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Product details
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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Science Friction | |||
| 2. Statue Of Liberty | |||
| 3. This Is Pop? | |||
| 4. Are You Receiving Me? | |||
| 5. Life Begins At The Hop | |||
| 6. Making Plans For Nigel | |||
| 7. Ten Feet Tall | |||
| 8. Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down | |||
| 9. Generals And Majors (Edit) | |||
| 10. Towers Of London (Edit) | |||
See all 16 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Great Fire | |||
| 2. Wonderland | |||
| 3. Love On A Farmboy's Wages | |||
| 4. All You Pretty Girls | |||
| 5. This World Over (Edit) | |||
| 6. Wake Up (Edit) | |||
| 7. Grass (Edit) | |||
| 8. The Meeting Place | |||
| 9. Dear God | |||
| 10. Mayor Of Simpleton | |||
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See all 15 tracks on this disc
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Product Description
Remastered, Beyond Huge 31 track compilation. 2CDs of pop/rock purrrfection spanning 1977- 1992!
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This record is every XTC single, in chronological order, on a double CD. And a worthy addition to ANYONE'S collection.
As one wanders throught this parade of fruitful excellence, one can spot not one weak track, one flaw. This is a celebration of XTC, one of the greatest bands ever, perhaps, THE greatest, yet, for some almost unbelievable reason, a commercial flop. Every second this waits on the shelf is a second lost to the laughably bad spectacle of purely commercial pop, commercial acts which are made to look almost funnily bad by XTC, Swindon's answer to Beatles; yes, I would go as far as comparing them with the Beatles, the Stones - and this contains every single song ever to grace the charts from the pens and instruments of messyrs Partridge and Moulding- a must buy!
From the scratchy and unpolished yet still excellent 'Science Friction', through absolute gems such as 'Making Plans For Nigel', 'Sgt Rock (is going to help me)' and the amazing 'Senses Working Overtime' to the subtler delights of disc two, such as 'Great Fire', 'Wonderland' and 'Dear God', this album, and indeed XTC, from Drums and Wires to Wasp Star, radiate a musical joy second to none.
The big mistake with this album would be to listen only to disc one and their greater chart successes, instead of also tapping into the second disc, which, although disturbingly devoid of chart hits, is littered with spectacular musical sucesses from start to finish.
Although the highlights, being such hits as 'Senses Working Overtime' and 'Making Plans For Nigel' demand listening time, reject the other songs at your peril, especially the feel good 'Ten Feet Tall', the uplifting 'Great Fire', the charming yet fiery 'Dear God', the melodic and brooding 'Wait 'till Your boat goes down' and the gloriously romantic 'Love on a farmboy's wages'.
All in all, a fitting tribute to the most criminally unsuccessful yet criminally good bands ever, XTC.
As one wanders throught this parade of fruitful excellence, one can spot not one weak track, one flaw. This is a celebration of XTC, one of the greatest bands ever, perhaps, THE greatest, yet, for some almost unbelievable reason, a commercial flop. Every second this waits on the shelf is a second lost to the laughably bad spectacle of purely commercial pop, commercial acts which are made to look almost funnily bad by XTC, Swindon's answer to Beatles; yes, I would go as far as comparing them with the Beatles, the Stones - and this contains every single song ever to grace the charts from the pens and instruments of messyrs Partridge and Moulding- a must buy!
From the scratchy and unpolished yet still excellent 'Science Friction', through absolute gems such as 'Making Plans For Nigel', 'Sgt Rock (is going to help me)' and the amazing 'Senses Working Overtime' to the subtler delights of disc two, such as 'Great Fire', 'Wonderland' and 'Dear God', this album, and indeed XTC, from Drums and Wires to Wasp Star, radiate a musical joy second to none.
The big mistake with this album would be to listen only to disc one and their greater chart successes, instead of also tapping into the second disc, which, although disturbingly devoid of chart hits, is littered with spectacular musical sucesses from start to finish.
Although the highlights, being such hits as 'Senses Working Overtime' and 'Making Plans For Nigel' demand listening time, reject the other songs at your peril, especially the feel good 'Ten Feet Tall', the uplifting 'Great Fire', the charming yet fiery 'Dear God', the melodic and brooding 'Wait 'till Your boat goes down' and the gloriously romantic 'Love on a farmboy's wages'.
All in all, a fitting tribute to the most criminally unsuccessful yet criminally good bands ever, XTC.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This double CD tracks the development of XTC from the periphery of punk to the cottage industry of today. Every single is here, from the early crunch of "Science Friction" through the first hit "Making Plans for Nigel" to the releases from "Nonsuch" (Apple Venuses' predecessor): "Disappointed" and "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead". The gradual maturing of XTC's Quintessential English Sound (copywrite NME's cliche dept.) is emphasised by the strict chronological order of the tracks and reaches its peak with the chronically under-achieving Grass and Wonderland. Its hard to reference XTC to any other band (think Wilco, The Kinks, The Beatles even...) but if you like music of any genre there will be something here that strikes a chord - ravishing!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
XTC are now one of the most respected bands of the past 30 years - a cult group who started out as punk power poppers and slowly morphed into an acomplished Beatles/Beachboys hybrid. Their career can be split into two halves - 1978 to 82 when they regularly scored top 40 singles and relentlessly toured the mid - sized venues of Britian - and 83 to 2002 when the band became studio bound musicians, quietly crafting increasingly intricate and Beatlesque albums. Ironically the record buying public began to lose interest just as the critics came on side and XTC became the band of choice for intelligent, crafted and harmony driven pop/rock - Oasis with A levels.
Frontman and songwriter-in-chief Andy Partridge, along with bassist and sometime composer Colin Moulding, created some of the best singles of the new wave era - 'Making Plans For Nigel', 'Generals & Majors', 'Sgt Rock' and the top 10 hit 'Senses Working Overtime'. Smart, inovative and catchy as hell. Fossil Feul collects all the XTC singles together in chronological order, plus the American only 45's 'Ten Feet Tall' & 'Dear God', and puts forward a convincing argument for XTC as one of the finest and most underated singles acts of the 80's and 90's.
Spread over 2 CD's it's the second disc that contains the real gems - the folky 'Love On A Farm Boys Wages', the Lennonesque 'Great Fire' and Skylarking's peerless singles 'Grass' and 'The Meeting Place'. By the late 80's and early 90's XTC were in full Beatles mode - 'The Mayor Of Simpleton' and 'The Dissapointed' are brilliant songs that manage to stay just the right side of pastiche - full of ringing harmonies and swaggering McCartneyesque bass lines.
Partridge had also evolved into a lyricist of great skill - Costello and Chris Difford must have been looking over their collective shoulders - and with the supreme musicality of multi - instrumentalist Dave Gregory XTC should have been massive. Legal wranglings with record label Virgin combined with Partridge's refusal to ever tour again though lead to 1993's Nonsuch becoming their final major label release.
The band would eventually break this silence in 1999 with the excellent Apple Venus Vol 1 but it's with this collection of singles that Swindon's finest built their reputation.
Frontman and songwriter-in-chief Andy Partridge, along with bassist and sometime composer Colin Moulding, created some of the best singles of the new wave era - 'Making Plans For Nigel', 'Generals & Majors', 'Sgt Rock' and the top 10 hit 'Senses Working Overtime'. Smart, inovative and catchy as hell. Fossil Feul collects all the XTC singles together in chronological order, plus the American only 45's 'Ten Feet Tall' & 'Dear God', and puts forward a convincing argument for XTC as one of the finest and most underated singles acts of the 80's and 90's.
Spread over 2 CD's it's the second disc that contains the real gems - the folky 'Love On A Farm Boys Wages', the Lennonesque 'Great Fire' and Skylarking's peerless singles 'Grass' and 'The Meeting Place'. By the late 80's and early 90's XTC were in full Beatles mode - 'The Mayor Of Simpleton' and 'The Dissapointed' are brilliant songs that manage to stay just the right side of pastiche - full of ringing harmonies and swaggering McCartneyesque bass lines.
Partridge had also evolved into a lyricist of great skill - Costello and Chris Difford must have been looking over their collective shoulders - and with the supreme musicality of multi - instrumentalist Dave Gregory XTC should have been massive. Legal wranglings with record label Virgin combined with Partridge's refusal to ever tour again though lead to 1993's Nonsuch becoming their final major label release.
The band would eventually break this silence in 1999 with the excellent Apple Venus Vol 1 but it's with this collection of singles that Swindon's finest built their reputation.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
xtc - double cd - fossil fuel
brilliant 2xcd of all A sides.
grossly under-rated band from west country - ooh-ar!
and not a hint of scrumpy either. Read more
grossly under-rated band from west country - ooh-ar!
and not a hint of scrumpy either. Read more
Published 8 months ago by allister m hardwick
Pop Gold!
Before Christmas for some reason 'making plans for nigel' popped into my head. I remembered it from being at school and loved it then. Read more
Published 16 months ago by I. G. Stephens
well worth the money spent
I got this for my partner as a christmas gift,i had never heard of them so he put it on in his car and it was ace!
Published 17 months ago by niki p
Great CD
This is one of my favourite CDs. I listen to the first CD more than most which covers the band's best known period.
Most songs are singalongafoottappin' stuff. Read more
Most songs are singalongafoottappin' stuff. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mr. P. Fixter
Great collection
A chronological collection of XTC's singles for Virgin these highlight the band's development from post-punk power poppers to sublime songwriting craftsmen... Read more
Published on 29 July 2008 by D. Hanson
Original English Excellence
This collection is a superb introduction for the uninitiated and a wonderful reminder, for the fogeys, how good this band actually were. Read more
Published on 25 Mar 2007 by M. morris
Excellent introduction to XTC
If you are even remotely interested in discovering the copious delights offered up by the wonderful three-decade career of XTC, you would be well advised to start here; if... Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2005 by "robinlindopfisher"
XTC - Under rated genius!
When you mention XTC to the casual member of the public, they'll probably tell you they were one hit wonders, or that they remember 2 songs at best. Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2005 by Music Fan
Pop Perfection
Possibly the finest collection of English pop ever assembled since The Beatles. An outrageous claim, some might think, but I'll stand by it. Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2003 by "gusbucket1"
Marvellous
The eccentricity, cleverness and sheer catchiness of XTC's songwriting begs the question ; how the hell are they such commercial failures?! Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2001
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