Search - Deaf School :: What a Way to End It All: The Anthology

Long Awaited Anthology Has It All

Michael Strom | Chicago, IL USA | 01/06/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I presume that no one just stumbles onto a Deaf School anthology. If you've gotten this far you know the old LPs, you have a few basic questions you want answered, so here goes. Yes, the more reasonably priced option of the three currently shown by Amazon has all the tracks (despite the lack of track listing as of today) listed on the pricier imports, so there's no reason to pay the extra dough. Yes, all original tracks from the three studio releases are here, plus live BBC sessions. How's the sound quality? Excellent. How are the live BBC session tracks? Very faithful to the originals. Why a 4 star review? Actually, if you could break it down that finely, there is a straight line progression in quality from album 1 to 2 to 3 -- the debut (2d Honeymoon) was breathtakingly original and fun, with each subsequent effort less so than its immediate predecessor. The debut would rate a solid 5 of 5, the sophomore effort (2d half of disc 1) Don't Stop the World rates somewhere between 3 and 4, and the third LP would be a 2 at best. By album 3 (English Boys, Working Girls), the herky-jerky Roxy-tinged cabaret rock had flattened out into a mid-70's Kinks-go-mainstream attempt to sell records. Since the collection (here at least) is priced competitively, I won't dock them too harshly for the quality drop on disc 2. Although the live-in-studio stuff on disc 2 is pretty much note-for-note recreations of the LP versions, the curiosity value is definitely present on how a group this weird sounded live. Long story short, small loss if disc two winds up as a coaster. But disc 1 fills an essential void. Wouldn't it be great if Castle Music could put out a similarly classy and comprehensive anthology of The Brains?"

If only....

Mark Johnson | Liverpool, UK | 08/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If only Deaf School where around at a different moment in time, that's what the sleeve notes say and I agree. The release of this album brings back a flood of memories for me, art college in Liverpool, the whole punk thing etc in 1977. It was that punk explosion that killed off Deaf Schools chance of stardom, too many bands, not enough room for them all. The eclectic mix of all styles of music was refreshing and some songs reflected life in Liverpool past and present and this CD, basically all three albums and some live BBC sessions shows what could have been, if only."