Search - Kane Gang :: Miracle of the Kane Gang

Pretty much the complete Kane Gang--both albums and then som

Daniel W. Kelly | Long Island, NY United States | 06/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This obscure 80s band with a mellow alternative rock sound only had two full length albums, and this two disc set includes all the tracks from both albums, plus what I imagine are b-sides from singles. The only thing really missing are the 12" versions of some of the singles, simply because the 2 discs couldn't have fit them. Track listing:





CD1

1. brother brother

2. gun law

3. we'll take this train

4. how much longer

5. loserville

6. printer's devil

7. respect yourself

8. closest thing to heaven

9. smalltown creed

10. crease in the hat

11. it's a gift

12. angel on a motorbike

13. six o'clock city



CD2

1. motortown

2. what time is it

3. looking for gold

4. take me to the world

5. king street rain

6. don't look any further

7. a finer place

8. let's get wet

9. strictly love

10. sitting ducks

11. king of nothing

12. love thing

13. lonesome weary and blue

14. star walking

15. brightest star



"

Spread The News All Around

Coincidence Vs Fate | Warwickshire, UK | 05/29/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

""The Miracle Of.." finally makes the two Kane Gang albums "The Bad & Lowdown World" and "Miracle" available to the public once again.



I'm luckily enough to own both original albums on CD - in fact, "Miracle" was one of the first CDs I bought some twenty years ago now.



My first experience of The Kane Gang was the superb single, "Gun Law", which I still own in all its double-pack glory. This single is included on the first CD along with the rest of their debut album, "The Bad & Lowdown World". Also tagged onto the end of Disc One is "It's a Gift", b-side of "Motortown" and a couple of unreleased tracks. "Lowdown" was a truly stunning debut and not only included some fine singles, the aforementioned "Gun Law", but also "Closest Thing To Heaven" and their biggest hit "Respect Yourself", which, to be honest, isn't my favourite track by them. In fact, it's ironic that their two most well-known tracks "Respect" and "Don't Look Any Further" were both covers. The extra tracks are not bad, but tend to be a little too Eaglesque, even for my now mature early 40's ears.



The Second CD is fantastic as the first nine tracks make up the bands second album, "Miracle" originally released in 1987. That album and this CD kicks off with the fantastic "Motortown" a little ditty written about the opening of Nissan (the Japanese car manufacturer) in Sunderland, England..."the paintwork's gleaming in the Rising Sun..." Great stuff!



"Miracle" was certainly more mature than the debut and seemed to be heavily influenced by Steely Dan - similar to China Crisis, who from 1985's "Flaunt The Imperfection" sounded more like Steely Dan that messrs. Fagan and Becker!



Only one more single was culled was "Miracle" and that was the disappointing (well, for me at any rate) "Don't Look Any Further", a cover that smacked of laziness. Don't get me wrong, it's a well-polished, well-executed song, but it's just NOT the Kane Gang for me. I do remember when the single was released that the ads in the trade press stated "Don't Go Gazza" on them. Nice to know they were football fans too.



The highlight of CD two and my favourite Kane Gang moment is "King Street Rain". A great song which would surely have made a better single back then?. After all 87/88 in the UK was a bit of a musical vacuum what with the charts full of Jam and Lewis and PWL, so a real song like this would've cleaned up. Ah well.



The extra tracks on this CD were recorded after Paul Woods had left the band and sound pretty dated now, lots of orchestral stabs and that kind of thing. Not essential, but nice to have, I guess.



All-in-all a great release and for this price it really is a steal. Hopefully, a few more people will buy it and realise just how good the band were. They are sadly overlooked and sadly missed.



Hopefully Kitchenware will do something similar for stablemates, Hurrah!"