Search - Jazz Butcher Conspiracy :: Excellent the Violent Years

A Wasted Compilation?

Patrick Smith | Somerville, MA | 03/04/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Two years ago, the Draining the Glass collection culled the Butcher's best songs from several albums released on the now-defunct Glass label between 1982 and 1985. Now, Creation Records has done the same with !Excellent!, spotlighting a half-dozen Creation discs from 1988's Fishcotheque to 1993's Waiting For the Love Bus. While Draining... was a masterful distillation, this one suffers from poor song choices. Mediocre selections like "Chickentown" and "Sister Death" made the cut while gems like "The Good Ones" and "Keeping the Curtains Closed" didn't. Some of the original Creation stuff is now out of print, and !Excellent! was a great opportunity to reincarnate some fantastic music that is otherwise doomed to the annals of pop oblivion. In this respect it fails, shining only on tracks like the beautiful "Whaddya," and Cult of the Basement's "Mr. Odd." The last creation disc, Illuminate is ignored altogether, and perhaps the best of them all, Big Planet Scarey Planet, is represented only by the novelty "Bicycle Kid." For those unfamiliar with the Butcher's work, this is a lousy place to start."

Give the JBC some popularity already

Patrick Smith | 04/11/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Butcher fans are ready for the release of the old vintage albums that the set standard for European pop music. This latest piece of work is suitable for new listeners, but leaves the real fan thirsting for more."

This is a compilation of prev.released stuff. Still Great!

Patrick Smith | 02/04/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pat fish aka the butcher is famous for repackaging his stuff every coupla' years. This is no diffferent. If you already have all albums back to 1988 this is a rehash and a ripoff. I bought it hoping for different versions. But I was disappointed and irritated at still more duplication. Give us something totally new or something really early ie out of print. But PLEASE no more redundance...It is too expensive."