Search - Chrome :: Box Set

Be careful when buying Chrome Box...

C. Homer | Texas | 06/20/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Cleopatra-issued release sold here differs from the Subterranean Records release. Missing from this Cleopatra release are the aforementioned "Shadows of 1000 Years" plus "ST 37" and several others. It's still a great box set at a great price, but it's not as comprehensive as the Subterranean Records release, which includes ALL the songs from Alien Soundtracks, Half Machine Lip Moves, Blood on the Moon and No Humans Allowed. FYI."

Slip It To the Android...

boeanthropist | Cambridge, MA | 05/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Back in the 1980s the Chrome Box sat up there on the triple throne of god from the Book of Revelation with a rare few other choicely comprehensive boxsets back in those pre-everyone-and-their-mother-has-a-boxset days -- the Half Japanese box, the Soft Machine box, and the F/i box, perhaps -- 6 LPs and assorted goodies selling via mail order for about 16 bucks.For this new edition, Cleopatra have chosen to retain the design/format and the extremely fair price, at the expense of comprehensiveness, but that's not such a bad thing: if you're a rapid Chrome fan you've probably already got all the vinyl and/or earlier CD reissues. In my dotage, however, since I've whittled my collection down quite a bit and have consequently grown happily accustomed to no longer having to beg my friends to help me schlep 6000 pounds of vinyl down and then up five flights of stairs everytime I move, this does me just fine -- it's all the Chrome I'll ever need -- over 3 CDs and nearly five hours, they've done a crack job of excerpting the best from Chrome's first 8 or 9 albums, plus the truly essential single tracks like "Anorexic Sacrifice" and "Beacons to the Eye," all three tracks from the Ralph Records "Subterranean Modern" compilation, as well as live extracts from a previously unreleased Bologna, Italy concert.Chrome worked from a similar Weltanschauung to Gary Numan's Tubeway Army days -- future horror bio-techno nightmare machine sex robot genocide sci-fi mind control corporate cult ecstacy doom atrocity exhibition Philip K.Dick William S. Burroughs Theodore Sturgeon Clockwork Orange Brave New World ad nauseum -- but musically they spelled it out in a much hollower-sounding, processed guitar-laden, fuzz-mired lower-fi way, which only adds to the sinisteria of it -- like receiving radio broadcasts from that same horrorshow future through an old, cracked, not particularly reliable radio. Tubeway Army meets Hawkind circa "Space Ritual" meets Simply Saucer meets "Hotwire My Heart"-era Crime. But entirely original and their own all the same. RIP Damon Edge."

Beautiful re-issue, superior sound

Dune21 | Paris, France | 07/05/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From an international perspective, Chrome remains one of the most important and seminal West coast band of the late 1970s / early 1980s. This box contains everything you need to know about the band, and almost all their tracks.I would like to add two comments to the previous reviews:1) the sound quality of this re-issue is much better than the vinyl version. I have checked the differences in sound stage and dynamics and this version is much better, it has a very good "studio" sound on a number of tracks (some early tracks have a poor sound quality, but this is probably due to the original material)2 - the selection is slightly different from the original Chrome Box : there are additional tacks (including live tracks in Italy), and some tracks have been ommitted or shortened, in particular tracks from the rare "Chronicles" series. It strikes me that this selection is perhaps better than the original box.Conclusion : a "must have" box, with superior sound and excellent track selection. However, if you are looking for some rare tracks such as "Wings are born in the night" in the full-length version, you should also buy the original vinyl edition (for a lot more money, these days)"