Dirty Hits

Then there is the obvious choice of Rocks and Jailbird which are solid rock n roll tracks, but Cry myself blind feels somewhat out of place, I'd have gone for give out but don't give up to keep the beats going.

As for the songs on Vanishing point, it's hard to fault the selection, though again the first 2 songs Burning Wheel & Kowalski have been shortened, burning wheel misses it's laid back 1 minute ambient intro, & in my opinion Kowalski should have been left untouched.

Then there is the songs from in my view Primal Screams best album, xtrminator, swstika eyes, classic song, sorely misses it's little intro, likewise with kill all hippies. The album in many ways reminds of the complete Stone Roses best of, where classic tracks were shortened & to an extent ruined!

So we get edited versions of many of the tracks here (Loaded, Swastika Eyes, Kill all Hippies) & the sole 'new' track is a so-so re-recording on the Kate Moss-duet, the Lee Hazlewood song Some Velvet Morning (as featured in KM's cosmetic ads & on EvilHeat). The years post-The Wake/Psychocandy, pre-Screamadelica aren't acknowledged- no poor C-86 guff like All Fall Down (probably a good thing), but worse, no Velocity Girl- a song that was the model for Stone Roses Made of Stone & is found (poorly) covered on Manic Street Preachers' recent b-sides collection Lipstick Traces. Nothing from the Love-wannabe album Sonic Flower Groove (again, probably a good thing- but maybe a track like Leaves would have been interesting?) & worse, nothing from my fave their eponymous album of 1989. THis is a shame, as tracks like Ivy Ivy Ivy showcase the fact that they haven't moved on that much, & they would fit in with the crop of pseud "garage" bands! But the lack of ballads You're Just Too Dark To Care & I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have (the model for Loaded) is a shame. Four tracks stem from Screamadelica- the edited take of Loaded, the Stones/George Michael "Faith" tribute Movin' On Up (does capture the 'E'-life), the superior single take of Come Together (a great pop song, up there with 'Everything Begins with an E'& 'A Love Song from Outer Space')& the Orb take of Higher Than the Sun- their finest moment & one of the great singles of all time. No Damaged though- & nothing from the Dixie-Narco ep- missing such joys as the track Screamadelica, Stone My Soul & the cover of Dennis Wilson's Carry Me Home.

They then went all retro, again showing that they are quite contemporary with the flawed Give Out But Don't Give Up- a good party record, but you could just play Exile on Main Street, Maggot Brain, or There's a Riot Goin On (after all, they probably did) Rocks uses that same drumbeat from Dance to the Music-The Light Pours Out of Me-I am the Resurrection & owes more than a passing debt to the opening track of Exile on Main St. Jailbird does sound quite good- though this is countered by the dull ballad Cry Myself Blind; to be honest, this kind of retro thing was done much better by Wilco on Being There (1996), Whiskeytown's Stranger's Almanac (1996) & Jayhawk's career (note PS used their producer).

A change of line-up & another missing single (the Irvine Welsh football song with On-U-Sound from 1996)leads to the album I think is their best, Vanishing Point (1997). Though we get edited takes of the brilliant Burning Wheel, Top Ten ode to Vanishing Point (1970) Kowalski & the Joy Division a-sounding Long Life. Good they dumped Star, as this is an irritating track that was not only associated with Cocaine Di (thanks to Chris Evans), but appears to believe that Rosa Parks is dead!!!!!! The MBV Arkestra remix is passed over & we cut to 1999 for Swatsika Eyes- not the best mix & hardly worthy of the PIL-analogies made by journos. The other songs are the single take of Kill All Hippies (quite ironic if you look at the history of the band), the Stones-futurism of Accelerator (not as great as Royal Trux's though) & a curious choice in Shoot Speed/Kill Light, which is still not as good as LA Blues from 1970. Pity Bernard Sumner's ode to Closer, Keep Your Dreams is left off & also Insect Royalty, from the crap film The Acid House. Finally four selections from Evil Heat- the aforementioned Kate Moss-duet remodelled; the pulsing Miss Lucifer- which loses a lot of effect minus the video & is essentially as revolutionary as Sheep on Drugs & Sigue Sigue Sputnik (rather than Suicide). Deep Hit of Morning Sun is rather good, on a par with the so-called avant garde Radiohead (when did alternative become so unadventerous?) & the closing Autobahn 66 is rather nice retro-Krautrock.

This collection is typically average, it misses out too much, irritates with the edited versions & appears to point to the fact that PS have great record collections, which isn't the same thing as making them a great band...