Search - Dead Can Dance :: 1981-98 Boxed Set

Underrated Band-some songs you already have and More!

Tunnelpet | Forestville, CA, US | 06/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like a few other fans of this band I had to have an inner debate as to whether or not to purchase this box set. The truth being that any serious fan would already have most of this material. This brings us to the "Box-set debate". Should a box set have more previously unreleased things or should a box set have absolutely everything the group has ever done as in the case of the Police box set which claims to have "every note"? The truth here is that spread across three studio CDs this has about 9 or so tracks that are unavailable anywhere else plus some that were only on their previous compilation album. So I was going to have to be buying a bunch of songs I already had at a not-cheap price as this set is apparently out of print and only available at high used prices. But with the excellent inclusion of their live show DVD (although it doesn't include "Yulunga"..was this edited out of the movie...and why as it is on the film's credits?). This DVD also has their videos which were of varying success. The "Yulunga" video is breathtaking and "The Carnival Is Over" video is just silly and much much more pointless than your own imagination when you hear it. The first CD has some very very very cool tracks from their first Peel session that show how cool they were early on and also why they could be forced into the "goth" camp which was a double edged sword for them. It gave them a "scene" to emerge from but carried inapplicable baggage that closed some potential listeners' minds to them. But so what? I do wish one of the CDs was nothing but a full live show of a concert from the "Within the Realm of a Dying Sun Days" or "Serpent's Egg Days" instead of lots of songs from "Aion" and those other albums of which most of us who would be interested enough to buy a box set would obviously already have. So...if you don't mind buying 2 album's worth of stuff you already have to get an awesome DVD and a good 9-11 songs worth of previously very rare or unreleased stuff that is as cool as anything this band has done then go for it. It took me a while to make the plunge and I don't regret it even if I am critical of it. I do wish there were more photos of the group during various eras in the booklet rather than sorta-arty photos of alleyways or leaves n' stuff. Great text though about life being in Dead Can Dance which apparently included being stuck in your London appartment and riding around on a bike. Inspiring. Here's a breakdown of the songs you might not have on this set:



"Labour of Love", "Ocean", "Orion" and "Threshold"; their entire first Peel session which is just grand. Makes me long for the post-punk explosion of the early 80's which was more emotional and interesting than today's alternative music.

I couldn't believe how well "Labour of Love" sounds. This is an awesome song.



"Carnival of Light" from their second Peel session but I wish they had put more songs from this session on here as I don't know any way of getting them not even as bootlegs.



"Bird" and "Spirit" from their compilation album which I never had because I didn't want to buy a whole CD for two songs...now I have them and they totally rock especially "Spirit".



"The Protagonist", a comp track that sounds good when you're stoned and falling to sleep next to that special someone, especially if you're 18 which I once was. Alas.



"Bylar" from a live radio set for the Echoes show. This one is soaringly beautiful with Lisa Gerrard's pan-Irish avant -folk.



"Sloth" and a version of "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" from a radio set that are nice treats but you'll still need "Into the Labyrinth" as it's a more raw recording of "Wind that Shakes" and the version of "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove" here is a really lame short edited version that spoils the flow of the song.



"Gloridean" a dramatic Gerrard song left off of "Toward the Within" and is welcomed back here. It sounds like surveying the piled bodies and crying tears of a terrible medieval battle. Awesome.



"Sambaktiki" a funky afro-psychedelic 9 minute instrumental jam left off "Spiritchaser" which reminds me of Talking Heads. Super cool on a hot day.



"The Lotus Eaters" Their last studio recorded song from an aborted album. I hope they do another one someday. I'm a hold out, especially since they toured in 2005. What a show and there are some nice new ones that night which you can find on the limited live albums.



Too much stuff I had already but such a great band that never stayed put and were always unique and they possessed a really excellent emotional impact. The lyrics to their "Serpent's Egg" album seem more and more relevant today as we see our civilization careening towards environmental meltdown for the sake of petty greed and power entrenchment.

Focus Group"