Genesis - Six Of The Best (Redux) (1982)

Time for another guest post from Mike Solof, and it's an upgrade to a unique album by one of the favourite bands of both of us...Genesis

This project came about because I always loved this 1982 reunion concert but was always disheartened that it was never properly recorded at the time, and that the only versions of it that exist are mostly mid, to fairly decent, audience recordings… UNTIL NOW! What a lot of people don’t know is that four days before the concert, the group gathered together at the Hammersmith Odeon concert hall and professionally recorded the rehearsal of almost the entire concert! I stumbled across these recording years after I had purchased the original bootleg of the live concert, and I was stunned. It contained beautiful, clear, stereo recordings of almost every song they played live just a few days later, with only 'Turn It On Again' and I' Know What I Like In Your Wardrobe)' missing. My friend Paul from Albums That Should Exist (I often guest post there too), recently took the original bootleg of the live concert and remastered it. He did a beautiful job, but still the source was only a fairly decent audience recording, and so there is only so much he could do to improve the sound quality. But then I had a thought. 

Let me digress for a moment. I have lots of bootlegs. And by lots I mean 14TB’s worth. And many times, when the bootleggers couldn’t make a complete concert from one source, they would use a second one (or third or fourth or in some cases even a fifth) to fill in the missing spots so that you got the entire concert with nothing left out. This meant you had the entire show, but often the sound quality varied from source to source. To hear the entire concert you just had to deal with the sound quality changes as it went along. And that’s when I had a thought - why couldn’t I take the fair sounding live concert, and mix in the phenomenal sounding rehearsal recordings to get a really cool sonic upgrade. So that was the Genesis (lol) of this project! I wanted to be as true to the live source as I could…and yet replace as much as I could with the upgraded soundboard recordings. So what you have here is my hybrid version mixing the live and soundboard rehearsal recording. What I ended up doing was first listening to the live recording and seeing which part of each song had that live feel, meaning which parts the audience participated in the most. Sometimes that was clapping out the beat. Other times it was singing along with Gabriel during the chorus’s. And others it was just applauding and cheering in between songs. I wanted to really capture the essence of those original live recordings, but as we all know (or at least hope), crowds don’t yell and scream throughout the entire songs of a concert, usually they just do it at the beginnings and endings, and occasionally other key parts too. 

That gave me my way into this project. I have taken the parts with the audience (usually the beginnings and endings)… and then mixed in the soundboard material as much as possible for the remainder of the song. So the entire concert ended up being about 25% live and 75% soundboard. And, amazingly, it turned out to be a seamless mix! Ok, that’s a lie. It actually turned out to be a semi-seamless mix most of the time. I tried my best to make the transitions between live and soundboard as smooth as I could, but the problem was thqat the live cuts were well...live, and the soundboard was in a perfectly quiet concert hall, so occasionally the transitions are glaringly apparent. I did as much as I could to smooth these spots out by overlapping parts and then fading in and out the tops and tails of the switches and they ended up being mostly successful. The most unsuccessful of these attempts unfortunately occurs during the first song, 'Back In N.Y.C.'. I had a double problem with that one. On top of trying to mix live and soundboard, the rehearsal version of this track cuts in about a third of the way into the track mid sentence, so not only did I have to include a lot more of the fair sounding live version than I would like, but the edit also comes mid sentence. There was no way to smooth this over. It just suddenly happens. BUT THAT’S THE ONLY TIME IT HAPPENS! So be forewarned. It gets much better after the first track! I’m really happy with how this turned out. I think it offers a great alternative to the commonly found live concert and puts its own unique spin on that incredible night. So please, sit back and enjoy this NEW version of 'Six Of The Best' in hopefully the best way you’ll ever hear it! It is certainly an eye and ear opening experience!!        Michael

For my part I thought that this new version deserved it's own unique cover, and so I located an article about the concert in Prog Magazine, which has a superb cover picture, and I've adapted that for the artwork to the album.       pj

Track listing

01 Intro by Jonathan King

02 Back In N.Y.C.

03 Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (Opening Section)

04 The Carpet Crawlers

05 Introduction by Peter Gabriel

06 Firth Of Fifth

07 The Musical Box

08 Solsbury Hill

09 Turn It On Again

10 The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway

11 Fly On A Windshield / Broadway Melody Of 1974

12 In The Cage

13 Tube Story

14 Supper's Ready

15 I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

16 The Knife

17 Closing Words

PS. You guys all know I love to include info packed PDF’s for each of my projects, and this one is no different. In the folder is the original PDF info as provided by Paul on his site. (Check it out… it’s an amazing sister site to this one!) He did such a great job on it that I knew I couldn’t do better, so he’s generously letting me just repost it here. Thanks Paul!! 

Michael 

Vain - All Those Strangers (1991)

Vain was an American glam metal band from San Francisco Bay Area, California, formed in 1986, and consisting of Davy Vain (lead vocals), Dylana Nova Scott (guitar), Danny West (rhythm guitar), Ashley Mitchell (bass) and Tommy Rickard (drums). From 1986 to 1987 the band proceeded to play shows in San Francisco, before playing regularly in Los Angeles where they also opened for Guns N' Roses prior to their success. After showcasing to major record labels, including Geffen Records, Vain signed with Island Records in 1988. They released their debut album the following year, with 'No Respect' peaking at number 154 on the Billboard 200. The record was critically well received, and the band fearured on the covers of both Kerrang! and BAM magazines. They began recording their second album, titled 'All Those Strangers', with producer Jeff Hendrickson, and its release was advertised in Japan, while a number of pre-release cassettes were released. However, when Island Records were bought by PolyGram in 1991, Vain were dropped by the label, and 'All Those Strangers' remains unreleased. The same year, West and Rickard departed the band, being replaced by Shawn Rorie and former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler, after which Vain renamed themselves Road Crew, although that band split up before the year was out. Vain reformed in 1993 and went through a number of line-up changes for the release of their next two studio albums, and by 2005 Scott and West had returned to the band, with Rickard rejoining in 2009. In all, Vain recorded seven albums between 1989 and 2017, although only six of them gained an official release, and to to complete the set here is the cancelled 'All Those Strangers' from 1991.

Track listing

01 Love Drug
02 Planet’s Turning
03 Shooting Star
04 Too Bad
05 Far Away
06 Wake Up
07 Freak Flag
08 Here Comes Lonely
09 Shouldn’t Cry
10 Do You Sleep With Strangers?
11 Looking Glass

Leona Lewis - Unreachable (2009)

After Leona Lewis won the third series of The X Factor in 2006, her winning song was released as a single on 17 December 2006, and 'A Moment Like This' broke a world record after being digitally downloaded more than 50,000 times in less than 30 minutes, becoming the UK Christmas number-one single for that year. In February 2007 she signed a £5 million five-album contract in the United States with Clive Davis's record label, J Records, with Simon Cowell and Davis working together in a "first-of-its-kind" partnership on both the song and producer selection for Lewis's debut album, 'Spirit'. When the record was released in November 2007 it entered both the Irish Albums Chart and the UK Albums Chart at number one, becoming the fastest-selling debut album in both countries, and the UK's fourth-fastest selling album of all time. Lewis's second single, 'Bleeding Love', produced by Ryan Tedder and written by Tedder and Jesse McCartney, was released in October 2007 in the UK, giving her a second number one single, remaining at the top of the charts for eight weeks. In August 2008, Lewis performed 'Whole Lotta Love' with guitarist Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Beijing, representing the handover to London as the host of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Work on her second album, 'Echo', took place throughout 2009, including work with Ryan Tedder, Justin Timberlake, Max Martin, Arnthor Birgisson, Kevin Rudolf, and John Shanks, and it was recorded in Los Angeles and took nine months to produce. It was released in November 2009, and reached reached number one in the UK Albums Chart, as well as the top ten of Austria, Ireland and Switzerland. She also recorded the theme song for the 2009 science fiction film 'Avatar', with 'I See You' being nominated for Best Original Song at the 67th Golden Globe Awards. The Sessions for 'Echo' produced more recordings than could be included on the album, and in recent years a number of unused tracks have leaked, and there are enough from 2009 alone to make a companion album to 'Echo' from the same time-frame, so here are the best of the 2009 outtakes, including a studio version of 'Whole Lotta Love', the theme from 'Avatar', and one left-over from 'Spirit', so as not to waste 'Stay Tonight'.   

Track listing

01 Scene Of The Crime
02 Drive
03 Stay Tonight
04 Fly Here Now
05 You Don't Care
06 Whole Lotta Love
07 Strangers
08 Let Somebody Love You
09 Nowhere Left To Go (feat. Cassidy)
10 I See You
11 Unreachable
12 Intervention 
13 Perfect Stranger
14 Danger Made Me

Guns N' Roses - 2000 Intentions (2000)

'Chinese Democracy' was the sixth studio album from Guns N' Roses, released on November 23, 2008, and it was their first studio album since the 1993 covers album 'The Spaghetti Incident?', and their first album of original studio material since 'Use Your Illusion' I and II came out in 1991. It languished in development hell for eight years, delayed by personnel and legal problems, label interference, and the perfectionism of vocalist Axl Rose, and it was the first Guns N' Roses album without Izzy Stradlin, Slash, and Duff McKagan. After the Use Your Illusion Tour ended in 1993, Guns N' Roses spent several years rehearsing ideas for a new album, but several members left following creative and personal differences with Rose, and no music was released. In 1998, Rose, keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarists Paul Tobias and Robin Finck, drummer Josh Freese, bassist Tommy Stinson and multi-instrumentalist Chris Pitman began writing and recording new songs, originally intended for a 1999 release. The album was recorded and rerecorded, and delayed multiple times, while the line-up shifted numerous times, incorporating guitarists Buckethead, Richard Fortus, and Bumblefoot and drummers Brain and Frank Ferrer. The band recorded over 50 songs, intending to release multiple albums, but with costs reportedly exceeding $13 million ($21 million in todays terms), it became the most expensive rock album ever produced. 

'Chinese Democracy' missed it original release date of March 2007, eventually appearing in November 2008, but when it arrived it received generally favourable reviews, achieved international chart success, and sold over one million copies in Europe. Writing and recording had begun in 1994, but most of the material was scrapped, as Rose had become obsessed with electronica and industrial rock, particularly the work of Nine Inch Nails, and wanted Guns N' Roses to move towards a more contemporary musical direction. Other members did not agree, causing a rift, and Slash left in 1996 following creative differences with Rose, being replaced in January 1997 by former Nine Inch Nails touring guitarist Robin Finck. Duff McKagan, who had recently become a father, left in August 1997, frustrated with the lack of progress, and more line-up changes followed, so that by early 1998, Guns N' Roses comprised Rose on vocals, Stinson on bass, Freese on drums, Finck on lead guitar, Tobias on rhythm guitar, and Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman on keyboards. By mid-1999, Guns N' Roses had recorded over 30 songs, and the album was tentatively titled '2000 Intentions'. In November 1999 they released their first original song in eight years, with the industrial metal song 'Oh My God' featuring in the film 'End Of Days', although it received mixed reviews from critics. In early 2000 the album was nearly complete, but after Rose hired Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker to replace original producer Sean Beavan, he was persuaded to do re-recording work on the entire album.

 In February 2001, Jimmy Iovine, the head of Geffen Records, asked Tom Zutaut, whom the label had fired two years previously, to help Guns N' Roses complete 'Chinese Democracy'. Zutaut estimated that Guns N' Roses had 50 or 60 songs in development, and he went through each with Rose, trying to decide which were worth finishing, and during his time with the band they completed versions of 'The Blues', 'Madagascar', 'Chinese Democracy' and 'Atlas Shrugged'. In November 2002 it was announced that the album would be released by June 2003 and that there were only "a few odds and ends left to do", but by mid-2003, Guns N' Roses had reportedly started rerecording the re-named 'Chinese Democracy' again, and by 2004 Geffen had removed 'Chinese Democracy' from its release schedule and withdrawn funding, stating that it was now Rose's obligation to fund and complete the album. Rose held listening parties in several New York bars in 2006, showcasing ten new songs, and in October Rolling Stone said the album had a firm release date of 21 November 2006. Rose recorded the final vocal tracks in January 2007, and mixing had begun, with a planned release date of Christmas 2007, but in January 2008, rumours arose that 'Chinese Democracy' had been handed to Geffen but was delayed because the label and Rose could not agree on the marketing, and it was finally released on 23 November 2008. 

By the time 'Chinese Democracy' was released, only three of the 14 songs had not been leaked or played live, and this continued after its release, with around 120 demos leaking online in 2019. Apparently Zutaut had allowed a storage unit containing 19 CDs of recordings to expire, its contents were auctioned off, and the winner sold them to a fan, who circulated them online. Some tracks had been completed, with 'Atlas Shrugged', featuring Brian May on guitar, being cut at the last second because of CD playing-time constraints, while other songs mentioned by those involved in the recording that did not make the final album include 'Oklahoma', 'Thyme', 'The General', 'Elvis Presley And The Monster Of Soul', 'Leave Me Alone', 'Ides Of March', 'Silkworms', 'Down By The Ocean', 'Zodiac', 'Quick Song' and 'We Were Lying'. In the first of two posts from the band I've collected some of the best recordings from the leaked tracks, posted here under their original title of '2000 Intentions'. 

Track listing

01 Madagascar (demo)

02 Atlas Shrugged  

03 Perhaps 

04 Shankler's Revenge (instrumental)

05 Chinese Democracy (demo)

06 Prostitute (demo) 

07 Tonto 

08 State Of Grace 

09 Catcher In The Rye (demo)

10 Real Doll.com 

11 Silkworms

Britney Spears - Abroad (2011)

'Abroad' is a fan-made compilation featuring demos and unreleased songs from Britney Spears, covering most of her career, from 2001's 'Britney' through to 2011's 'Femme Fatale'. The original track listing included a few tracks that I'd already used in my previous posts for 'Original Doll' and 'Whiteout', but I was able to substitute them with some leftovers from her 2003 album 'In The Zone', including one piece which was recorded with producer Ryan Leslie as an interlude for his debut mixtape 'The Talented Mr. Leslie'. The original 'It Feels Nice', which features Spears rapping over an infectious beat, was just over a minute long, but with some judicious editing I've stretched it to a full 2'24". It also features a ballad version of 'Gasoline', from 'Femme Fatale', which is significantly different to the released take, and which is definitely worth hearing. Despite the ten year timespan of these tracks, they hold up pretty well as an album, and they are a nice mix of pop, dance and ballads. 

Track listing

01 Dangerous 
02 Telephone 
03 Get It  
04 Rock Star 
05 Burning Up 
06 Mad Love 
07 Pleasure You (feat. Don Philip) 
08 Tell Me (Am I A Sinner) 
09 Everyday 
10 It Feels Nice 
11 When I Say So (feat. Wildchild) 
12 Gasoline (Ballad Version) 
13 Abroad

As a footnote, I was going to include one more 2003 outtake, but when I checked back on the site I found that I had already added 'When You Gon' Pull It' on 'Whiteout'. Not only that but I had also included another track called 'Pull Out' on the same album, and it wasn't until I was researching these track that I found that they were in fact the same song, but no-one seems to have noticed and let me know. I've therefore removed 'Pull It' from 'Whiteout' and replaced it with Spears' version of the Otis Reading classic 'I've Been Loving You Too Long', which was recorded for a tribute album and then scrapped. Updated versions of 'Whiteout' are on both Soulseek and Mega. 

Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Terminally Groovie (2006)

Ned's Atomic Dustbin was formed by frontman John Penney in Stourbridge, West Midlands, in November 1987, alongside Gareth "Rat" Pring on guitar, Dan Worton on drums, and somewhat uniquely, two bassists in Alex Griffin and Matt Cheslin. They took their name from an episode of 1950's radio comedy programme 'The Goon Show', and quickly gathered a strong fanbase after being offered a support slot by local heroes The Wonder Stuff on their 1989 and 1990 UK tours. It wasn't long before they were snapped up by Birmingham-based indie label Chapter 22 Records for their debut release, 'The Ingredients' EP, followed by a single, 'Kill Your Television', which reached number 53 in the UK singles chart. The single also topped the UK independent singles chart, and combined with their acclaimed live reputation, they drew a huge crowd to their afternoon appearance on the main stage of the Reading Festival in August 1990. The buzz created was significant enough to pique the interest of major record labels, and so after one final single for Chapter 22, they signed to Sony Records, on the proviso that they be allowed to release their music through their own Furtive label, thus keeping a higher degree of creative control while still enjoying the benefit of the major label's distribution and advertising clout. In March 1991 they found themselves in the UK top 20 with their next single, 'Happy', proving that keeping artistic control was the right decision. 

Their debut album, 'God Fodder', was released in April 1991, reaching number 4 in the UK top 40 albums chart, and by July they had also started to make their mark in the US. The band released a new UK single, 'Trust', towards the end of 1991, while America got the 'God Fodder' versions of 'Kill Your Television' and 'Grey Cell Green', and the band toured around the world with, amongst others, Mega City Four, Senseless Things and Jesus Jones. They released their second album 'Are You Normal?' in 1992, and having headlined the NME stage at the Glastonbury Festival that year, they spent the next couple of years on a worldwide tour, and released a compilation of older non-album material. In 1995 they decamped to Wales to record their final album, 'Brainbloodvolume', which boasted a heavier, more diverse sound than their previous releases, moving away from the distinctive twin bass set-up to incorporate samplers and keyboards. Sony released the album in America before the UK, meaning that most die-hard fans bought it on import, and this damaged its UK chart position when it was eventually released domestically, increasing tensions between the band and their label. The first single from the album, 'All I Ask Of Myself Is That I Hold Together', made the UK top 40 in 1995, and following a final appearance on 'The Word', 'Stuck' became the band's final single, making the BBC Radio One B-list. 

In 1995, after an extensive US tour to support 'Brainbloodvolume', Ned's Atomic Dustbin split up in New York City following what would be their final show. Singer Penney formed a new band, Groundswell, featuring Ned's Atomic Dustbin guitarist, Rat, and recorded one single, 'Corrode', and a studio album 'Plausible/Infeasible' for New Jersey-based indie label, Gig Records, but they disbanded shortly afterwards, with the album being released posthumously. In 2000 Ned's Atomic Dustbin took to the stage for the first time since their initial breakup for a show in Dudley, with Groundswell members Andy King and Martin Warlow taking the place of Matt Cheslin and Rat. Originally billed as "the last 30 minutes of Ned's Atomic Dustbin," it was intended as an opportunity to say a proper goodbye to British fans who never got to see a final Ned's show, but the resounding success convinced members of the band to continue working together, and they've carried on performing sporadically ever since. 2004 saw them perform two new songs, 'Hibernation' and 'Ambush', and in June 2006 the former song became their first new single in 11 years. Although the Ned's didn't enjoy the massive success of some of their Birmingham contemporaries like The Wonder Stuff and Pop Will Eat Itself, they are fondly remembered by their fans, and they released enough non-album material on the flips of their singles to make up this two-disc collection.   

Track listing

Disc I - 1990-1991   
01 That's Nice (b-side of 'Kill Your Television' 1990)
02 Sentence (b-side of 'Kill Your Television' 1990)
03 Kill Your Remix (b-side of 'Kill Your Television' 1990)
04 Flexible Head (b-side of 'Until You Find Out' 1990)
05 Bite (b-side of 'Until You Find Out' 1990)
06 Aim (from 'The Ingredients EP' 1990)
07 Plug Me In (from 'The Ingredients EP' 1990)
08 Terminally Groovie (from 'The Ingredients EP' 1990)
09 Twenty Three Hour Toothache (b-side of'Happy' 1991)
10 45 Second Blunder (b-side of'Happy' 1991)
11 Trust (b-side of 'Grey Cell Green' 1991)
12 Titch (b-side of 'Grey Cell Green' 1991)
13 Faceless (b-side of 'Grey Cell Green' 1991)
14 I've Never Been To Me (from the 'Ruby Trax' compilation 1992)

Disc II- 1992-2006
01 Prostrate (b-side of 'Intact' 1992)
02 Swiss Legoland (b-side of 'Intact' 1992)
03 NAD V. NDX = Intact (b-side of 'Intact' 1992)
04 Cut Up (The Tartan Shoulders Mix) (b-side of 'Not Sleeping Around' 1992)
05 Scrawl (b-side of 'Not Sleeping Around' 1992)
06 Saturday Night (single 1993)
07 Capsize (b-side of 'All I Ask Of Myself Is That I Hold Together' 1995)
08 Take Me To The Cleaners (b-side of 'All I Ask Of Myself Is That I Hold Together' 1995)
09 A Tempted Fate (b-side of 'Stuck' 1995)
10 Hibernation (single 2006)
11 Ambush (b-side of 'Hibernation')

Keisha Buchanan - Gimme Pressure (2009)

Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan was born on 30 September 1984 in Westminster, London, and first met and befriended future Sugababes member Mutya Buena in primary school. In May 1998, Siobhán Donaghy and Mutya Buena, both aged just 13, had been signed as solo artists, but decided to work together after performing at the same showcase. While working in the studio, Buena invited her best friend Keisha Buchanan to watch them, and their manager Tom decided the three girls would make a good trio, likening their different appearances to the United Colors of Benetton campaign. Originally dubbed the Sugababies, the group's name was tweaked to Sugababes when they were signed by London Records, and their debut single, 'Overload', peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart in 2000, and was nominated for a BRIT Award for Best Single. The band's debut album, 'One Touch', was released later that year, and it peaked at number 26 on the UK Albums Chart, but despite the album producing three more top 40 hits, the sales of 'One Touch' did not meet London Records' expectations, and so they dropped the group in 2001. 

During a Japanese promotional tour in August 2001, Donaghy left the group, citing disagreement and in-fighting amongst the group's members, and she was replaced former Atomic Kitten member Heidi Range. Having already started work on a second album with new member Range, the trio looked for a new record label, eventually signing to Island Records, and their first single for them, 'Freak Like Me', scored the group their first UK number 1. On the back of this success, the group's second album, 'Angels With Dirty Faces', debuted at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and was later certified triple platinum. The group's third album, 'Three', was released in late 2003 and reached number 3 on the UK Albums Chart, earning the group a BRIT Award nomination for Best Album, while the lead single 'Hole In The Head', became their third UK number 1. 2004 was a difficult year for the group, with alleged backstage catfights, and continuous rumours of in-fighting within the group and constant split reports. After a hiatus, Sugababes released their thirteenth single, 'Push The Button' in October 2005, and it was another number 1 hit for them in the UK, while its parent album 'Taller In More Ways' became the group's first UK number 1 album. 

Following an apparent illness that prevented Buena from promoting follow-up single 'Ugly', it was announced on 21 December 2005 that she had left the group, and Amelle Berrabah joined in late December. After a Greatest Hits Tour, Sugababes released 'Change', their fifth studio album, and the first to feature Berrabah on all tracks. 'About You Now' was released as the album's lead single in September 2007, and on its release  it became their sixth UK number one hit, and first Hungarian chart-topper. In October 2007, 'Change' became the group's second UK number 1 album, and following the Change Tour, the band returned to the studio to write and record tracks for their sixth studio album, the provocatively titled 'Catfights And Spotlights'. After the release of the single 'No Can Do', the group announced that there would be no 2009 tour in support of 'Catfights And Spotlights', as they wanted to focus on writing and recording material for their seventh studio album, 'Sweet 7'. They travelled to the United States to work on the record, and in April 2009 they signed a contract with Jay-Z's label Roc Nation, which gave them access to high profile producers. However, in September 2009 it was officially announced that Buchanan had left the group, being replaced by former Eurovision entrant Jade Ewen. 

Buchanan revealed on Twitter that it was not her decision to leave, resulting in some journalists describing her as having been "sacked", but public opinion was mostly positive for her, with Digital Spy running an article titled "Keisha Buchanan, We Salute You", in which they thanked her for her contribution to "incredible pop songs". Her first recording after leaving the group was a feature on Jay Sean's single 'Far Away', after which she began work on her debut solo album. She later revealed that she had recorded 50 tracks for the album as of August 2011, but considering that only a handful have leaked I think this was somewhat of an exaggeration. The album was initially supposed to be released in 2011, however according to Buchanan, "every time we lock down there's always someone else who wants to work with me", and so it has suffered constant delays, and is still yet to appear. Despite the fact that there are supposed to be around 50 songs recorded, only three have ever surfaced, and so in order to make up an album's worth of music I've added a few of those collaborations, plus the five tracks from Sugababes 'Sweet 7' album which featured her lead vocals, and which were wiped and re-recorded by Ewen when Buchanan left the group. 

Track listing

01 Under Control
02 No More You
03 Gimme Pressure
04 Whatever Makes You Happy
05 Dreamin' (feat. Political Peak)
06 About A Girl
07 Fearless
08 Wear My Kiss
09 Give It Up (feat. Asher D)
10 Wait For You
11 Anything's Possible (feat. Wayne Williams & J Gunn)
12 Miss Everything

Tracks 2, 6, 8, 10 & 12 are songs from Sugababes 'Sweet 7' album with Buchanan on lead vocals 

Michael Jackson - Shout! (2001)

When Michael Jackson recorded his last studio album he employed 10 producers and over 100 musicians, including Carlos Santana, The Notorious B.I.G., and Slash, and it was reported to have cost $30 million to record, making it the most expensive album ever made. Prior to the release of 'Invincible', Jackson had not released any new material since the remix album 'Blood On The Dance Floor: HIStory In The Mix' in 1997, and his last full studio album was 'HIStory' in 1995. 'Invincible' was therefore viewed as his "career comeback", and recording began in October 1997, and finished with 'You Are My Life' being recorded only eight weeks before the album's release in October 2001. The music encompasses R&B, pop and soul, and even included a couple of tracks that featured (deliberately) unknown rapper Fats, and it was reported that the album had a budget of twenty five million dollars set aside for promotion, but despite this, due to conflicts between Jackson and his record label, little was done to promote the album, and there was no world tour to promote it. The album received mixed reviews from professional critics, although fans loved it, and it has sold between 8 and 10 million copies. However, in retrospective reviews, 'Invincible' has gained more positive acclaim, and the track 'Heartbreaker' has even been cited as an early development of dubstep. Producer Rodney Jerkins has commented that there was stuff they didn't put on the album that he wishes was on there, and since the out-takes have started to surface from the sessions we can now hear some of these tracks. Whether their inclusion over some of the songs that made it would have improved it's critical reception is open to debate, but when you listen to these tracks on their own stand-alone record you realise that there is some great stuff on here, including guest appearances from Lenny Kravitz and Ice Cube which didn't really deserve to be cut.  

Track listing

01 Another Day (feat. Lenny Kravitz)
02 Fall Again       
03 Beautiful Girl  
04 Shout
05 What More Can I Give
06 Save Our Galaxy?
07 In The Back
08 People Of The World
09 We Be Ballin' (feat. Ice Cube & Shaquille O'Neal)
10 Get Your Weight Off Me
11 We've Had Enough

Alexandra Slate - Edge Of The Girl (2003)

Alexandra Seightholm is a Canadian singer, who self-released her LP 'Half Full', when she was just 16. As a teenager she wrote songs and worked in coffeehouses in her hometown Toronto, and in 1999 she performed at the Canadian Music Week, which led to a deal with Management Trust, Ltd. She had a side-stage performance at the Lilith Fair in Toronto in August 1999, and performed again at the Canadian Music Week in 2000, later signing with Hollywood Records. She began working on her album 'Edge Of A Girl' with Rob Cavallo, under the name Alexandra Slate. The result could be compared to confessional female songwriters like Liz Phair, Tracy Bonham and Alanis Morissette, and lead single, 'Bad Girl', appeared on the ;Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life' soundtrack. Advance copies were sent out in 2003, and received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising her rich, sultry vocals, while others criticised the album for its similarities to Lucy Woodward's music released at the same time. For reasons unknown, the album was never granted a commercial release, although some of the promo copies soon appeared on ebay, so here it is for you to try to work out why Hollywood Records had so little faith in it. 

Track listing

01 Bad Girl
02 No Vacancy
03 Edge Of The Girl
04 Guilty
05 Die Awake
06 At 2
07 Can't Hold The World
08 Blinding The Universe
09 Get Used To It
10 I Apologize
11 Clumsy On The Wall

Mike Solof - Off The Beatle Track - Episode 67 (2019)

For this episode of Mike look at all thing Beatles, he investigates the song-writing process of the individual members of the band, and this show includes in-depth interviews with John, Paul, George and even Ringo, and also John and Paul together, talking about how they come up with their ideas, and what they think about covers of their songs from artists like Matt Monroe, Peggy Lee and Frankie Vaughan. As usual, it's a fascinating insight into the band that most people in this day and age will not have heard before. 

Track listing

01 Episode 67 - The Song-Writing Process

The Divine Comedy - Anthems For Bored Youth (2006)

The Divine Comedy were founded in 1989 by Neil Hannon, who was the only member of the band until he was joined by John McCullagh and Kevin Traynor. They soon signed to Setanta Records, and they released their first album, 'Fanfare For The Comic Muse', in 1990. The record enjoyed some minor success, but was later deleted, after which the band released a couple of equally unsuccessful EPs, with 'Timewatch' appearing in 1991 and 'Europop' the following year. For these records newly recruited member John Allen handled lead vocals on some tracks, but after the commercial failure of the 'Europop' EP, this line-up soon fell apart. Hannon, however, was not deterred in his efforts and entered the studio again in March 1993, teaming up with co-producer/drummer Darren Allison, for the recording of 'Liberation'. This album is characterised by a plethora of literary references: 'Bernice Bobs Her Hair' recalls a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald; 'Three Sisters' draws upon the play by Anton Chekhov; and 'Lucy' is essentially three William Wordsworth poems abridged to music. It had some minor success in France, and this enabled Hannon to proceed with his second effort with the new line-up, and 'Promenade' was released in 1994. It was heavily driven by classical influences, with Michael Nyman's stylings clearly an inspiration, and Hannon himself acknowledged this when he reportedly sent a copy of his new album to the composer, jokingly asking him not to sue. This album was essentially a concept album about a day spent by two lovers, and although it also received similar positive feedback to 'Liberation', it still failed to ignite the general public, and it was not a major commercial success. 

Soon after the release of the album, the band went on tour with Tori Amos, supporting her during her European dates, and it was during this time that Hannon wrote and performed (with drummer Allison) the theme music for the sitcom 'Father Ted', as well as composing the music for the mock-Eurovision song 'My Lovely Horse' that featured in one episode. Despite widespread requests from fans to release the track as a single for the Christmas market, it eventually appeared as the third track on the CD-single 'Gin Soaked Boy'. This was not be the only time he would be responsible for a TV theme: 'In Pursuit Of Happiness' was used by the BBC science and technology show 'Tomorrow's World', and he also composed the music for 'Father Ted' co-writer Graham Linehan's Channel 4 comedy series 'The IT Crowd'. The band's next album, 1996's 'Casanova', and in particular the single 'Something For The Weekend', led to their first major success, having been championed by BBC Radio One's Chris Evans on his Breakfast Show, and further singles from 'Casanova', including 'Becoming More Like Alfie' and 'The Frog Princess', helped cemented the band's reputation. 

At the height of this commercial success, they released 'A Short Album About Love' (a reference to the Krzysztof Kieślowski film 'A Short Film About Love'), recorded live at a soundcheck with the Brunel Ensemble in preparation for a concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. It was aptly released on Valentine's Day in 1997, and shortly afterwards the band contributed a reworking of Noël Coward's 'I've Been To A Marvellous Party' to 'Twentieth-Century Blues: The Songs of Noël Coward', a compilation of covers of the writer's songs. 1999 brought the band's biggest commercial success to date, with the release of the infectious 'National Express' single, and it's parent album 'Fin De Siècle' did well enough for Setanta to issue 'Secret History – The Best Of The Divine Comedy', which included two new songs, 'Gin-Soaked Boy' and 'Too Young to Die'. The band performed at the V2001 Festival, and their 2001 album 'Regeneration' attempted to remove the band still further from its association with humour, with Hannon ditched his sharp suits and donning a Britpop band image. The album was a greater critical than commercial success, and soon after its release it was announced that the Divine Comedy were splitting up. 

However, within a year Hannon was touring again with a revised band line-up, playing a series of joint-headline gigs in the US, UK and Ireland. A new album surfaced in the form of 2004's 'Absent Friends', and it attempted to strike a balance between the occasionally earnest sound of the band's later material and the lighter tone of the more popular releases. Hannon's ninth album with the Divine Comedy, 'Victory For The Comic Muse', was released in June 2006, with the bulk of the material being recorded over two weeks, and much of it was live rather than multi-tracked, giving it a more spontaneous sound. Around this time Hannon took part in various projects, including an album of cricket-themed songs with the The Duckworth Lewis Method, a band put together by Hannon and Thomas Walsh of Pugwash. In May 2010 The Divine Comedy released their tenth album entitled 'Bang Goes The Knighthood' on DC Records, followed by 'Foreverland' in September 2016 and the double album 'Office Politics', in June 2019, and in 2020 they celebrated their 30th anniversary by re-releasing all of their albums, along with b-sides, demos, alternate versions, rarities and unreleased material, in a 24-disc box set. As my own tribute to a unique and much-loved band here is a four-disc set of all the band's non-album singles and b-sides, from those early unsuccessful EP's to their re-emergence after their 2004 split.   

Track listing

Disc I - 1991-1996
01 Timewatch (single 1991)   
02 Jerusalem (b-side of 'Timewatch)
03 New Wave (b-side of 'Europop' 1991)
04 Intifada (b-side of 'Europop' 1991)
05 Monitor (b-side of 'Europop' 1991)
06 Hate My Way (from the 'Indulgence No. 1' EP 1993)
07 Untitled Melody (from the 'Indulgence No. 1' EP 1993)
08 Birds Of Paradise Farm (b-side of 'Something For The Weekend' 1996)
09 Love Is Lighter Than Air (b-side of 'Something For The Weekend' 1996)
10 Comme Beaucoup De Messieurs  (French single 1996)
11 Untitled Melody (b-side of 'Comme Beaucoup De Messieurs')
12 Motorway To Damascus (b-side of 'The Frog Princess' 1996)
13 Something Before The Weekend (b-side of 'The Frog Princess' 1996)
14 Neptune's Daughter (b-side of 'The Frog Princess' 1996)

Disc II - 1997-1999
01 Make It Easy On Yourself (b-side of 'Everybody Knows (Except You)' 1997)
02 I've Been To A Marvellous Party (promo split single with Shola Ama 1998)
03 Postcard To Rosie (b-side of 'Generation Sex' 1998)
04 London Irish (b-side of 'Generation Sex' 1998)
05 Time Lapse (b-side of 'Generation Sex' 1998)
06 Chasing Sheep Is Best Left To Shepherds (b-side of 'Generation Sex' 1998)
07 Little Acts Of Kindness (b-side of 'Generation Sex' 1998)
08 Last Stand In Metroland (b-side of 'The Certainty Of Chance' 1998)
09 Miranda (b-side of 'The Certainty Of Chance' 1998)
10 The Dead Only Quickly (b-side of 'The Certainty Of Chance' 1998)
11 Knowing The Ropes (b-side of 'The Certainty Of Chance' 1998)
12 With Whom To Dance (b-side of 'The Pop Singer's Fear Of The Pollen Count' 1999) 
13 This Side Of Paradise (b-side of 'The Pop Singer's Fear Of The Pollen Count' 1999) 
14 Vapour Trail (b-side of 'The Pop Singer's Fear Of The Pollen Count' 1999) 

Disc III - 1999-2001
01 Gin Soaked Boy (single 1999)
02 I Am (b-side of 'Gin Soaked Boy')
03 My Lovely Horse (b-side of 'Gin Soaked Boy')
04 Going Downhill Fast (b-side of 'National Express' 1999)
05 Radioactivity (b-side of 'National Express' 1999)
06 Famous (b-side of 'National Express' 1999)
07 Overstrand (b-side of 'National Express' 1999)
08 Edward The Confessor (b-side of 'Bad Ambassador' 2001)
09 U.S.E. (b-side of 'Bad Ambassador' 2001)
10 Pictures Of Matchstick Men (b-side of 'Bad Ambassador' 2001)
11 Soul Trader (b-side of 'Love What You Do' 2001)
12 You (b-side of 'Love What You Do' 2001)
13 Get Me To A Monastry (b-side of 'Love What You Do' 2001)

Disc IV - 2001-2006
01 No Excuses (b-side of 'Perfect Lovesong' 2001)
02 Les Jours Tristes (b-side of 'Perfect Lovesong' 2001)
03 Thinking The Unthinkable (b-side of 'Perfect Lovesong' 2001)
04 Oh Yeah (b-side of 'Perfect Lovesong' 2001)
05 The Power Of Love (single 2001)
06 All Things (b-side of 'Come Home Billy Bird' 2004)
07 Idaho (b-side of 'Come Home Billy Bird' 2004)
08 Girl Least Likely (b-side of 'Come Home Billy Bird' 2004)
09 Anthem For Bored Youth (b-side of 'Absent Friends' 2004)
10 Mr. Right (b-side of 'Absent Friends' 2004)
11 Elaine (b-side of 'Diva Lady' 2006)
12 Premonition Of Love (b-side of 'Diva Lady' 2006)
13 Births, Deaths And Marriages (b-side of 'Diva Lady' 2006)
14 Lili Marlene (b-side of 'Lady Of A Certain Age' 2006)
15 Long Slow Suicide (b-side of 'To Die A Virgin' 2006)

Ligeia - Beyond The Sky (2002)

Ligeia are a female-fronted heavy metal band from Germany, founded in 1999 in the city of Ulm, south Germany, and who released their debut album, 'Made In Stone', in 2000 as a private pressing. In 2002 they recorded a two-song-maxi-single, followed by their second album 'Beyond The Sky', but because of problems with their old record company SHS Musics, after they lost their distributor, the band were unable to release the record. As they were also unhappy with the label for the lack of promotion arranged for the record, as well as having issues with them regarding their debut album, they decided to leave the label, although it took Ligeia about two years to eventually sort it all out. In the meantime two new members had joined, with Michael Sommer coming in on bass and Roland Klein joining on drums, and together with Daniela Unglert on vocals and Jörg Mayer on guitars, it was almost a completely different band to the one that recorded 'Beyond The Sky'. They therefore decided to re-record the whole thing using the new line-up, and the re-titled 'Gloria' was released through Iron Glory Records/Massacre Records in 2004. The band are happier with the new label, and feel that the new recordings sound more to their liking, but fans of the old line-up might prefer to hear the group that recorded 'Made In Stone' perform the songs, and so if that's the case then here is the original 'Beyond The Sky' album as it was recorded in 2002, including a couple of songs that weren't included on the re-worked version.  

Track listing

01 Mistress Of The Night 
02 Wings Of Fire  
03 Beyond The Sky  
04 Gloria 
05 Here We Are 
06 Angelwitch  
07 Noise Of Silence 
08 Walpurgisnight  
09 Last Desire 
10 Night Of The Cross

Athena Cage - The Art Of A Woman (2001)

Athena Denise Cage was born on 6 May 1970 in Russellville, Kentucky, and was educated at Western Kentucky University. Her career began as a background singer, working with a wide variety of musical artists including Country star Amy Grant and R&B giants, the Isley Brothers. Moving from Kentucky to Atlanta to pursue a music career, she auditioned for Keith Sweat's Elektra distributed label, and was immediately signed as lead singer of girl group Kut Klose, cutting the chart topping R&B classic 'I Like' with the group. After leaving Kut Klose she recorded her debut solo album, 'The Art Of A Woman', which was due to be released in July 2001 by Priority Records, but it was eventually cancelled along with many other projects when the label merged into Capital Records. Two singles were released prior to it's proposed release, but even 'All Or Nothing' becoming a hit was not enough to save the record from being shelved. Later in her career, Cage's passion for education took her to Capitol Hill a number of times, advocating keeping, restoring or establishing music and arts programs in America's schools, pointing out the correlation between excelling in music and excelling academically. In this quest, she had meetings at the White House and the U.S. Department of Education to share her views, and she met with the late U.S. Senate Education Committee Chair Ted Kennedy. In 2003, she established "The Athena Cage Scholarship Fund" at Western Kentucky University, her alma mater, and in 2004 the street where she grew up, Second Street in Russellville, was renamed to "Athena Cage Way" to honour her community work, youth service and efforts to restore the Old Logan Theater. As a tribute to these achievements from later in her career, here is her shelved album from 2001 for us to enjoy. 

Track listing

01 All I Need Is Me 
02 Hey Hey 
03 Until You Come Back To Me  
04 Turn You Out 
05 Let Me Know  
06 In The Mood 
07 Respect (The Way It Goes) 
08 Take It Out On Me  
09 Make U Wanna 
10 He Changed His Mind  
11 You  
12 All Or Nothing 
13 Dream Lover