Eminem - Relapse 2 (2009)

One of the most persistent myths in the Eminem fandom is the lost Holy Grail of 'Relapse 2', and despite its existence being heavily implied by the management, the project has never materialised. Everybody knows that he had plenty of songs recorded, and even after the 'Relapse: Refill' deluxe issue and numerous leaks, there must be something left, and Eminem doesn't deny it, but it's just that he considers the songs to be below his usual standard. The revelation was made all the more shocking given that he had all but promised two albums in the 'Relapse' project, and given that the horrorcore-themed project quickly amassed a loyal fanbase, the news of its sequel's cancellation was particularly frustrating, yet given the circumstances — namely Eminem's sobriety and self-reinvention as an emcee — the decision to go another direction was ultimately understandable. Though 'Relapse 2' was no more, 'Recovery' served as an important chapter of the Slim Shady story — one that found him rediscovering his humanity, and building on the foundation laid by 'Beautiful' and 'Deja Vu'. At the time, 'Relapse' had revealed itself to be something of a niche album, as although the Eminem name ensured commercial success, the macabre subject matter proved divisive, which was to be expected, as not everybody is eager to engage in murderous and rape-laden fantasies, inspired in part by the minds of serial killers like Ed Gein, Ted Bundy, and John Waye Gacy. Yet those who were found much to enjoy on 'Relapse' and its subsequent expansion, from Dr. Dre's haunting production to Eminem engaging in the most technically proficient rapping of his career. 

Much has been made of the infamous accents, with even Eminem decrying them as recently as 2018, but they’re ultimately part of the concept. It’s no secret that the initial response was divided, with some critics coming down on the negative side, and it got so bad that Eminem ultimately cancelled his plans to deliver a sequel, despite having allegedly plotted music with Dr. Dre, D12, Lloyd Banks, and 50 Cent. It was 50 Cent who was actually the reason he decided to do two albums in the first place, as apparently they'd recorded so much material during the 'Relapse' sessions that he recommended splitting it up, describing the project as thematically linked to its predecessor. It's therefore understandable to believe that one version of 'Relapse 2' existed before the first was even released, being the product of leftover songs from his highly productive sessions with Dr. Dre. The gameplan changed when Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Denaun Porter went to Hawaii in the summer of 2009, after 'Relapse' had dropped and the reception had begun settling in. Holing up in the Honolulu Studio, they started work on a new batch of music, and it didn’t take long for the songs created during the Hawaii sessions to spark his creativity, to the point where he felt that the new tracks were far superior to what he had originally lined up. These could have included 'On Fire', 'So Bad', 'Ridaz', and possibly even 'The Warning', and although some of those songs ultimately ended up on 'Recovery', if he was still intending to drop 'Relapse 2' as planned, then it's likely those recordings would form the basis of a new version of the anticipated sequel. 

After Dre left Hawaii to commence work on his own lost album 'Detox', Eminem was at a crossroads, as he clearly had no interest in revisiting his older material, especially after a promising batch of new songs, and this proved correct when he delayed 'Relapse 2' to 2010, and instead concluded the year with 'Relapse: Refill', which added an additional seven songs, including the Dr. Dre assisted 'Hell Breaks Loose', 'Buffalo Bill', 'Elevator', 'Taking My Ball', 'Drop The Bomb On Em', and 'Music Box'. This could imply that he had already moved on from the original 'Relapse 2', shifting focus to a completely new project, and instead had repackaged the highlights from it on 'Refill', bearing in mind the subject matter of tracks like 'Buffalo Bill' and 'Music Box'. This was confirmed mere months later, when he announced "there is no 'Relapse 2'.", and before long he'd delivered 'Recovery', the album which grew into being from another, decidedly more deranged version of 'Relapse 2'. Although he might throw fans a bone once in a while, donning the bloody apron for old time's sake on a track like 'Framed', for all intents and purposes, 'Relapse 2' has become another chapter of hip-hop’s ever-growing tome of lost lore and mythology. There have been a number of re-imaginings of this album, which mostly use the six best tracks from 'Relapse: Refill' as a basis, and then add in various out-takes, but I couldn't find a definitive version and so I've taken the best from each of them to come up with an album which I feel flows well, and includes all the best tracks, while omitting ones that didn't work in the context of the album. 

Track listing

01 Breaking News (Skit)
02 Things Get Worse (feat. Bob)
03 I'm Having A Relapse
04 Oh No
05 Hell Breaks Loose (feat. Dr. Dre)
06 The Warning
07 Cocaine (feat. Jazmine Sullivan)
08 Drop The Bomb On 'Em
09 Music Box
10 Psycho (feat. 50 Cent)
11 Buffalo Bill
12 Hit Me With Your Best Shot (feat. D12)
13 Taking My Ball
14 Ridaz
15 On Fire (feat. D12)
16 So Bad
17 Elevator
18 Forever (feat. Drake, Kanye West & Lil Wayne) 

The Woodentops - Plenty (1988)

Rolo McGinty was pretty ubiquitous on the Liverpool music scene of the early 80's, playing bass with The Wild Swans, who released the classic single 'Revolutionary Spirit' on Zoo Records, and then joining his old friend Pat Fish in the Jazz Butcher, once again on bass. Alice Thompson was also in the group playing keyboards, and in 1983, with the Jazz Butcher on a temporary break, McGinty and Thompson moved to south London and started to practice, building up some material and establishing themselves as The Woodentops. Initially the group was Rolo McGinty on guitar and vocals, Alice Thompson on keyboards, Simon Mawby on guitar, James Rawlings on bass and Paul Hookham on drums, and their early influences were Can, Kraftwerk, the Feelies and Suicide, mixed with rockabilly and strummed acoustic guitars, producing a kind of rhythmic beat music. The group played local gigs and rehearsed in a warehouse at Clapham Junction, which was owned by the artist Panni Bharti, who would become an important visual part of the group, designing much of their artwork. In 1984 they released their first single, 'Plenty', on Dave Balfe’s Food Records, and it was awarded single of the week by Morrisey in Melody Maker, with Morrisey later inviting the band to support The Smiths on tour. In September 1984 they recorded their first Peel session, and with their one record deal with Food Records now over, the group began to think about changing labels. Their manager worked at Rough Trade and they liked the set up, so in 1985 they signed a deal with the label, and at the same time they recruited Frank de Freitas (brother of Pete of Echo And The Bunnymen) as their bass guitarist. Their first single for Rough Trade was the Andy Partridge-produced 'Move Me', which was noticeable for its five note melodica opening and its forceful drumming, and this, coupled with rhythmic guitars and light keyboard, heralded the start of their 'hypno beat' style, and a string of great singles. In 1985 Paul Hookham left to drum with the Redskins and was replaced by Benny Staples, who made his debut on their August single 'Well Well Well'. 'It Will Come' came out a few months later, and with its subtle key changes and harmonies giving the song a gospel feel, it could have been the band's attempt at a Christmas hit single. 

1986 continued to be hectic for the group, recording their third and final Peel session in March, followed by the 'Good Thing' single in May and the 'Giant' album in June. Despite positive reviews, it was said that 'Giant' could have sold better if there had been more product in the shops, and Rough Trade were later accused of concentrating a lot of their promotion effort on the Smiths' 'The Queen Is Dead' over their other artists. 'Giant' is an accomplished debut album by anyone's standards, with all the tracks sounding polished, and it only including one previously released song, until 'Everyday Living' was lifted as a single in 1986. Adrian Sherwood remixed both the single and it's flip 'Why', after McGinty approached him with the intention of asking him to do some remixing. Sherwood agreed to work on some Woodentops' tunes, and this spurred McGinty's interest in the newly emerging dance music scene. The 'Live Hypnobeat Live' album was released in early 1987 as a stop-gap while the band toured and worked on new material, but at some point in 1987 Alice Thompson left the group, to return to Scotland to follow a literary career. Anne Stephenson, who had played with the Communards, took over on keyboards, and in January 1988 the band recorded a Radio 1 session for the Simon Mayo show, while later in the year the new album 'Wooden Foot Cops On The Highway' was released. The album encompasses a wide range of musical styles all given the familiar Woodentops treatment, with 'You Make Me Feel' being extracted as a single, being one of their better ballads, and second single 'Wheels Turning' proved popular on the west coast of America. 'Why Why Why' became a club hit in the summer of 1988, with a remix by Paul Oakenfold becoming an early indie-dance favourite. In 1989 the band stopped working together, although they didn't actually split up, but the collapse of Rough Trade in 1991 probably didn't help matters. The group had allegedly been working on a double album in the early 1990's, which never saw the light of day, and there were some white label techno crossover 12" records released around this time, with 'Conehead' becoming a hit on the northern techno scene, and 'Tainted World' was popular on NYC radio. It seemed that McGinty had possibly become more interested in dance music than The Woodentops, and so the other members of the group started to do different things. In the mid-1990's he was releasing dance music under the name Pluto and also as Dogs Deluxe with Rob Miller, and The Woodentops did occasionally get back together to promote various compilation albums and to play some festivals. The band finally recorded some new material in 2014, releasing the 'Granular Tales' album under The Woodentop's name, but their biggest successes were now in the past, and so as a reminder of their exuberant indie sound of the early 80's here is a collection of their rare singles, b-sides and out-takes up to their hiatus in 1989.   

Track listing

01 Plenty (single 1984)
02 Have You Seen The Lights (b-side of 'Plenty')
03 Everybody (b-side of 'Plenty')
04 Move Me (single 1985)
05 Do It Anyway (b-side of 'Move Me')
06 Steady Steady (b-side of 'Move Me')
07 Well, Well, Well (single 1985)
08 Cold Inside (b-side of 'Well Well Well')
09 It Will Come (single 1985)
10 Special Friend (b-side of 'It Will Come')
11 Plutonium Rock (b-side of 'It Will Come')
12 Why (b-side of 'Everyday Living' 1986)
13 I Want Your Love (out-take 1986)
14 Keep A Knockin' (out-take 1986)
15 Hallelujah (b-side of 'Wheels Turning' 1988)

Samantha Mumba - Woman (2002)

Samantha Tamania Anne Cecilia Mumba was born on 18 January 1983 in Dublin, Ireland, to a Zambian father and an Irish mother. When she was 15 she was discovered on the RTÉ–Radio Television Ireland talent show 'Let Me Entertain You' by Irish music executive Louis Walsh (manager of Boyzone and Westlife), who was impressed enough by her talent to arrange for her to be signed to Polydor Records. She subsequently spent several months moving between Denmark, Sweden, UK, and Ireland, where she co-wrote and recorded her debut album, 'Gotta Tell You', eventually dropping out of school to focus on her music career. Her first single, 'Gotta Tell You', was released in 2000 and peaked at number one in Ireland and New Zealand, number two in the UK, number three in Australia, and number four in the US, as well as reaching the top twenty in several countries across Europe. Her debut album of the same name followed later that year when she was just 17, reaching the top ten in both Ireland and the UK, and number 67 on the Billboard 200. Following the success of 'Gotta Tell You', she was chosen to play Mara in the film 'The Time Machine', alongside co-star Guy Pearce, and her real-life brother, Omero. In 2001 she contributed to the track 'You Raise Me Up' by the Celtic Tenors, and an EP titled 'Samantha Sings Christmas' was released at Christmas 2001, which included covers of 'White Christmas' and 'All I Want for Christmas Is You'. In 2002 she released a new single 'I'm Right Here', becoming her fifth UK and Irish top five single, but as rumours began to circulate that she was getting ready to release her second album 'Woman', she was dropped by her label, citing poor sales of the lead single 'I'm Right Here' in the US, and its short-lived time on the UK chart. Mumba has since confirmed that she was unable to release any new material due to contract restrictions following the restructure of Polydor Records, but whatever the reason, the proposed second album was shelved. Her second venture into films was in 2003, where she appeared in the film 'Spin The Bottle', and a compilation album was released in 2006, but it was to be seven years before we heard anything more from her, when in June 2013 she confirmed her musical comeback on Twitter, appearing on the RTÉ television show 'The Hit' to compete for a spot in the show's final. The song selected for chart battle was 'Somebody Like Me' which was released on iTunes immediately afterwards and competed against 'Thinking Of You' by Irish band Republic Of Loose, peaking at number five on the Irish Singles Chart, and marking her first hit single in 11 years. Since then she's appeared on Irish and UK television, most notably on 'Loose Women' in the UK, and she released a couple of singles in 2020, but for now here if that abandoned second album, 'Woman', shorn of the covers and remixes that tend to be added to it online, as they don't really add anything to the record. 

Track listing 

01 I'm Right Here
02 You're My Boo
03 Put Your Money On Me
04 Branded With A Kiss
05 Wet 'N Wild
06 Home Alone (feat. Beenie Man)
07 Wow
08 Shuttin' You Down
09 Nobody Knows
10 Relationships
11 Untouchable
12 Read My Mind
13 Can You Deliver
14 Point Of View
15 Sensuality
16 Wish Upon A Star

The Bolshoi - Country Li(f)e (1988)

The Bolshoi were formed in 1984 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, by singer/guitarist Trevor Tanner, drummer Jan Kalicki, and bassist Graham Cox. Tanner and Kalicki had previously played together in the short-lived punk band Moskow, where Trevor performed as Trevor Flynn (his mother's maiden name), and early gigs supported the likes of the Cult, the March Violets and the Lords of the New Church. After eight gigs bass player Graham Cox was replaced by Nick Chown, and this line-up released released their debut single 'Sob Story' in 1985, followed by the mini-album 'Giants'. The band moved to London in 1985, where their line-up expanded to include Paul Clark on keyboards, and in 1986 they released their first full-length album 'Friends'. The 'Lindy's Party' album followed in 1987, which was a more pop-oriented record, and which garnered favourable reviews in the music press. After the release of 'Lindy's Party', the band recorded a fourth album, but problems with their record label management impeded its release, and they disbanded as the 1980's drew to a close, leaving the record in limbo. The songs have recently surfaced on a 5CD archive set from the band, and so we are now able to piece it together, but rather than just use all the songs that have surfaced, one of their fans decided to use just what he considered the best tracks from the sessions, augmented by a couple of songs from the mostly dismal set of 1988 demos that were also included in the archive set, which he considered better than the finished studio recordings. So here is an exclusive version of The Bolshoi's fourth album 'Country Li(f)e', put together by the Steve Hoffman site contributor Pangolino, for which many thanks. Stylistically, the band have always been difficult to categorize, as although they started out supporting giants of the goth scene, and had label-mates like Bauhaus, Tanner was recognized for his dark, pensive lyrics that belied a social responsibility and awareness, giving their music a bit more depth than other proto-goth bands. If you have any fond memories of the band then do give this album a try, as it's far too good to have been locked away for all this time. 

Track listing

01 World In Action
02 Yee Hee 
03 Under The Shed
04 Rockin' Bird 
05 What's Your Favourite Colour?
06 Singing The Blues 
07 Madame Hecate
08 Castaway
09 Country Life

David McAlmont - Be (2000)

David Irving McAlmont was born 2 May 1967, growing up in Gorleston on Sea, Norfolk until 1978, when the family departed the United Kingdom for Guyana, residing with his grandparents in Lovely Lass Village Berbice, and then with his aunt in Wismar, Demerara. Moving back to the UK in 1989 to continue his education at Middlesex Polytechnic reading Performing Arts on the BAPA programme, he signed a publishing contract with Chrysalis Music in 1992, followed by a record deal with Virgin's Hut Records two years later. McAlmont first became noticed in the London band Thieves, who attracted early attention with the 1992 single 'Through The Door', but despite the release of a third single 'Either', Thieves split acrimoniously in 1994 shortly before the release of their first album. Following legal wrangling, the album was eventually released as the debut David McAlmont album under the title of 'McAlmont'. Despite some positive press attention, in particular regarding his startling voice, the album was not a commercial success. He continued his solo career until he was approached by ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, and in 1995 this collaboration produced 'The Sound Of McAlmont And Butler', an album of songs including 'Yes', which reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart. Another single, 'You Do', was released later that year, and peaked at number 17, but shortly after this McAlmont and Butler went their separate ways. The producer David Arnold then worked with McAlmont on a version of 'Diamonds Are Forever', which led to them working together on his second album 'A Little Communication', which came out in 1998. In the years that followed he worked occasionally with Ultramarine and Craig Armstrong, and prepared his third album 'Be', but although it was hailed by The Guardian as "Britain's first Zen Pop album", it was shelved by his record label, Hut Records, who had lost interest in the project, leading to McAlmont's departure from the label. Promo copies were released to the press, however, hence the Guardian review, and so we are able to hear what 'Be' would have sounded like had it been released before McAlmont reunited with Butler in 2001 to produce their second joint album in 2002's 'Bring It Back'. 

Track listing

01 Ice Man
02 Easy
03 Inspiration
04 I Want You
05 Be
06 Timeless
07 Working
09 Foot Of The Hill
10 Remember Yourself
11 In The Beginning
12 Outro

Pulp - The EPs (1994)

When I posted the recent b-sides collection by Pulp, I deliberately didn't include any tracks from the EPs that they released in 1985, 1986, 1993 and 1994, as I was planning to post them separately. After signing with Fire Records in 1984, the band's first release on the label was the 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes) And Other Pieces...' EP, followed the next year by the five-track 'Dogs Are Everywhere' EP. After these two extended-plays, they band went back to releasing normal singles, and albums from which they were taken, and it was another decade before they returned to the format. By this time they'd left Fire and signed with Warp imprint Gift Records, but despite issuing singles and albums in the intervening 10 years, they were still only a minor attraction, and so after releasing 'O.U. (Gone Gone)' and 'Babies' as singles, they issued the four-track 'Razzmatazz' EP. It was around this time that they started to break through into the mainstream, as the next single after 'Razzmatazz' was 'Do You Remember The First Time', which was a minor hit. To take advantage of that, another EP was issued, with 'Sister's appearing in May 1994, and it included the song 'His 'n' Hers', which had been omitted from the album of the same name. 1995 was the breakthrough year for Pulp, with their next single being  'Common People', followed by 'Sorted For E's And Wizz', and from that point on the band never looked back. The 'Different Class' album came out in 1995, and topped the UK album chart, and so this collection of their EPs was just part of their long haul into becoming a defining band of the Britpop era. 

Track listing

01 Little Girl (With Blue Eyes) (single 1985)
02 Simultaneous (b-side of 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)')
03 Blue Glow (b-side of 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)')
04 The Will To Power (b-side of 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)')
05 Dogs Are Everywhere (single 1986)
06 Mark Of The Devil (b-side of 'Dogs Are Everywhere')
07 97 Lovers (b-side of 'Dogs Are Everywhere')
08 Aborigine (b-side of 'Dogs Are Everywhere')
09 Goodnight (b-side of 'Dogs Are Everywhere')
10 Razzmatazz (single 1993)
11 Stacks (b-side of 'Razzmatazz')
12 Inside Susan (b-side of 'Razzmatazz')
13 59 Lyndhurst Grove (b-side of 'Razzmatazz')
14 Your Sister's Clothes (from 'The Sisters' EP 1994)
15 Seconds (from 'The Sisters' EP 1994)
16 His 'N' Hers (from 'The Sisters' EP 1994)

Bermuda Triangle - Come Sail Away (1979)

Bermuda Triangle started out as a group called Roger And Wendy, who got together in the late '60s in Greenwich Village, typically playing in pass-the-basket-for-tips coffeehouses and folk clubs, such as Gerde's Folk City, (where they headlined for 33 weeks in 1970, setting a club record), the Cafe Wha?, the Bitter End, the Cafe Au Go Go, The Gaslight Cafe, The Freudian Slip, The Basement Cafe, and Kenny's Castaways. Performing at first without microphones, they developed an energized psychedelic folk style with just an electrified autoharp and fast-pulse bass guitar, and their music quickly evolved from traditional ballads to electric folk, including psych folk, acid freak folk and rock. Roger and Wendy took the stage names Roger Becket and Wendy Becket when they had become involved with the Theater Company of Boston, and then in several off-Broadway plays. They kept these pseudonyms through much of their musical career, including while in Bermuda Triangle, before returning to their original surname of Penney. They released two albums, 'Bermuda Triangle' in 1977 and 'Bermudas II' in 1984, but some unreleased recordings have recently come to light, and so I've taken the best of them to compile their third album, now called 'Come Sail Away'. 

Track listing

01 Rainy Monday
02 Come Sail Away
03 Lost Worlds
04 My Brother
05 You'll Be A Star
06 Sometimes We Find It
07 High Flyin' Bird
08 Goin' Down To New Orleans
09 Did You Love Me
10 Minnesota Strip
11 Paper Say

Bonnie McKee - Bombastic (2015)

Following the disastrous liaison with Epic Records, which ended in Bonnie McKee and the label parting company because Epic refused to give her the artistic freedom that she needed, she decided to release her music on her own independent record label, and set about putting together an EP of some of her songs. The first single from the EP was 'Bombastic', which was released on 26 May 2015,and which was written by McKee, Charlie Puth, Sean Walsh and Axident, and is an 80s-influenced dance-pop and pop rock song. The official music video for the song was directed by David Richardson, and because the song had an 80's work-out feel, the video reflected that, and featured McKee working out to the track. Videos were made for two more songs from the EP, with 'Wasted Youth' being released in January 2016, and another 80s-themed video was made for the third single 'I Want It All', which came out in June 2016 on McKee's Vevo account. The psychedelic, pastel-coloured video for the fourth and final single, 'Easy', was released in November 2016, meaning that all four songs from the EP had now been released as singles. Considering McKee's work ethic, it's no surprise that she wrote way more than just four songs for the EP, and picked her favourites for the record, with the rest being consigned to that ever-increasing vault of unused material, so I've picked fourteen of the songs recorded in the 'Bombastic' sessions to make an accompanying album, also titled 'Bombastic', and featuring just the title track from the EP. The artwork reflects the look of the 'Bombastic' video, and had an album been on the cards then it would probably have been released in 2015, just after that first single. 

Track listing

01 I Can Still Dance
02 Dirty Laundry
03 Restless
04 Always On My Mind
05 In The Wild
06 Bombastic
07 Speed Of Light
08 Wings
09 Good Day 4 Love
10 Undefeated
11 Diamonds
12 I Can (Totally) Do This
13 Wicked
14 Hallelujah

Sia - OnlySee (1997)

Sia Kate Isobelle Furler was born on 18 December 1975 in Adelaide, South Australia, and started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990's, releasing one album and an EP. When Crisp disbanded in 1997, she released her debut studio album, 'OnlySee', in Australia, marketed under her full name of Sia Furler, and coming out on Flavoured Records. The album only sold about 1,200 copies, and shortly afterwards she moved to London, where she performed as a background vocalist for British band Jamiroquai, as well as providing vocals for English downtempo group Zero 7 on their first three studio albums, and also touring with the group. In 2000 she signed a recording contract with Sony Music's sub-label Dance Pool, and released her first single, 'Taken For Granted', which peaked at No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart, and in 2001 she released her second solo album 'Healing Is Difficult', which blends retro jazz and soul music and lyrically discusses Sia's dealing with the death of her first love affair. Displeased with the promotion of the album, she fired her manager, left Sony Music and signed with Go! Beat, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group (UMG), releasing her third studio album 'Colour The Small One' in 2004. This album employs a mixture of acoustic instruments and electronic backing to her material, and it spawned four singles, including 'Don't Bring Me Down' and 'Breathe Me', the latter of which charted in the United Kingdom, Denmark and France. Following this breakthrough her career took off, and hit singles and gold albums followed, but as often happens with artists that seem to emerge fully formed from nowhere, she'd paid her dues in her home country, and so for fans who might not have realised that 'Healing Is Difficult' was actually her second solo album, here is her first. It might not be what you are used to from the singer, but they all have to start somewhere, and moving on from the acid-jazz of Crisp, to my ears this 1997 offering contains some superb trip-hop, reminiscent of early Portishead or Massive Attack.  

Track listing

01 Don't Get Me Started
02 I Don't Want To Want You
03 Onlysee
04 Stories
05 Madlove
06 A Situation
07 Shadow
08 Asrep Onosim
09 Take It To Heart
10 Beautiful Reality
11 Soon
12 One More Shot
13 Tripoutro

The Mighty Lemon Drops - Going Under (1991) **UPDATE**

It seems that something went drastically wrong with this post back in November, as jman has already had to point out that one track was wrongly numbered, which I thought that I'd fixed, but it turned out to be much worse than that. After checking it again following a comment from Leon, I found that the track titled 'Rollercoaster' wasn't 'Rollercoaster' at all, and the track titled 'Splash #1' was in fact 'Rollercoaster'. I'd also duplicated 'Out Of Hand' and titled it 'Going Under', and of course 'Splash #1' was missing altogether, as was 'Count Me Out'. So not one of my better efforts. It's all now fixed, so if you've already downloaded it but didn't notice the errors, then you can now get the corrected version from Soulseek or Mega. 

Track listing

Disc One 1985-1988

01 Now She's Gone (b-side of 'Like An Angel' 1985)

02 Sympathise With Us (b-side of 'Like An Amgel' 1985)

03 Uptight (b-side of 'The Other Side Of You' 1986)

04 Open Mind (b-side of 'My Biggest Thrill' 1986)

05 Rollercoaster (b-side of 'My Biggest Thrill' EP 1986)

06 Wait And See (b-side of 'My Biggest Thrill' EP 1986)

07 Waiting For The Rain (Radio 1 Janice Long session 1986)

08 When I Dream (Radio 1 Janice Long session 1986)

09 Out Of Hand (single 1987)

10 Going Under (b-side of 'Out Of Hand')

11 Splash #1 (Now I'm Home) (b-side of 'Out Of Hand' EP 1987)

12 Count Me Out (b-side of 'Out Of Hand' EP 1987)

13 World Without End (previously unreleased 1988)

Disc Two 1988-1991

01 Shine (b-side of 'Inside Out' 1988)

02 Head On The Block (b-side of 'Inside Out' 1988)

03 Paint It Black (b-side of 'Fall Down (Like The Rain)' 1988)

04 Laughter (b-side of 'Fall Down (Like The Rain)' 1988)

05 Rumbletrain (b-side of 'Into The Heart Of Love' 1989)

06 Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White (b-side of 'Into The Heart Of Love' 1989)

07 Forever Home At Heart (b-side of 'Beautiful Shame' 1989)

08 Discontent (b-side of 'Too High' 1991)

09 We Love You (b-side of 'Too High' 1991)

10 You Don't Fast (b-side of 'Too High' 1991)            

11 In Vain (previously unreleased 1991)

12 Another Girl, Another Planet (b-side of 'Unkind' 1991)

Thanks to Leon for spotting this and letting me know. 

   

The Heart Throbs - Visionary Songs (1993)

The Heart Throbs were formed in 1986 by Rose Carlotti and Stephen Ward, both college students, who recruited Rose's sister Rachel DeFreitas and Mark Side to join the band, with Rose and Rachel both being the sisters of the late Echo & the Bunnymen drummer Pete DeFreitas. The band released their first single 'Toy' in mid-1987 on Marc Riley's In-Tape label, and within a year they had made inroads towards infamy, supporting the Jesus And Mary Chain on tour, and releasing their 'Bang' single in a controversial 'car crash' record sleeve on their new label Rough Trade Records. Further publicity followed at the close of the decade when the band started up their own Profumo label, named after the political sex scandal that shocked Britain in the early 60s, and after releasing two further singles on this imprint, they were signed by the UK label One Little Indian Records. It was at this time that guitarist Alan Barclay a.k.a. Alan Borgia joined the group, allowing original guitarist Ward to move to keyboards. Their first album 'Cleopatra Grip' appeared on One Little Indian in the UK, and was distributed in the US by Elektra Records, achieving moderate success on both sides of the Atlantic, and including the superb 'Dreamtime', which was released as a single. The band embarked on a tense tour towards the end of 1990, which resulted in the departure of both bass player Carlotti and drummer Side, and when their deal with Elektra ended they were signed by A&M Records, who released their next album 'Jubilee Twist' in both the UK and the US. Following a change of management, Colleen Browne had taken over on bass and Steve Beswick had joined on drums for 'Jubilee Twist', but after disappointing sales A&M elected not to distribute their third and final album, 'Vertical Smile', which just appeared in the UK on the One Little Indian label. It probably didn't help their US profile that the first and third albums were named after euphemisms for female genitalia, while the jubilee twist is a martial combat technique for attacking the male genitalia. Despite 'Vertical Smile' being a strong album, the band struggled to regain the ground they had lost in the intervening period, and they ground to a halt the following year. After The Heart Throbs split up in 1993, Rose Carlotti and Steve Beswick formed the group Angora, who then changed their name to Tom Patrol, before eventually disbanding. I always liked The Heart Throbs, and I think that 'Cleopatra Grip' still holds up today as a great record, and so as an introduction for anyone who doesn't know them, here are all their non-album singles and b-sides from their all too short career. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1987-1988
01 Toy (single 1987)
02 Make My Day (b-side of 'Toy')
03 I, The Jury (b-side of 'Toy')
04 Bang (single 1987)
05 Sick At Heart (b-side of 'Bang')
06 Naked Bang (b-side of 'Bang')
07 Too Many Shadows (single 1988)
08 Things That Linger (b-side of 'Too Many Shadows')
09 I See Danger (b-side of 'Too Many Shadows')
10 Here I Hide (single 1988)
11 Pale Fire (b-side of 'Here I Hide')
12 Come (b-side of 'Here I Hide')

Disc II - 1989-1993
01 Cry Hard Cry Fast (b-side of 'Blood From A Stone' 1989)
02 Smothered (b-side of 'Blood From A Stone' 1989)
03 Shut Down (early version of 'Dreamtime', John Peel session 1989)
04 Toy '89 (from 'Lie To Me: A Compilation Of Guitar Use And Abuse' 1989)
05 Clear As A Bell (b-side of 'I Wonder Why' 1990)
06 This Man (b-side of 'Dreamtime' 1990)
07 Turn Away (from the 'Total Abandon' EP 1991)
08 Pumping (My Heart) (from the 'Total Abandon' EP 1991)
09 Laughing & Falling (from the 'Spongy Thing' EP 1992)
10 Tranquilized, Naked & Shy (from bonus 12" with vinyl edition of 'Jubilee Twist' 1992)
11 We Connect (b-side of 'Worser' 1993)
12 Visionary Song (b-side of 'Worser' 1993)

78violet - The Edge (2009)

Sisters Aly MIchalka & AJ Michalka are an American pop rock duo, who have been making music since 2005, signing to Disney's record label Hollywood Records when they were 14 and 16 years old. They released their debut studio album 'Into The Rush' in August 2005, and it debuted at number thirty six in the United States, selling over 24,000 copies in its first week, and was later certified Gold by the RIAA, selling over 1,000,000 copies worldwide. In 2006, the duo released their second studio album, the Christmas-themed 'Acoustic Hearts Of Winter', which peaked at seventy-eight on the Billboard 200 and sold 110,000 copies. Their third studio album, 'Insomniatic', debuted at number fifteen on the Billboard 200, making it their highest debut to date, and the album's lead single 'Potential Breakup Song' is their most successful single, peaking at number seventeen on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2009, Aly & AJ renamed themselves 78violet and announced their departure from Hollywood Records the following year, and in 2013 they released their only single under that name titled 'Hothouse'. However, it later transpired that they'd recorded a whole album under that name while they were still with Hollywood Records, and which has remained unreleased. Various songs from the record have leaked over the years, although two of them, 'Damaged' and 'Civilian' remained elusive for some time, although I have now managed to track them down, so that we can at last hear the album in its entirety. The duo are still making music, releasing a new single 'Take Me' in 2017, and they had various songs compiled onto the album 'We Don't Stop' in 2020. The same year saw the limited release of another 78violet album, their previously unreleased 2013 album 'Hothouse', recorded at the same time as the single of the same name. It was issued as an exclusive release for Aly & AJ's fan club Sanctuary, strictly for year one members, except for 29 copies that were released via their webstore. These were "Triple Signed" (autographed sleeve, inner sleeve & vinyl label) and pressed on clear with purple splatter vinyl, packaged inside a tip-on sleeve with foil stamp text on front and back cover, and are obviously now very collectible. For now, though, here is that 2009 78violet album which the girls recorded under their pseudonym, and which has remained unheard for over a decade.  

Track listing

01 Say Hello
02 The Good, The Bad, And The Boring
03 The Next Worst Thing
04 Damaged
05 The Edge
06 Civilian
07 Silly Boy
08 Walk Alone Tonight
09 Lovesick
10 Freak
11 Insane
12 Magellan
13 Bullet

Pacific - State Of Mind (2021)

Pacific are a Manchester-based four-piece who are carving their own arena in the industry with their unique blend of alternative, piano-infused rock and indie nuances. The band consists of brothers and songwriters Anthony Orzel (vocals/piano) and Daniel Orzel (synths/bass/backing vocals), plus Dave Bithell on guitar and Drew Burns on drums/percussion. They've been going for about five years now, and have been garnering praise for their singles, being played on BBC Radio 1 by Huw Stephens, and recently being added to Apple Music's Breaking Rock playlist. With an appetite for anthems, the band's electrifying singles have resulted in a strong fanbase, with both 'Puzzle' and 'Alibi' being released in 2021 to positive reviews, and they have helped to gain the band a new raft of supporters. Adapting to the times, Pacific have been in 'virtual' high-demand, releasing a cover video series in partnership with Blackstar Amps titled '90 Sec Anthems', and they were invited to play virtual live sets throughout 2020, including Liverpool Sound City's 'Guest House'. They have been posting songs to Soundcloud since they began, and there are now enough on there for them to include on a debut album, but once again, as they haven't got around to doing it themselves, I've done it  for them. 

Track listing

01 Blinded
02 Life In Short
03 Should Have Known
04 Not Telling You
05 Clarity
06 Let me Out
07 Bottle This Love
08 Time To Forget
09 Idols
10 Last Life
11 State Of Mind
12 Puzzle
13 Spiral
14 Alibi