Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hey! Can I Say Something?, 5 Aug 2006
This is the long-awaited box set of rare, unheard of demos, mixes and remixes from one of the most influential groups of the 1980s - Art of Noise.
The first two CDs - "The Very Start of Noise" and "Found Sounds & Field Trips" - are mainly snatches of what was to be rather than what is. There are, though, several tracks that have had the spit and polish treatment and one feels that all that is missing is one of the fantastic singles covers and then you would have an early Close (to the Edit) (a version 0.9, perhaps?).
The third CD - "Who's Afraid of... Goodbye" - is billed as an alternative version of "Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise" and delivers exactly as promised. Again, this feels as if it could have been a proper release. The CD is finished off with a few tracks created round about the time of The Split.
The fourth CD - "Extended Play" - is a compilation of the various albumettes released during the ZTT years and allows the collector to complete his collection.
There is also a 32-page book that has an introduction to each CD in the collection and then what appears to be verbatim dialogue from a round table session with all five members. Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, JJ Jeczalik, Gary Langan and Paul Morley all seem to get along rather nicely now and seem to enjoy remembering how all of the tracks came about.
The box set itself is a hard back book with digipack CD holders attached to the inside covers (two at the front and two at the back) which seems extremely well made. The book is very glossy and looks expensive. My only criticism is that it is too big for the CD shelf.
But that is Art of Noise to a tee - they start off with normality and twist it into something that little bit different, that little bit skewed, especially the title "And What Have you Done With My Body, God?" After all, what's wrong with "The Complete Art of Noise" or "Art of Noise: the ZTT Years"? I'll tell you. Art of Noise are different, special and completely un-boring, unconventional, un-normal, un-anything.
Is it worth it? For a hardcore fan, yes, the box set is worth it - it contains many hours of tracks that only existed as rumours. For somebody who likes Art of Noise, yes, it probably is. For somebody who doesn't know who they are, try "Daft" first and then buy this.
Now, when's "The Art of Noise: the China Years" due out?
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
And suddenly there came a..., 28 Nov 2006
... great deal of unedited Fairlight samples.
Fans of early Art of Noise, who enjoyed Paul Morley's hype, Trevor Horn's production and Anne Dudley's melodies, will quite likely have a fair amount of this material already. Some was only available on cassette, and some on vinyl deleted almost immediately.
However: even for fans, this isn't something you'll want to put into the CD and play from end to end. Better to dip and and dip out of it - perhaps load tracks into the iPod and have them appear at random.
And for non-fans? Start with Daft, or even the China Records period AoN, it's probably more accessible.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Long awaited bliss for AON fans everywhere!, 24 May 2007
This is a lovingly and carefully put together collection of memoirs and snippets from the editing room floor. All five members of Art of Noise have contributed to this, and it is a pleasure to see that JJ Jeczalik and Gary Langan have given their input too, perhaps indicating that they've decided to put their past differences with ZTT behind them? This CD is informal and provides an interesting insight into life behind The Band Without A Face. A must - have for Art of Noise fans everywhere.
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