Covermount CDs seem to focus mainly on releases of new music, with the occasional re-issue thrown in for seasoning. Because Uncut has such a focus on 'heritage' acts, it's hard to tell sometimes which is which. The acts and the media alike have removed any sense that now is a different moment from the past at the same time as smoothing the contours that distinguished good from mediocre. Everything's an amorphous blur, bleeding into everything else.
Was the Dr John track recorded in the seventies or is it brand new, as of 2001? (The latter, in fact.) Thin Lizzy/Phil Lynott have a track next to one by his old sparring partner, Bob Geldof: it's pretty obvious that the Lynott is old (1976), but the Geldof is new.
I listened at first with The (recovering) Boy and without the CD case to hand: he started bobbing his head and clapping to the up tempo rocker, which turned out on later inspection to be by The Damned. I lose track with these bands: are The Damned a going concern? If they're reformed, do they have more than one original member? And are they inflicting new material on long-suffering fans, or just touring the old hits? Wikipedia, of course, has the answers: yes; yes, two originals; and yes, they are inflicting.
And then there was this extraordinary cover version of The Needle and the Damage Done, like something Bongwater had had rejected from inclusion in The Bridge. Chins drop on consulting the CD to find that it's by Simple frigging Minds! Turns out they did a whole album of unlikely covers. Who knew? Who cared?
Discogs entry for this album
Wikipedia entry for this album
Rate Your Music entry for this album
Listen to this album in full at Last.fm
Comments