Photo by Jill Furmanovsky
The definitive Lloyd Cole and the Commotions box set Collected Recordings 1983-1989 — which pulls together the Commotions’ three albums, as well as bonus collections of B-sides, remixes, outtakes, demos and rarities — will receive its first-ever vinyl release later this month.
The box set originally was released by Universal Music in 2015, but now will be issued on vinyl in a limited-edition run of 1,000 by Tapete Records on July 31. The box set is the same as the Universal release, though it splits the CD box’s demos and rarities disc onto two LPs — and does not include the DVD.
The material has been newly remastered under Cole’s supervision. He writes about that on his website:
“All three studio albums are included, all three are re-mastered, Abbey Road studios creating the masters for UMG, and Skyline Tonfabrik fine tuning for vinyl. Many thanks to Kai Blankenberg for his patience. It took a while for me to be satisfied, but I’m very happy now. We did very little to Mainstream other than adjust level. Bob Ludwig’s original work was near perfect and still sounds great almost 30 years later. The original 1/2′′ mixdowns of Easy Pieces could not be used as the tape had disintegrated and baking, etc could not save it. We worked from the 1/4′′ back up (made the same day as the 1/2′′ for this very reason) and to my ears the album is significantly improved. The big news, to my ears, is Rattlesnakes. We were able to use the original 1/2′′ tapes and upon hearing a ‘flat transfer’ I was shocked at how far we had strayed from the original recordings over the years. I sent the files to the band to listen to to be sure I wasn’t imagining things. Is this as great as I think it is? They agreed. We decided to make the new version as close as possible to the original tapes. I hope you enjoy it.”
The vinyl box can be ordered by North American customers through Cole’s website and in Europe through Tapete Records.
Cole reunited with two of the Commotions, Blair Cowan and Neil Clark, on his outstanding electronic-flavored album Guesswork, released last year.
Here’s the tracklist for the Commotions box set:
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions,
Collected Recordings 1983-1989
LP 1: Rattlesnakes
1. Perfect Skin
2. Speedboat
3. Rattlesnakes
4. Down on Mission Street
5. Forest Fire
6. Charlotte Street
7. 2cv
8. Four Flights Up
9. Patience
10. Are You Ready to be Heartbroken?
LP 2: Easy Pieces
1. Rich
2. Why I Love Country Music
3. Pretty Gone
4. Grace
5. Cut Me Down
6. Brand New Friend
7. Lost Weekend
8. James
9. Minor Character
10. Perfect Blue
LP 3: Mainstream
1. My Bag
2. From The Hip
3. 29
4. Mainstream
5. Jennifer She Said
6. Mr. Malcontent
7. Sean Penn Blues
8. Big Snake
9. Hey Rusty
10. These Days
LP 4: B-Side, Remixes & Outtakes
1. The Sea and The Sand
2. You Will Never Be No Good
3. Andy’s Babies
4. Glory
5. Sweetness
6. Perfect Blue (Hardiman mix)
7. Jesus Said
8. Brand New Friend
9. From Grace
10. Her Last Fling
11. Big World
12. Nevers End
13. Mystery Train (Recorded live at The World, New York, 1986)
14. I Don’t Believe You or (Recorded live at The World, New York, 1986)
15. Love Your Wife
16. Lonely Mile
17. Please
18. My Bag (Dancing Mix)
LPs 5 & 6: Demo Recordings & Rarities
1. Down At The Mission
2. Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?
3. Patience
4. Eat My Words
5. Forest Fire
6. Perfect Skin
7. Poons
8. Old Hats
9. You Win
10. Old Wants Never Gets
11. Another Dry Day
12. 29
13. Jennifer She Said
14. Hey Rusty
15. Everyone’s Complaining
16. Mr Malcontent
17. Jennifer She Said (Polished Rough Mix)
18. Hey Rusty
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Lloyd Cole collects first 4 solo albums, ‘lost’ 5th LP, unreleased demos in new box set
- Lloyd Cole announces U.S. dates in February, prepping 6-disc Commotions box set
- Video: Lloyd Cole, ‘Period Piece’ — first single off upcoming album ‘Standards’
- Lloyd Cole plugs back in, taps ‘X’ album collaborators for forthcoming ‘Standards’
- Vintage Video: Lloyd Cole & The Commotions in Munich, 1985 — watch full 40-minute set
In the 2015 CD boxset there was a screwup where “Rattlesnakes” included remixes of 3 tracks (originally done by Ric Ocasek in the 80s). Lloyd Cole swears they used the original tapes but when you listen they obviously aren’t the original mixes. He says they adjusted levels on Mainstream but the disc in the box was identical to the 1987 one. Interesting to see if they put the right mixes back into Rattlesnakes, somehow I doubt it.