- Audio CD (15 Oct 2007)
- Number of Discs: 2
- Label: EMI
- ASIN: B000V07L2E
- Other Editions: MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 99,416 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Jubilee Offer: Patriotic Classics for £2.50 |
Product details |
Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Surfin' USM | |||
| 2. 24 Minutes From Tulse Hill | |||
| 3. After The Watershed (Early Learning The Hard Way) | |||
| 4. Rent | |||
| 5. Shopper's Paradise | |||
| 6. Midnight On The Murder Mile | |||
| 7. The Young Offender's Mum | |||
| 8. Always The Bridesmaid Never The Bride | |||
| 9. Lenny And Terence | |||
| 10. Let's Get Tattoos | |||
See all 18 tracks on this disc
| |||
| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Glam Rock Cops | |||
| 2. Re-Educating Rita | |||
| 3. Born On 5th November | |||
| 4. Do Re Me So Far So Good | |||
| 5. Rubbish | |||
| 6. Lean On Me I Won't Fall Over | |||
| 7. Girls Can Keep A Secret | |||
| 8. The Only Living Boy In New Cross | |||
| 9. Say It With Flowers | |||
| 10. Bloodsport For All | |||
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See all 17 tracks on this disc
| |||
Product Description
Review
England: it's rubbish, innit? Carter USM sound like England. The sound of football chants, nursery rhymes and bad puns. Their landscape is urban: grimy bedsits and abortion clinics, young offenders drunk down the pub, petty theft on litter strewn streets.
For about five years from 1987 Jim Bob and Fruitbat clawed their way up the ladder then called 'indie' from Rough Trade to Chrysalis to EMI and even scored a number one album. Carter were the Pet Shop Boys on the dole, replacing Neil Tennant's West End elegance with South London grime and sarcasm, and sleek electronic pop with cheap synthesizers, punk guitars, a Roland drum machine, and primitive samples. They even covered the Pets Shop Boys 'Rent' turning it into a scream of overdriven anguish.
This double CD pulls together their best songs. I was expecting two CDs to be far too much, but this is a well thought out selection that showcases the full range of their material. The drum machine sounds dated and the guitars mushy in places, but the quality of the songwriting shines through.
The righteous anger of 'Bloodsport For All' a song attacking racist bullying in the army still has the power to stir the blood. 'England''s hurdy gurdy and sordid sex could have come from Brecht's Beggar's Opera. The delicate yearning pulse of 'And God Created Brixton' IS the Pet Shop Boys, only with Billy Bragg on vocals. The stark passionate melodrama of 'A Prince in A Pauper's Grave' is crying out to be covered by some dark diva.
It's only twenty years ago but it seems like light years away. Today's 'alternative' music is too slick, too shiny, too designed. What we need is a Carter USM musical. Take the best songs here, orchestrate them and turn them into a show. A show about shattered dreams and ruined lives, a show as bleak as Chicago but with a London accent. --Nick Reynolds
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
If you buy this record today, it's not true what the advertisements say...
This compilation of tracks from Carter USM's career seems like the perfect way to reminisce back from 10 - 20 years ago, and also a perfect preparation for the forthcoming Brixton and Glasgow gigs!
The two discs include both album cuts and b-sides (although if you have Starry Eyed and Bollock Naked and the album collection there may not be anything you haven't already got -a bit like Straw Donkey then)
Great compilation of tracks though, and perfect for anyone who is wondering what that guy with the funny hair was doing on totp all those years ago.
This compilation of tracks from Carter USM's career seems like the perfect way to reminisce back from 10 - 20 years ago, and also a perfect preparation for the forthcoming Brixton and Glasgow gigs!
The two discs include both album cuts and b-sides (although if you have Starry Eyed and Bollock Naked and the album collection there may not be anything you haven't already got -a bit like Straw Donkey then)
Great compilation of tracks though, and perfect for anyone who is wondering what that guy with the funny hair was doing on totp all those years ago.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Great band.Great guys. Comp album with the hits though its worth getting the individual albums as they are all great songs esp 101 Damnations which I bough on vinyl upon its first release.
For lovers of this band you really must check out the numerous releases & gigs by Fruitbat (Abdoujaporov) and Jimbob which are still great though criminally overlooked.
For lovers of this band you really must check out the numerous releases & gigs by Fruitbat (Abdoujaporov) and Jimbob which are still great though criminally overlooked.
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