Wilder [Original recording remastered, Extra tracks]

This particluar version sports stunning sound and a slew of b-sides. (The chamber music version of Suffocate and Christ vs. Warhol are both missing, though)

Nonetheless, this is the most definitive version of this masterpiece currently available. Get it!

This reissue gives both covers to seperate issues of Wilder and along with some lovely remastering includes the rare Buff Manilla mini-lp- which had tracks that would turn up on the Tiny Children & You Disappear from View singles (and in a slightly different form on 1990's Everybody Wants to Shag the Teardrop Explodes collection).

Every Wilder track does it for me, some more than most being Bent Out of Shape, The Culture Bunker ("waitin for The Crucial Three"), Like Leila Khaled Said & The Great Dominions. Top production by Clive Langer and Copey was on great form as a songwriter- despite the chemical incendaries et al apparent if you read his Head On memoir. And it's safe to say that Passionate Friend is one of the greatest pop songs ever- despite its odd structure; must admit I was shocked Cope wasn't nominated for this Great Britons thing- as great a British/English songwriter as Morrissey/Marr, Andy Partridge, Ray Davies, Madness etc...

The bonus tracks are nice- even if the Pete Wylie influenced Christ Vs Warhol referred to in the liner notes is absent. I think Rachel Built a Steamboat is a little dull, though this is probably just a David Balfe grievance in disguise (have you read Head On?Pass me the bucket of sewage...Though this is probably just a Blur thing in disguise. Or Diesel Park West. Or Jesus Jones...)

You Disappear from View was a top single that should have turned up on Island's Floored Genius compilation- though it is the b-side Suffocate that stands out. Oh, and the gorgeous Soft Enough for You is one of those ultimate love songs like Dennis Wilson's Cuddle Up or American Music Club's Western Sky that no one knows...

Wilder is the first great Cope album- and would be followed by other classics like World Shut Your Mouth, Fried, Skellington, Peggy Suicide & Jehovahkill. And as bands like The Coral sound very Teardrops on the likes of Goodbye, it is quite apparent this is timeless stuff like The Beatles that transcends the era.