Early

Photos of a 'Early' Ratio adorn the chunky sleeve booklet.All Military shirts, khaki shorts, whistles and Trumpets. Looks kinda cool now.
There is also one snap of Jez Kerr, with telltale signs of Tan-Tastic running down his armpit. If you've seen the Steve Coogan film '24 Hour Party People' you'll know why.

Anyway onto the music. If you don't have any ACR records, this is definitely the one to get.

Guitarist Martin Moscrop says in the sleeve notes "..we were listening to stuff like Eno and Wire at the same time as Parliament".
The Wire influence is felt most strongly on the earliest stuff. Their first two-chord alt-funk masterpiece, 'All Night Party' (here in its drumless 7" version and Peel Session version with drums) has more than enough tension and drama to fit in on Wire's classic 'Chairs Missing'. Elsewhere, 'Flight', 'Waterline', 'Choir' etc. all evoke the unsettling atmosphere of Joy Division combined with a large helping of their fascination for electro and 70s funk that drove the sound of the later ACR material.

When Tony Wilson and New Order's late, great manager Rob Gretton discovered ACR they thought they'd found the new Velvet Underground. Listening to the first version 'All Night Party' its clear why. Wison didn't 'get' the later ACR stuff... but Gretton did.
Captured here are the moments where they got it just right, by combining dark, edgy Joy Division/Wire style "New Wave" noises with their shared passion for all things Funkadelic. At this stage they really sound like no other band on earth.

This is perhaps best exemplified on the track 'Waterline' (like much of this stuff released for the first time on CD). Funk bass, clacking snare drums and vocoder are all-but weighed down by the eeire sound effects and ominous industrial drones to somewhat sinister effect. It is truly spellbinding stuff.

There are even a couple of tracks from the much maligned 'Id Like to See you Again'. I'd still argue this among their best work despite what some of you may think. Factory Funk...in more ways than one.

This compilation stops in 1985 (and there was a lot more good material to come) but this is all prime stuff. Many tracks feature Martin Hannett at the the controls, adding Joy Divisionesque texture and space to the scratchy, European funk-punk that ACR did so well in those days. And someone in the re-mastering stages has added a pleasing kick to the bass to apply a revisionist extra 'woomph' to their sound which is most felt on 'Shack-Up', perhaps their most well known track and a firm favourite in Manchester's legendary (now demolished) Hacienda nightclub.

You also get a little film clip of early ACR taken by Michael Shamberg in New York in 1980 combining a rather serious looking ACR rehearsing their percussion breaks in a New York loft segued with some live clips...with former member Simon Topping seemingly caught between whether he should be Ian Curtis or George Clinton. Bernard Sumner from New Order clearly got his stagecraft from this man!

As with any compilation there will be some glaring ommisons.
There is nothing, bar a demo track, from their superb debut LP 'To Each...', and where the heck is the thunderous electro-funk monster that was 'Mickey Way'? Why choose the sloppy LP version of 'Knife Slits Water' with Martha Tilson's irritating vocals over the fantastic 7" version sung by Drummer Donald Johnson? And why the inferior version of ACRs signature tune 'Si Firmo O Grido' (taken from a Touch compilation) over any of the infinitely more exciting live versions that must exist in the vaults?
Maybe Soul Jazz have some more ACR re-releases up their sleeve. Lets Hope so.

Gripes aside, this is still a perfect introduction to a fascinating band, and contains more than enough to tempt those of you who are already fans.