tanagranoizz
Joined: 19 Jul 2004 Posts: 52 Location: Klausenburg, Transilvania, RO
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Posted: 06-12-2004, 15:54 Post subject: Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Best Of [DCD+DVD] (2004) |
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Released in 2004, this Box set contains an audio & video collection of some of the most memorable Siouxsie & The Banshees songs.
The material present on this release is not by any means new. The box contains one DVD and two CDs. The DVD presents itself with 14 pieces from the band's videography, for the first time available on DVD. Most of you probably know this material from VHS cassetes released in 1985 and 1992, "Once Upon A Time" and respectively "Twice Upon A Time". Not all the footage from these prior released cassetes is available on this DVD, allthough there would have been plenty of free space. Besides, on the DVD, no bonus material is present, as one might expect.
On the other hand, a new track is present, belonging to the 1996 album "Rapture", called "Stargazer". The reason might be that this video footage was released after "Twice Upon A Time" was. The DVD spans at an aproximate 54 minutes and it has "region zero", which means that it will be playable on any DVD player, regardless of it's location. One can select 2.0 or 5.1 Dolby Surround, on this DVD. The package includes another two CDs. The first CD contains exactly the tracks from the DVD, only in audio format, with the sole exception of one extra track, "Dizzy". If you are aqcuainted with the popular "Once Upon A Time" and "Twice Upon A Time" singles collections, this disc hold no particular interest.
The second CD contains an extended version for "Spellbound", not very different from the original, plus 8 other remixes. This second disc is totally useless, not to mention a piece of crap. I listened to it once and I had enough. I'm not playing it in my CD player ever again! Remixes were never among my favourite choices of music. Other than comercial, I can't really see this "Best Of"s reason for being released. It is clearly a comercial speculation from the record company or, at it's best, an introduction to Siouxie & The Banshees for first time listeners. I would much have prefered in it's place, a re-release of the band's entire videography or, why not, a re-release of the out of print 1983 live performance "Nocturne " VHS. At the same time, both CDs are, in their turn, futile. On one hand the "Once/Twice Upon A Time" releases were far more complete and, on the other hand, in 1992 "The Best Of Siouxsie And The Banshees" was released as self standing audio material. This having been said, the owner of the latter release that would be tempted into buying this DVD would have to pay extra for the two CDs that are of no value to him or her. Not to mention that a single DVD would have been far more affordable.
To sum up, this release has left me with a bitter taste, even considering that the video footage was out of print. Still, even if their music is great, Siouxie & Co. are not even among the best when it comes to video art. Rather than spending good money on this DVD, I would prefer advising the potential buyer into owning music albums like "Scream", "Nocturne" or "Ju JU". To finish on a higher note, I would like to bring to your atention that by the end of November 2004, a 4 CD compilation containing b-sides, previously unreleased and out-of-print material will be available to the public. This release will bare the name of "Down Side Up" and you'll be reading about it on Dark Romania on this column. :)
Mark: 7.5/10
Review taken from http://www.darkromania.ro , reviewed by Ionutz and translated from Romanian into English by [glow=blue]tanagranoizz[/glow].
Tracklist:
*CD 1:
1.Dear Prudence
2.Hong Kong Garden
3.Cities In Dust
4.Peek-A-Boo
5.Happy House
6.Kiss Them For Me
7.Face To Face
8.Dizzy
9.Israel
10.Christine
11.Spellbound
12.Stargazer
13.Arabian Knights
14.The Killing Jar
15.This Wheel's On Fire
*CD 2:
1.Spellbound (Extented 12'' Version)
2.Song From The Edge Of The World (Columbus Mix)
3.Kiss Them For Me (Kathak #2 Mix)
4.Peek-A-Boo (Silver Dollar Mix)
5.The Killing Jar (Lepidopteristic Mix)
6.Cities In Dust (Eruption Mix)
7.Dazzle (Glamour Mix)
8.Stargazer (Mambo Sun Mix)
9.Face To Face (Catatonic Mix)
*DVD:
1.Dear Prudence
2.Hong Kong Garden
3.Cities In Dust
4.Peek-A-Boo
5.Happy House
6.Kiss Them For Me
7.Face To Face
8.Israel
9.Christine
10.Spellbound
11.Stargazer
12.Arabian Knights
13.The Killing Jar
14.This Wheel's On Fire
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