Search - Strawberry Switchblade :: 12' Album

Their worst tracks, badly mastered. Avoid!

Gary Dwyer | Northern England | 09/09/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"In the 1980s record companies had a strict policy of issuing all singles on two formats, the 7 inch and the 12 inch. The latter had to have a remix. It didn't have to add anything to it creatively, it didn't matter if it was no good at all, just as long as it was LONGER; that was the only criterion.Frequently, these killed the wonder of the orginal track stone dead, taking great moments and splitting them up with pointless bits of a drum machine clicking away on its own for ages. Worse still, these mixes were often made without the band's input. This is what happened with Strawberry Switchblade.The remixes are, without exception, of this pointless 80s kind. They ruin what are otherwise beautiful songs. The non-extended tracks are one b-side, and the appalling Ecstasy, an excruciating cheesy Motown pastiche not written by the band, done solely for the money it brought for contributing it to a Japanese TV ad for cars.In a recent interview for strawberryswitchblade.net, Strawberry Switchblade's Jill Bryson said: `We just had nothing to do with it, it was just taken out of our hands. We were just told they were going to be remixed... they just went in and did it without us... I can't say I was ever involved in or impressed by the 12 inches.'When reminded of the existence of The 12" Album, Jill said, `isn't that the one with all those terrible Japanese singles at the end? 'Ecstasy' and stuff like that? Warn them! Say 'don't do it, save your money'!!'Bill Drummond, their manager who was responsible for much of the remixing, can't even remember doing any of them. In an interview on the same site he says, `it became a marketing thing, all records had to have more than one format to milk whatever fan following is out there. So nobody would ever be thinking Trees And Flowers could be a club record, it'd be more like, 'this is a great song so let's have it so it plays for longer and you don't have to put the record on again,' something almost as stupid as that.'And that's the opinions of the people who made these mixes, the people who should be most enthusiastic.As if it couldn't get any worse, The 12" Album has been reissued as this CD, with remastering standards about as good as the photocopy-style cover.Avoid this album at all costs. As Jill herself says, 'don't do it, save your money!!'."

Terrible Sound Quality

Gary Dwyer | 06/18/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Is this really an authorised release, or is it some sort of "official bootleg"? No matter how good the music is, when the sound is so lousy that you cannot appreciate it, you should not waste your money on it. Save up for the japanese import instead. It's still a shame since a couple of tracks here cannot be found on the jap import.."

Sounds Terrible

06/08/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Cool songs, TERRIBLE mastering/sound. Do not purchase."