Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Getting Fuzzier!!, 28 Nov 2004
Fuzzy Warbles?? I should say so - the Demo Archive series goes on....! Here we are at Volume 5, and what you get is pretty much identical to the other releases in this series. In truth, these CDs don't seem to be geared towards the casual listener, they are aimed at die hard XTC fans which presupposes a tolerance of the (frequent) indulgence of a lot of this material, sometimes dodgy sound quality, and occasional sound of bottoms of barrels being scraped. Don't get me wrong, I love XTC, am a huge fan of Andy Partridge's songs, and, as a rule, don't mind listening to demos and outtakes. However, there is some uninspiring stuff here - a dirgelike demo of "Earn Enough For Us", a first run through of "Mermaid Smiled", and worst of all, the 7 minutes of "Jacobs Ladder" which is the aural equivalent of watching paint dry, or could just be someone tuning up a synth. HOWEVER, there is some magnificent stuff here, in particular "I Defy You Gravity" - a bouncy and airy sounding demo of a song originally written for Sophie Ellis Bextor - and "My Land Is Burning" - a stirring, fully formed demo of a song intended for "Apple Venus". If you throw in "Young Cleopatra" (wittily written paean to a 14 year old girl from a 14 year old boy's perspective), "Broomstick Rhythm", an unadorned piano only version "Rook", and of course, Andy's humourous sleeve notes, and you're halfway towards a decent record. In my opinion, and much as I love XTC, I fear that the standard of these releases willd rop as they head towards the mooted 10. This is not a patch on the excellent Volume 1 (the first 2 mentioned tracks aside), and I wonder if the project would have worked better as a judicially compiled 3 or 4 CD box set. But while we wait for more new material from Partridge/XTC (please, please, please!!), this is an entertaining diversion which I imagine will, in parts, be well received by fans.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
For the absolute fans only..., 13 Feb 2006
Out-takes, home recordings and ephemera abound here as the masters of new wave practice their stuff (mainly from the lead singer and song writer Andy Partridge). Not one for casual listeners and will probably only inspire you to dig out the proper releases but nevertheless worth buying if you, like me, have an almost unhealthy love of XTC.
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