Essential Early Goth/Post Punk
Matthew | Pittsburgh | 01/03/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Return To Eden" is the long-awaited collection of this seminal alternative band's early pre-Polygram singles and B sides! Finally, after many years, these tracks were made available again and for the first time, on an official band approved release.The earliest singles, "D Is For Desire" and "Don't Follow Me, March Hare," are shaded with an early Cocteaus and Banshees vibe, but there was definitely a crackling spark of power and muscle apparent in these songs that set All About Eve on a plateau all their own. Despite some admittedly quirky lyrics, the music for "Suppertime" is outstanding, with the gorgeous jangle of overdriven guitars, interlocking bass lines and shuffling, snapping drum work that defines the Gothic Rock sound. In addition to the brooding Post Punk sensibility, there is as well a foreshadowing of All About Eve's mastery of catchy pop hooks and memorable melodies.The driving gloom of "End Of The Day" is perhaps my favourite of all the first five tracks on the album. A thick bass line rumbles above deep mid paced drums, accented by eerie pinch harmonics and Julianne's unwavering alto. The song crescendos into a spiral of stark psychedelic guitar wizardry and continues to blast along at full force until the song draws to a magnificent close. "Love Leads Nowhere" is weighed with an even deeper melancholy, falling somewhere between early U2 and the manic Death Rock of the legendary Skeletal Family and Xmal Deutschland. The track is the perfect blend of dark mood and melody, and is another rarely heard masterpiece.In addition to the early unavailable 12" singles and b-sides, a wealth of demo tracks and alternate versions of material recorded for the first album makes up the rest of this 70 minute compilation. Classic tracks like "In The Clouds," "Shelter From The Rain," "Every Angel" and "Flowers In Our Hair" appear in earlier, rawer and perhaps more aggressive forms here. The latter, "Flowers In Our Hair" appears in both its demo and extended forms, both of which are anthematic and powerfully animated gems of uplifting melancholia. That track had always been my favourite from the debut release, but these versions are twice as good. "Our Summer," the band's second single and a track, which unfortunately did not appear on the debut album, is probably one of my all time favourite All About Eve songs. Two versions appear here, the 7" single mix as well as an extended mix. I honestly can't pinpoint it exactly, but the song is animated with such genuine sweetness and uplifting melodic power that I can't help but feel `good' every time I hear this song. Unlike much of the over produced and sappy drivel that defined mainstream 80s radio, THIS is what a nostalgic walk through summer fields should sound like, and "Our Summer" stands as one of my all time favourite songs.I could gush about this disc for hours, but this is one of the most fantastic collections of vintage alternative and early Goth Rock material available today. If you have ever at all been curious about All About Eve, then this is the CD for you to begin your love affair with this band. If you are a longtime fan, then there is A LOT here to be thankful for to complete the band's `pre-discography.' Honestly, buy this now. You won't regret it.* extracted and edited from my review at StarVox.net"
Eden's Eve
Laurence Upton | Wilts, UK | 08/18/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"All About Eve have always been one of the more collectable eighties bands and record fairs seem to be full of desirable limited editions, promos, boxes with posters, and the like, all commanding a healthy price. For collectors of music rather than artifacts, though, this handy CD could save a small fortune.
All About Eve's career really kick-started in 1988 with their eponymous album for Mercury and the ensuing big hit Martha's Harbour, but they had been releasing records on their indie label Eden since 1985, and several of the songs on their album were new productions or remixes of songs they had put out as singles for Eden, including Flowers In Our Hair, In The Clouds, Shelter From The Rain and Lady Moonlight.
Return To Eden includes everything that was released on the Eden label including the extended 12" mixes of Our Summer and Flowers In Our Hair, plus the rare track Suppertime, previously only available on a Situation Two-related compilation put together for ZigZag magazine while Julianne was working there as a journalist in 1986; and some previously unreleased early studio demo versions of Apple Tree Man, Every Angel and In The Meadow, the latter two featuring different lyrics to the finished versions (all the lyrics being printed in full in the CD sleeve).
Most of the recordings are similar if slightly less polished to the sound of the band on the album, All About Eve, and consisted of Julianne Regan, Tim Bricheno, Andy Cousins and a drum machine (their drummer Mark Price having joined around the time they signed to Mercury), but the first two tracks, released as a single in July 1985 fascinatingly show a band in ferment, sounding in turn like the Cocteau Twins or Siouxsie and the Banshees, as they search for their own identity.
The band began life as the Swarm but both the name and the line-up had not coalesced either: the composer credits for those first two songs show Julianne Regan, Tim Bricheno, Gus Ferguson and Xmal Deutschland's drummer Manuela Zwingmann, but apparently by the time the single was made bass player Gus Ferguson had been replaced by James Jackson, and both had departed by the time of the second single the next year. Drummer Mick Brown from the Mission also puts in an appearance on the three tracks from the Our Summer single (and hung around long enough to co-write Wild Hearted Woman and Calling Your Name with the band).
These fully re-mastered recordings, many appearing on CD for the first time, appear on the band's own JamTart label and the CD has sleeve notes by Tim Bricheno, so this is a fully legal and band-approved release, and is therefore an obvious must-have for the many fans of the band. Bring on Volume Two.
"
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1