the album itself.

NOTE - I must remind you, if you haven't already guessed, that when I write these commentaries, it nearly all comes from my head, in the way I feel about the albums, what little memory I retain about the albums, and hardly any research.  It's part of the magic of this blog.  I should rename it "Bliss In Ignorance".  If you want facts, go to Wikipedia or Discogs.  You're not going to find hardly any here.  Wink wink.

Back on to JJ's Perverse, I will say that I like the album.  I will always have it, and consider JJ as one of my favorite bands.  Probably in my top 100 bands.  But, I will only listen to some of the songs on it, and probably won't ever listen to the whole thing through in one sitting, ever again.

Now, Already is another story.  That is their undiscovered masterpiece.  But, that is for another day....

Jesus Jones - Perverse - 1993

Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith & Devotion - 1993

 We've got a big post today!  I've been working on a compilation of fan mixes this week, and I came across a huge cache of excellent Depeche Mode mixes from mixers I hadn't heard of before.  I was so inspired by DM, I had to up this post by a couple weeks because of it.

DM's follow-up to Violator, I felt this album had been heavily inspired by the increased popularity of Grunge and Industrial bands in the US.  It's really DM's first hard album, a lot harder than any other album they ever released.  Being really into NIN at the time this album came out, I was really taken by it.  Honestly, it is beautifully written, and really captures the essence of what DM was at the time.

Unfortunately, it was Alan Wilder's last album, and on future releases it became readily apparent that he was the master designer behind the art of the other three.  He brought them together to make the work beautiful, and it really shows here.

Best songs on the album would include Walking In My Shoes, Judas, In Your Room, Rush and Higher Love.  They all contained strong intensity in their lyric and performance, work to be admired.

The remixes were, in some cases, better than the album tracks.  William Orbit's mix of WIMS is spectacular, and the Zephyr Mix of In Your Room really leads the pack, blowing the original out of the water.

I never cared for I Feel You.  It's a grinding dirge of sorts.  Really grates on my nerves....

Such a good album produced one of the best tours of the year.  Excellent performances that really show that they aren't just studio artists, they can handle and execute perfection on the stage.  I had gone to the Violator Tour in 1990, but I missed this one.  Really kicking myself on it now, it would've been great.  Many jealous kudos to those who were able to see this one!!!

I played this album and the mixes for years.  Long after others had faded away into the depths of my collection.  Not even Ultra stopped this one.  It's not my favorite DM album, but it was their last great one.  The rest have been marginal at best...

Master Edition

Remixed Edition

Live @ Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, USA

Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish & Popscene - 1993

At the time, I thought that Blur's Leisure was an awesome album.  I loved the Madchester-esque sound and the Indie-pop Psychedelia that the band performed and exuded.  So, when Modern Life Is Rubbish came out, I was expecting a continuation of that same style and theme.

Boy was I wrong.

When MLIR came out, I immediately disliked it, and didn't pick up another Blur album again until The Great Escape (and that, only because they were competing with Oasis, and I wanted to make the comparison myself.) After the Great Escape, I did buy their self-title, and then 13.  ONLY THEN did I go back and listen to MLIR and Parklife.  That is when I realized I had missed some great stuff.

I think the reason why I didn't care for the sound of MLIR at the time is because it sounded so different.  But, looking back now, I realize that they were developing their own style separate from Madchester, simply to survive.  The other Mad-Bands didn't grow or mature, so they died when the craze died.  Blur developed a style all their own and wrote some incredible songs on MLIR.  This album also started the awesome cover art for their singles, as well.  All of the single sleeves were unique and art of their own.  I loved them all.

I threw on the Popscene EP as it truly bridged the sound between Leisure and MLIR.  None of the material on Popscene fits on either album, so it's best to keep it on it's own.

I'm pretty sure I got all of the demos, b-sides and outtakes from MLIR.  And I didn't include any remixes.  If there are any good remixes from this era, I would love to have them, but I don't...  Anyhow, I feel that my version definitely cleans up the Deluxe version that they released years ago.  It seemed very muddled and unorganized, and made it difficult to listen to in one setting.  This pulls it into a more unified presentation, and easily makes a great album even greater.  The train covers were a lot of fun to make, too...

Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish Disc One - 1993

Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish Disc Two - 1993

 Blur - Popscene - 1993

Cocteau Twins - Four-Calendar Cafe - 1993

After the glorious Heaven Or Las Vegas, a lot of us CT fans were eagerly anticipating Four-Calendar Cafe, hoping for a continuation of the marvelous sound from the previous album.  Although a wonderful album, FCC was nowhere near being as good as HOLV.  Heaven Or Las Vegas was the Twins at their all-time high.  After that, it was Robin Guthrie getting high all the time.  His problem definitely showed in his work, as it suffered a lot.  It was all Elizabeth could do to keep the integrity of their sound intact.

There were quite a few good songs on this album, though.  Obviously, my favorite was Bluebeard, a pure pophook wonder.  For me, it harkens to Karen Carpenter in melody and performance.  A very special song.

This album has a special place in my heart, as it came out the same time my wife and I started dating.  When I listen to it, it reminds me of the days that we first shared with each other.  Her and I have a couple albums like this, in fact, but this one pulls specific memories that I love.  I remember listening to it one time when she was driving me to class at the University in the winter time.  Freezing outside, but her love kept me warm inside.

I've included the two tracks from the Snow single, along with the b-sides from the singles and the acoustic Bluebeard track (yuck).  I changed up the color of the cover to give it some more contrast, and make it look a little less muddled.  Of all the CT cover designs that they released, this one is my least favorite.

Cocteau Twins - Four-Calendar Cafe - 1993

William Orbit & Beth Orton - Superpinkymandy & Hinterland - 1993 & 1995

Always a fan of William Orbit, I was happy to listen to Strange Cargo III when it was released.  I instantly fell in love with Water From A Vine Leaf, along with a number of other tracks from the album.  Learning that Beth Orton had done the vocals, I found that she had also just released an album of her own.  Low and behold, it was also done with William Orbit. 

I found that upon listening, the Beth Orton album - Superpinkymandy - was better than Strange Cargo III.  Her vocals are infectious and the melodies are catchy and traditionally Orbit.  It sounds as if it was an Orbit album rather than an Orton album.  His trademark blips and bloops, it's all there.  Great great stuff!!!!

The lead song on the album was originally released with Beth Orton and Orbit under the moniker of Spill.  There is a Rumble Mix and a Tumble Mix, both by Orbit, that are out there.  I don't have them digitally, so I was unable to put them on the Superpinkymandy disc.  If anyone has those two mixes, I would love to have them.

SO....

Two years on, I finally find that Orbit has released another Strange Cargo album called Hinterland.  Hooray!!!!  I can hardly wait to hear it!  I rush to the cashier, slap down my hard-earned, and run to the car to play this pristine disc as quickly as possible.  Press play...  Yeah, this song, Million Town is pretty sweet.  Lets move on to She Cries Your Name.  Hold on, didn't he already do this track with Beth?  Holy cow, he did.  This is sort of an "alternate version", I guess.  No big deal.  How about Montok Point.  Wait a minute!  This is ALSO an "alternate version" of another BO song called Yesterday's Gone!  Track after track I skip through the album to find the the majority of the album is a set of instrumental alternate versions of tracks he did with Beth.  Can we all say Retread?

BUT, come on, now.  It's William Orbit.  I listened to the album, and it's still good.  Every track is slick and true to sound.  Beth's vocals are great on her versions, but the tracks are equally good and in some cases better on the Hinterland versions.

Both albums are great individually, yet they compliment each other when they are together.  Put these two albums side-by-side in your WO collection, and listen to them together when you can.  The comparisons are awesome.

I didn't like the covers for either of the original albums.  Hinterland's cover was boring, and Beth's cover just looked silly, and didn't fit the music.  I took a stock image from the web and played with the colors, finishing them with a minimalist typestyle.  The covers befit the music, and add a layer of integrity to the two albums together. 

Finally, I thought of putting some of the William Orbit remixes from the same time period on here, but they would've ruined it.  The only mixes worth it would've been the Madonna and Peter Gabriel mixes, but they didn't fit with the sound of the album.  Plus I fucking hate Madonna.  Ray Of Light?  Uhh... That's another story for another post...

Enjoy.

William Orbit & Beth Orton - Superpinkymandy - 1993

Strange Cargo - Hinterland - 1995

Curve - Cuckoo - 1993

When this album came out, I was already a huge fan of Curve, so this album came with high expectations.  Usually, high expectations in my life equates disappointment.  So, as I listened to this, I had high hopes, but I braced myself for a fall.

And was I ever wrong.  This album, as I listened to it once, then twice, then over and over, only got better.  To this very moment, as I type this, Superblaster is playing and I couldn't agree more with what I'm saying.  Right now, I feel that this is their best album.  Right now, if someone hadn't been Smashing Squashes or Smelling Teen Armpits, Curve might have actually been able to hit it big.  This was a total breakthrough album.

The b-sides don't seem to be b-sides, and are perfect additions to the album.  I put them in the middle, with the exception of Rising, which I set right before the album's huge 3-song send-off.  When the song Cuckoo ends, I recommend stopping the music before the SB Remix starts, and then let the album sink in and sing to your inner spirit. 

The cover is the same, but I added the single sleeves.  I wish I could have put a pic of Toni on there without it being too obvious.  But, alas, I could not.  She was at maximum hotness on this album, and I wished she was my girlfriend. 

I hope you love this album as much as I do.  It's in my personal top 20 albums of all time.

Curve - Cuckoo - 1993

Shamen - The Boss Drum Singles - 1992-1993

Having fallen in love with Make It Mine and Move Any Mountain, I was ecstatic when Boss Drum came out.  The album, fresh out of the wrapper is easily and instantly accessible.  Every song is a pop hook.  Every track is sticky sweet electronic candy.  Which makes it, after several listens, a little bit too much.

I know that a lot of people made fun of these guys for this album and the album after, Axis Mutatis, for being bubble gum pop music.  Most thought they were ball-less, lacking substance and depth with no clear song writing ability shy of a clever rhyme and rap.  Maybe so. Maybe that's why they aren't around today.  Maybe that's why they sound dated, now.  And, after looking back at where they started and how they evolved, and the sound they tried to return to, we all know it wasn't all their fault.  No need to go into it, just wiki their history and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I collected as many of their releases as possible and mixes where I could find them.  There are way too many to make a single mix disc.  In fact, there are so many mixes for this one album, I was able to compile a mix disc for each single.  I know that I'm missing about 6 mixes total, not counting the album track remixes on The Face.  Some are simply impossible to find digitally, and I don't have a turntable to hook up to my computer.  But, I think there are enough here to keep you satisfied.

One idea, collect all the Beatmasters tracks on one disc and pop that in the car.  It might be fun for a while...

Boss Drum

Ebeneezer Goode

Love Sex Intelligence

Phorever People

Comin' On

Re:Evolution

Pet Shop Boys - Very Relentless - 1993

Before Very, I had dismissed PSB to a remnant of the 80s.  I had lumped them in with Johnny Hates Jazz and Wang Chung and Glass Tiger.  Dated, dull and beyond their lifetime.  So, of course, when you hear of a new album, you wonder first "What are they thinking?!" Followed quickly by a question of whether they are beating a dead horse or not.

Alternative music was now mainstream.  Grunge was playing on every radio.  Why did anyone think a couple of guys noodling on a synth would be of any interest?  As I've said in previous posts, I was growing very tired of the Grunge and Techno thing, and looking for new stuff to listen to.  We had a record store in town called Twisters that had developed this little program called "Buy It & Try It"  You buy the album and try it, and if you didn't like it, you could bring it back and exchange it for something else.  It was only on a few select albums, usually in their second or third week of release.  One day, I was in there and they had Very on the program.  So, I got the cassette to TRY IT.

It really is a great album, from beginning to end.  They seemed to reinvent themselves a bit, as the songs just weren't the same formula as the previous albums.  The dull, forlorn look and sound were gone, and there seems to be this life and energy that infects every track.  Every single is great, and even the album tracks are worthy of long term attention.

The singles are chock full of b-sides and remixes.  Some are good, some are not.  The mixes are done by the best mixers of the time, including one of my favorite mixing teams, the Beatmasters.

Several months after getting the cassette, I found this floppy vinyl-cased set of discs called Very Relentless.  Okay, some more material, b-sides, mixes whatever...  right?  No.  Relentless has the feel of a completely different album.  It's colder, more electronic, less moody.  My only thought is that they had so many tracks during their Very sessions that were good, and the ones on Relentless just didn't sound right on the main album, or didn't mix as well with them, or mixed better with the ones they chose for Relentless...  I don't know.  Maybe I should look it up on Wiki to see if there's ever been an explanation as to why.

When they remastered this set years ago with additional materiel, I was pissed that they left off a bunch of b-sides and all but one Relentless track.  What the hell?!  Yeah, they had a couple more unreleased tracks that I am eternally grateful for, but the set still left a little to be desired.  This set is the best one out there.

Great discs, wonderful set, and I haven't even really touched the remixes.  Maybe another disc later on?  I don't know, we'll see.

Pet Shop Boys - Very Relentless - 1993 - 1 

Pet Shop Boys - Very Relentless - 1993 - 2

Pet Shop Boys - Relentless - 1993 

Tears For Fears - Elemental - 1993

In 1993, I was so FREEKING SICK of "alternative" and "techno" and everything sounding the same.  Back then, with no internet or youtube or jamendo or amazon, most of you will remember that unless you knew exactly what you were getting, or you had heard it on the radio, purchasing new music was a game of Russian Roulette, luck of the draw.  I'm sure many of you were burned more than once, as I was, by purchasing an album that ended up being a real piece of shit back then.

Duran Duran's new album had just come out, as well as U2's Achtung Baby.  Old groups, new sounds.  So, when I saw the new TFF album amid this massive glut of psuedo-grunge wannabe shit discs, I had to get it.  I remember my wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, was with me, and we hadn't been together for very long.  So, her and I "discovered" this album together.

Maybe it sounded alternative, maybe it didn't.  Who's to say what alternative music was supposed to sound like?  All I knew was that there was a definite maturing of sound coming from Roland, and I was duly impressed.  His voice has NEVER ceased to amaze me.  Powerful, melodic, compassionate and strong.

The Cold single had a better cover than the album, so I switched that out.  Also, the A-Side/B-Side on the CD blended to well, sounded perfect.  So, despite the fact that Goodnight Song is obviously a "last song of the album", I had to plug in the b-sides at the end.

Speaking of Goodnight Song, it wraps WAY TOO SOON.  They should've/could've continued jamming for 8-10 more minutes, with a slow fade.  That would've sounded so much better, so much more appropriate...

Tears For Fears - Elemental - 1993

Duran Duran - The Wedding Album - 1993

Now, I've already posted one Duran2 album, but I didn't say too much about THEM.

Duran2 was the first group that I fell in love with.  From the time I first really listened to New Moon On Monday, to the time I listened to Girls on Film and Planet Earth from a group of girls boom box on the beach of Lake Michigan.  To listening patiently to the radio, as the DJ counted down the official first playing of Wild Boys on Z95 in Chicago.  To my buddy in Chicago who taped Rio for me.  Through Arcadia and Powerstation and on through the 80s.  (I'm reserving a discussion about 1988 for my Big Thing post).

After Burning the Ground, and the HOOOORRRRIIIBBBLLLEEEEE Liberty, I thought my boys were done.  The tides had shifted, music had evolved, and the New Romantic Synth-pop boys had finally burned it down.  Little did I know how wrong I was.  They would revive themselves for a time, only to burn themselves down again.

1993 and I was working at Taco John's and learning how to smoke a cigarette while making burritos.  The radio in the background playing constantly to the new "Alternative" radio station called 104.1 the Planet.  They announce a new song by Duran Duran, and my ears popped up.  What is this?  New Duran2?  Do my ears deceive me?  I thought they were done?  But here they were...

Ordinary World, huh?  Not bad, first time around.  Impressive, not the Duran2 I was familiar with, but let's see what they can do...

Over the next 12 months with a new album, videos, 5 singles, a handful of b-sides and another handful of remixes.  Then, the bootlegs started popping up.  CD burners were just beginning to come into use, and now we have 5 or 6 shows, that sounded great, simply because they were live and raw.  Demo tracks and stem mixes start appearing, 6 different versions of OW and just as many of CU.  Fantastic.

I fell in love with the boys again, then.  I tried hard to stay with them, even through Thank you and Medazzland.  But lost them again with Pop Trash (even though I went to see that show in St Louis).

It was back on again with Astronaut, off again with Red Carpet, back on again with AYNIN, and now, back off again with Paper Gods.  These boys just can't seem to keep their shit straight.

BUT, back on the Wedding Album, we see them reinvented with almost an hour and a half of classic Duran2 tunes.  They have that classic Simon appeal, and John's bass.  But, the rest is different. Great material, and a definite point to remember in their long, troubled and rocky career.

As always, I divided Side A from Side B and plunked all the b-sides and the one demo track right down the middle.  Hopefully you've heard of Matter Of Fact.  It's a goodie and rounds out this collection perfectly.

Duran Duran - The Wedding Album - 1993