Though their 1986 debut album still remains in print in its original form, even fans of the band who own that CD will have to pick up this set, as the band has contributed an entire extra disc s worth of bonus material! An... more »d it s good bonus material, too, like the very demo ('Boy') that got them signed to Sire Records by Seymour Stein. Other bonus cuts include demos of 'I Touch Roses'; 'Lost Souls'; 'You Make Me Feel So Good'; 'White Lies'; 'Book of Love', and 'Still Angry'; live performances of 'Boy' and 'Happy Day', and rare versions of 'I Touch Roses' (Daniel Miller mix); 'Lost Souls' (original 12' version), and 'We Three Kings'. 12 bonus tracks in all like a whole additional album!« less
Though their 1986 debut album still remains in print in its original form, even fans of the band who own that CD will have to pick up this set, as the band has contributed an entire extra disc s worth of bonus material! And it s good bonus material, too, like the very demo ('Boy') that got them signed to Sire Records by Seymour Stein. Other bonus cuts include demos of 'I Touch Roses'; 'Lost Souls'; 'You Make Me Feel So Good'; 'White Lies'; 'Book of Love', and 'Still Angry'; live performances of 'Boy' and 'Happy Day', and rare versions of 'I Touch Roses' (Daniel Miller mix); 'Lost Souls' (original 12' version), and 'We Three Kings'. 12 bonus tracks in all like a whole additional album!
CD Reviews
Excellent Re-Issue!....not so excellent packaging!
David Tiberi | Canada | 06/19/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have received my last installment of this amazing collection...and it is superb!...especially that it is a 2 disc edition makes it even more inviting!
Disc 1 is the full album (minus the bonus tracks from the previous cd re-issue version), and they are remastered beautifully!
Disc 2 is the real treat!...2 live recordings, demo recordings that ended up signing them to Sire records, the main remix of I Touch Roses, and some other goodies....if you want to really complete your collection...download the Mp3 versions of the bonus tracks from the 1990 version...I did!.....
and as I have stated before...the packaging is not the best...the flimsy digipack must be handled with extreme care...."
The release date is not May 12
B. Weeks | 05/18/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I wanted to let Book Of Love fans know that Amazon is telling everyone that they are able to obtain these re-issues but the truth is these are not being released until July 21st. Who says? Ted Ottaviano, that's who. I emailed him and was told the release date is July 21st.
Of course Amazon has great prices so pre-ordering helps, but don't expect them to ship anytime soon as Amazon states."
"You Make Me Feel So Sad"
Juan Sablan | usa | 08/06/2009
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Book of Love were just one of the many bands I was in love with, when I was a teenager. I love them today as much as I did 23 years ago. So, when I saw their re-issued cds at my local independent record store, I immediately picked them up without hesitation. There are many things wrong with this re-issued cd. First, the cover art is over-exposed, so they look really dark on the cover. The ugly "noble rot" stamp on the bottom left-hand corner of the album cover just makes it worse. No, let me say that the unattractive florescent green promo sticker on the cd is hideous.
Now, for the songs. There isn't a significant difference in sound from the original issue of the cd. The extra tracks on the original cd are forgotten in this re-issue. The "live" versions of "Happy Day" and "Boy" were taken from san francisco's KRON TV AIDS awareness benefit concert. It sounds as if someone put a tape recorder up to the tv and hit the record button. The sound quality is lousy. Why not contact KRON TV and ask them to dig in their vaults, to perhaps get a better sound quality of the songs? I don't know...The only thing that is positive about this re-issue are the demo recordings.
In summary, the album artwork is really bad. The lyrics printed are tiny. For a band that hit the music scene very fast and made a big impression on those of us listening to the Cure and Depeche Mode and Erasure, this re-issue does not do this band justice. They deserve much better. Especially for this cd, which I consider their masterpiece.
Do get it if you are a Book of Love completist, as I am. Do not get it if you are not a big admirer of this band. Stick to the original issue of the cd.
This was a project that could have been much better:
--better sound quality of live songs
--All the remixes for "Modigliani"
--All the remixes ofr "You Make Me Feel So Good"
--All the remixes for "I Touch Roses"
--All the remixes for "Boy"
--exclusive photos for this time period.
--A complete discography for this recording period (including pictures of all the 12" record sleeves).
--packaging such as the re-issued CURE cds.
That would have been a perfect, top-notch re-issue.
Sorry, but this re-issue makes me feel so sad...
I expect nothing but the best, for a band that deserves it. Love you, Book of Love, despite my horrible review."
Almost perfect supplement to the original pressing
Daniel W. Kelly | Long Island, NY United States | 07/14/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I mean, obviously, you now need to own TWO copies of this album if you are a completist who wants ALL the Book of Love 12" mixes on CD. Sure, it would have been nice to keep disc one just as it was on the original pressing of this disc, which had 12" mixes as bonus tracks, but if that wasn't going to happen, then they should have at least closed the book on Book's catalog from the first album by including the "spirited mix" of Lost Souls, which was originally on the 12" release of You Make Me Feel So Good. Ironically, a great and sneaky thing to note on this reissues= is that the original ALBUM version of Lost Souls actually runs 35 seconds longer than on the original pressing (from 4:50 to 5:25), but still, including the 12" mix would have made this collection complete, because we have the full bloom version of I Touch Roses (which was ALSO on the You Make Me Feel So Good 12") along with the mega rare Christmas track "We Three Kings" which originally appeared on a promotional album of Sire Records artists doing holiday songs back in the 80s. That alone makes this reissue gold, but I seriously could have done without demo versions and live versions to finally have the 12" mix of Lost Souls on CD instead (not that they would have needed to have removed any of that other material since there's plenty of room left between both discs to include that one last mix). Let's hope that perhaps the people at Hi-Bias will include this last lost mix on a future volume of Retro Active."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1