Search - Thompson Twins :: Quick Step & Side Kick

5 stars for the album, 1 for the reissue

IggyBowieLou | Kansas City | 11/08/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I'm revisiting this review, because the album is just that important to me.



I know a bit more about Superfecta now, and I hope they'll take my lashes with some understanding. But wow -- I think this CD is even worse now than I originally rated it.



The guys (mostly Jason) at Superfecta meant well, I'm sure. But I really don't understand how you put out a release like this before consulting the fans.



Since I wrote this, I've forced myself to listen to the CD a little more, and it makes me angrier every time. The mastering on "Rap Boy Rap" is totally atrocious. Hear the compressor wheeze in and out, sounding like a teenager riding the volume knob to avoid waking up Mom and Dad in the next room.



And GIVE ME A BREAK on the art. I can't believe how amateurish it is. Couldn't the "designer" have even consulted the original logo? And seriously, what's with that "reproduction" of the original 12" back jacket? Look at the Japanese re-release for the proper way to have done this. No professional designer would have made such a rookie mistake.



Rumor has it BMG is planning on a big re-release campaign of all the TT catalog. I'll believe it when I see it, but I can't imagine they could mess up QS&SK worse than this disaster. Awful.



Do. Not. Buy.



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Before I start out, this is my favorite album ever. It's the one I'd take with me to a desert island. I'd choose it over anything Bowie, the Beatles, Liz Phair, Led Zep, or the Ramones ever recorded. Yes, I like it that much. And I barely listen to any synthpop.



So I have to give the CD this: The audio quality is good here (with one really bizarre exception, noted below), and the album songs are in the correct sequence. Even Arista records didn't get that right in the US in 1983.



But Superfecta, seriously...HOW ON EARTH could you kludge the FOURTH CD reissue of this groundbreaking album? The Japanese 20-bit one from the late '90s still remains the definitive CD release of QS&SK. This one isn't even in the realm of the initial CD releases, which were made from the vinyl master tapes. THIS IS NOT THE ACTUAL ALBUM.



Particulars:



1. This album was originally released in the UK and in the US with a second cassette side of remixes: "Love Lies Fierce," "(Long) Beach Culture," "No Talkin'," "Rap Boy Rap," "Frozen in Time" and "Fallen Out." This was not a long album by modern standards. These remixes would have fit on the same CD, as the 10 original album tracks clock in at well under 40 minutes. This is the most important part: Superfecta IS NOT releasing the whole original album. Since this thing is mostly going to be sold to hard-core TTwins cultists, why in the world didn't they do their market research to find out what people want? Thompson Twins fans have been wanting the ORIGINAL ALBUM in its entirety forever. Big mistake to put three bonuses on this one that have already been released on CD.



2. "Love On Your Side" is some bizarro-world short edit that fades out almost immediately after the timbale break, but strangely includes the extra measures in the intro, which were missing from the single edit. Seriously, what are they thinking? This thing is 3:31, as opposed to the 3:58 of the real song. Those extra 27 seconds make a HUGE difference. The 3:31 fades out quicker than the single version (which was on the original CDs in the late '80s). Think I'm making a mountain out of a molehill? Uh no: This is a reissue of a cultist's document. You don't mess with things like that. Sheesh.



3. ACK, seriously, what's up with the artwork? The cover scan is WAY dark and everything's all orange. Suppose I should commend the interior yellow/orange/black/white color scheme. But hello, where did you ever see that much yellow or orange in the original Satori designs? The yellow disc background print is ridiculous.



4. Reiterating the most important problem with this re-release: Of the four bonus tracks on this thing, three have already been released on CD! The original cassette had six bonus tracks, most of which haven't been digitized yet! ARGH!!!



Superfecta, I think your mission is an excellent one: preserving synthpop classics. But you missed BIG on this. To me, this was the greatest album of the '80s, and it deserved first-class documentation. This is first rate in sound quality, but decidedly third-rate in sequencing and visual presentation. A goof of the highest order."

Good to have on CD, but where are the DOUBLE PLAY mixes?!!

G. Mitchell | Los Angeles, CA United States | 11/05/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"OK, like everyone else, I am happy to finally have SIDEKICKS (aka QUICK STEP AND SIDEKICK) back in print on CD in the U.S. - BUT seeing as I paid mucho dollars $$$ to buy an original OOP CD version on ebay recently, and now THIS budget version appears, I wish they saw fit to include all of the mixes from the U.S. "Double Play" cassette-only release - I remember buying it when it first came out and playing it sooo much it literally fell apart! We need ALL the remixes of Lies, Love Lies Bleeding, and especially LONG BEACH CULTURE - wow! Still, this is a nice addition to anyone's CD collection. Count me in, reluctantly. JUDY DO rocks!"

Thompson Twins MOST Innovative and Captivating Album !

Armando M. Mesa | Chandler, AZ | 10/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was the Twins' most innovative album. It also marked a very new and sharp artistic direction. Quickstep and Sidekick was miles away from their late 70's experimental material. Yet, this material was not yet considered mainstream or new wave/pop at this point in their careers. Using state of the art (for the time) synthesizer technology, heavy,heavy doses of percussion infused with exotic global rhythms and sometimes offbeat and humorous lyrics you could quickly identify their unique trademark sound!The Thompson Twins were/are original! This is the album that spawned a few club tracks as well as college radio, alternative(for 1983) rock album and even R&B favorites. Their music could not be strictly classified as New Wave for it lacked the cold and artificially intelligent sounds of say groups like the Human League or Kraftwerk (yet, the only thing remotely comparable to the League was Tom Bailey's dead panned monotone vocals akin to Phil Oakey's). If you listened carefully to some of the bass lines on a few tracks and creative danceable beats there was plenty of funk derivative ingredients as well which made this album easily playable on R&B, Soul and dance stations at the time. Glad they included the re-mixes on this expanded edition. The re-mixes are essential in fully understanding what I'm talking about in the previous statement about the funk derivative bass lines and percussion (Love On Your Side-Rap Boy Rap, Lies-Bigger and Better) !



As a previous reviewer mentioned, I too lament the fact that there is still quite a bit of material missing as bonus extended tracks released on the 1982 U.S. Arista cassette release (then titled Sidekicks for the American market)not included on the remaster. However, this is still an awesome title to own by one of the 80's most distinct and creative musical groups from Europe !"