Keepsakes: A Collection [2CD + DVD] [CD+DVD] [Box set]

"Keepsakes" covers the time that All About Eve spent with Phonogram and Universal from 1988 to 1992, and adds in some new material from 2004 and 2006. Apart from a few early indie singles (which are covered in full on the CD "Return To Eden") this means it's a complete career retrospective, and is the first time that tracks from the band's 4 studio albums have appeared on a single compilation. Particularly significant is that tracks from the long deleted albums "Touched By Jesus" (1991) and "Ultraviolet" (1992) are available again after a long absence from the shops.

Essentially CD1 covers the first two albums, "All About Eve" (1988) and "Scarlet And Other Stories" (1989), while CD2 tackles the later two - although both CDs break this trend by ending with newer tracks.

All of the band's 'major label' singles are included, most in their original form but bonuses include Flowers In Our Hair represented by it's extended 12" version, Wild Hearted Woman by an unreleased live recording from 1988 and What Kind Of Fool appears in the form of the mellower Autumn Rhapsody mix.

As well as the singles there are some well-chosen b-sides (such as Calling Your Name, appearing here on CD for the first time and sounding fresher than it's age would suggest), a wonderful (and electric) unreleased version of Wildflowers from a 1988 BBC Session and more unreleased live tracks from 1988. Add in a previously unavailable studio cover of Pink Floyd's See Emily Play and an alternate version of Ultraviolet's I Don't Know, and then remember that there are a crop of quality album tracks on "Keepsakes" as well and it's obvious that this compilation is considerably more comprehensive than any that have been released before. Maybe that's not surprising, as singer Julianne Regan had a hand in putting it together.

Oh, and don't forget the new tracks. Raindrops is the first collaboration for 15 years between Julianne Regan and original guitarist Tim Bricheno, Keepsakes is a download-only single that picks up where 2004's Let Me Go Home (which is also included) left off. All four new tracks prove that All About Eve definitely aren't stuck in the late 80s.

For the casual listener, who maybe doesn't have any All About Eve CDs and has a vague recollection of hearing Martha's Harbour (their biggest chart hit), then "Keepsakes" is a great place to start as it includes everything you're likely to be familiar with and pulls the best tracks from all 4 albums.

For the diehard completist the quality and quantity of new material and previously unreleased tracks make it a 'must buy'.

For anyone stuck somewhere between 'casual' and 'die-hard', maybe someone with some of the albums already on their shelf who's a fan of the band, then there's enough here of interest that you won't already have (the b-sides, the live tracks, the BBC session, the unreleased material, the new songs) to make it a more-than-worthwhile buy.

Something for everyone, then.

But there's more.... The limited edition DVD in this set is the icing on what's already a very tasty cake. Every promo video the band ever made is included (15 tracks in all), along with 7 TV appearances (including their famous Top Of The Pops debut for Martha's Harbour). Nine of the promo videos have never been commercially released in any form, and as they were rarely seen at the time of release they make a very welcome debut here. Universal have done a fine job in the transfer to DVD, the TV footage probably looking better now than it did on original broadcast in the 80s when we had dodgy analogue reception and mono sound. At least, we did where I lived!

Something for everyone, and some, then.

Although all the major-label singles and a large number of fans' favourites are on here, the band have steered well clear of producing the standard "greatest hits" package. In fact, it's almost possible to detect a degree of cynicism about the whole project, from the sleeve notes and track selections - but this is after all the band who once sang that "To breathe life into the dust of a keepsake, I might as well try to fix a chain on a snowflake"... They've succeeded by ensuring that much of the "classic" material in this collection is represented by new or less familiar recordings: extended versions ("Flowers In Our Hair" and "December"), live recordings ("Our Summer", "Wild Hearted Woman"), or brand new mixes (the truly terrifying new recording of "What Kind of Fool"). There's also a sprinkling of rare material; All About Eve's B-sides were classics in their own right (and ensure that the vinyl is still collectible today), so the availability of tracks like "Calling Your Name" and "Drowning" on CD is a welcome bonus. My only criticism here is that this rich vein of material wasn't plundered nearly enough for the real diehard fans.

The second CD allows the band a chance to showcase a large amount of material from the long-deleted "Touched By Jesus" and "Ultraviolet" albums, with about two-thirds of each album appearing here. The sounds are grungier, less folk-tinged, on these tracks, but Julianne Regan's voice is as pure and ethereal as ever. The vocal on "Phased" makes me as weak at the knees as does the vocal of "Martha's Harbour", though for very different reasons, and in "Wishing the Hours Away" and "Are You Lonely?" (the single that never was) Julianne's voice sounds more beautiful than ever. If there's a criticism here, it's that the album tracks have been piled in in more or less random order, and don't always flow well from one track to the next ("I Don't Know", for instance, really seems to grate after the trancey "Freeze"). The brand new tracks at the end of the album provide a good snapshot of All About Eve today - still touring, seemingly at home with each of their past musical incarnations, and happy to borrow contemporary influences as well as classic ones. 2004 single "Let Me Go Home" is pure Nu-Metal; "Keepsakes" could have been an Evanescence track, and the gorgeous "Raindrops" (an unexpected songwriting credit from original lead guitarist Tim Bricheno, now seemingly reconciled with the band after a dramatic and well-publicised break-up) is reminiscent of "Martha's Harbour" but with thoroughly modern beats and keyboards to accompany it.

The limited-edition DVD is the real treasure on this collection, featuring video footage of all the mainstream singles from "Flowers In Our Hair" to "Let Me Go Home", as well as a well assembled collection of promotional appearances. They've stopped short of including their infamous "Top of the Pops" disaster, but by providing the footage of the identically staged repeat performance there's a sort of knowing nod in the direction of the fans who howled in dismay at their television screens at the time. The video footage chronicles the band's musical and emotional evolution perhaps even better than the audio CDs: from the Kate Bush-like liturgical dance of "In the Clouds" and the warped Angela Carter playroom of "What Kind of Fool", to the almost urban sophistication of a short-haired, greatcoated Julianne in "Some Finer Day". There are some odd moments (the sea-urchin-like thing in the opening frames of "Phased", and the gypsy stable which turns for no apparent reason into a rehearsal stage in "Road To Your Soul") and some sublime ones too: the understated, sepia storytelling of "Farewell Mr. Sorrow" provides three truly poignant minutes and even manages to make us forget that this was originally an anthem to Tim Bricheno's acrimonious departure.

Finally, for the fans, the sleeve notes are a veritable goldmine of anecdotes and reflections from almost all the former band members and their various producers and promoters. With the benefit of hindsight, Julianne and the lads have a forgiving, rather philosophical take on the bust-ups of the past and their disagreements with producers and record labels. Having gone through the traumas, they are an older and wiser band, now content to plough their own furrow but confident too that they'll not be doing so alone. With this collection, they're sure to please the long-standing fans, and hopefully attract some new ones. There's never been a better time for their music to be rediscovered.

So when are we going to get the rarities compilation then?