Be aware that this is a domestic reissue of the first UK edition of this record. The original US version, credited to the C.S. Angels, contains two wonderful bonus tracks (presumably non-album singles) for a total of 12 songs. Since the price of this CD is a bit high anyway, you may as well seek out and buy the augmented version.

The Comsat Angels' ultimate material can only be found on the highly sought after first three albums (Waiting For A Miracle, Sleep No More, and Fiction) and their BBC collection, Time Considered As A Helix Of Semi-Precious Stones. Bootlegs surface occasionally, but official CD copies of these recordings are insanely rare and expensive. That said, anyone (myself included) who has heard this early post-punk material will tell you that whatever you have to pay for it, it is worth every single penny.

Fans who already have Scree and Play probably wish that the Peel Sessions were available separately. But I don't see how anyone could really regret acquiring this three-disc box.

The music is icy, Nietzschean post-punk for disaffected intellectuals. Magazine use the angular riffs of punk, the eerie synthetics of prog, and the fluid bass lines of soul to augment Howard Devoto's wry lyrics, which he delivers with deadpan precision. You can spot traces of their work in almost everything that came after them, but nothing sounds quite like them.

If you're a first time listener, start with their third album, The Correct Use Of Soap. If you've heard them already, maybe it's right to purchase this now!

The lyrics are crass, sly, and at times nonsensical, but somehow always endearing. Even though the songs (apart from Russell and Cob 20) have a lot of charm, Shaun Ryder's wildly uneven and unprofessional vocal delivery won't appeal to everyone. In fact, you'll probably either love or hate his approach, but that's part of what made the Mondays so special.

Bez, House music, and the Madchester scene were just around the corner, but this really was the record that started it all!

Words With The Shaman (tracks 1-3) is a three-part EP recorded with John Hassell in 1985. The first section is rhythmic, mysterious, and features wailing female vocals in a foreign tongue. The shorter second section is much like the first, but when the rhythm shifts, horns and an electric guitar kick in. The third and final section starts as a gentle Gamelan piece but grows more intense, like the fall of spring rain on tin rooftops. Words With The Shaman has been available for years as three bonus tracks on the Caroline Records edition of Brilliant Trees.

Preparations For A Journey (track 4) was originally recorded in 1984 with Seigin Ono for a Japanese documentary about Sylvian's life. Characteristically, the film eventually aired on Japanese television with no accompanying music. It is the most East Asian sounding song on this collection. Its electronically treated melody is enchanting, exotic, and sublime.

The Stigma Of Childhood (Kin) (track 5) is a ravishing fragment of a longer piece written for Gaby Agis' modern ballet of the same title back in 1987. It sounds like a long, ambient, arabesque outtake from the instrumental half of Gone To Earth. Sylvian refuses even now to release the entire score, saying only that this song represents the strongest material from the project.

A Brief Conversation Ending In Divorce (track 6) is a curiously ludic and clever, jazz-inflected b-side from Sylvian's 1989 Pop Song single.

A skeletal version of the final song on this compilation, Steel Cathedrals (track 7), was written for the Japanese documentary mentioned earlier. Finishing touches were added in London with the help of Ryuichi Sakamoto (of YMO), King Crimsoner Robert Fripp, Masami Tsuchiya (Japan's tour guitarist), and Kenny Wheeler among others. This long, atmospheric, composition sounds New Agey but slightly unsettling. It reminds me of the albums Sylvian would do later on with Holger Czukay, though the horn section clearly anticipates "Laughter and Forgetting" on the vocal portion of Gone To Earth.

The tasteful packaging and crisp sound quality will do these songs justice for Sylvian completists, but this is not a good choice for people new to Sylvian's work. Find out why Sylvian has been called the last romantic and the most beautiful man in the world by beginning with Brilliant Trees, Secrets of the Beehive, or Japan's swansong: Tin Drum. Once you're hooked you'll make it to this disc sooner or later.

For example: 10:15 Saturday Night, Plastic Passion, Just One Kiss, The Dream, The Upstairs Room, Lament, and Speak My Language have all been available for years in America on such albums as Japanese Whispers and Boys Don't Cry. While stuff like Curiosity, Carnage Visors, and the club mix of the Boys Don't Cry single were only briefly available in America (generally on cassette) and at stiff import prices. Maybe these gems will appear as bonus tracks on the forthcoming reissues, but it's an expensive hassle to rebuy albums you've had and played for years just for a handful of otherwise ungettable tunes that could easily have been included here. So much exquisite care went into the liner notes and packaging of this four-disc set that it might have been worth the extra time to prepare a US version to satisfy Cure completists on this side of the pond.

I also think there are some rare but useless songs on this compilation that again just fill space. Do we really need multiple versions of mediocre covers like Hello I Love You and Purple Haze? And the remixes are almost all inferior to the originals.

My complaints are kinda nit-picky, but since only hardcore fans will likely purchase this box set, buyers should probably be aware of them.

In sum, Join The Dots is a highly enjoyable release that needlessly falls just short of perfection.

As the seventies wore on and he descended into drug and alcohol abuse, Martyn's arrangements became more complex and less focused. But apart from Sugar Lump (a predictable blues number), every song on Bless The Weather is a jewel. It's nice to hear a folk jazz album that's genuinely beautiful without sounding gutless.

Overall, this collection is something of a front-loaded, mixed bag. About half of these songs really deserved to go to the top of the charts. "Can't Afford To Let You Go," which samples Scott Walker's "Time Operator," is just amazing. There's a superlative mix of Section 25's classic "View From a Hilltop." I also really like Marcel King's soulful "Reach For Love." And finally, I think Quando Quango's "Atom Rock", which features Johnny Marr on guitar, may be the best dance track since "Blue Monday."

Unfortunately, the remaining songs on this album are pleasant enough but basically forgettable. It's exciting to discover a compilation of eighties dance music made up of mainly unfamiliar songs, but some of these tunes slipped into obscurity for good reason.

Post funk consists of funky melodic bass lines, spare vocals, and African or Latin percussion usually filtered through digital delay equipment for an atmospheric slightly creepy feel. Unlike the funk music of the seventies, the guitar sound is thin and it's kept in the background.

Even though post funk music had its heyday in the New York City of twenty years ago, it is still heavily sampled by hip-hop artists. "UFO," an ESG track produced by the infamous Martin Hannett, remains an especially popular choice.

ESG's skeletal grooves may sound hollow to fans of either top forty dance music or classic motor city funk. But every song on this CD is fabulous for both dancing and listening. Overall, it doesn't sound nearly as dated as more mainstream eighties stuff, which makes "A South Bronx Story" a timeless treat for the college/indie crowd.

Unlike a lot of reissues, the bonus tracks for this one are a must. "Bittersweet" is a lost classic that really deserved to be a hit single. And the psychedelic "I Can Only Dream" is an absolute masterpiece.

I have always felt that Positive Touch is the Undertones' best record. But The Sin of Pride deserved far more credit than either fans or EMI gave it when it was first released. Twenty years later, it sounds better than ever. Fans of The Jam's The Gift, The Beautiful South's Choke, or The Prisoners' In From The Cold will treasure this album.

Very little of Guaraldi's original work appears on this record. But he really does a beautiful job of making other people's songs sound like his own. What I appreciate is the restraint that characterizes Guaraldi's playing. Though clearly a virtuoso musician, he avoids lengthy, self-aggrandizing solos, focusing instead on enhancing the songs themselves.

"In Person" may not be the most adventurous jazz record I've ever heard, but it's certainly one of the most consistently enjoyable.

The first half of TSGO is classic Bauhaus. The band wrap their frenetic, theatrical, post-punk sound around solid melodies and clever lyrics. Bauhaus were gothic but never morose.

But they lose focus on side two. The music changes direction abruptly and repeatedly, often within a single song, which makes the second half of TSGO seem episodic and unstructured. Though flashes of brilliance sometimes shine through, there are moments when even the band seem unsure of where they're going.

TSGO is really more a collection of delicious ideas than a fully developed album. It should eventually find its way into every fan's collection. But for those just discovering the group it's not the best place to start.

NOTE: The A&M domestic version of TSGO offered here is NOT the one you want. Check ebay or your local independent record store for the Beggars' Banquet UK edition which includes Bauhaus' rendition of "Ziggy Stardust", the single version of "Spirit", and the zany "Watch That Grandad Go."

This sort of thing can be done effectively. Phil Ochs, Woodie Guthrie, Billy Bragg and even Paul Weller have in years past made excellent records that serve as moving political manifestos. But John's talents didn't lie in this direction and despite his obvious sincerity he comes off sounding clumsy and naive.

STINYC is easily one of the most well produced records I've ever heard, demonstrating that Phil Spector clearly hadn't lost his magic touch. And there are some well written songs here. The live version of Cold Turkey is outstanding. WITNOTW, NYC, John Sinclair, Angela, and Yoko's We're All Water are all enjoyable and, to an extent, even thought-provoking. But this two disc set has way more than its share of filler material, which makes the asking price unreasonably excessive.

John Lennon was clearly an artist who was willing to take chances and be controversial when he felt it was necessary. That's to his credit. But he wasn't always adept at assessing his efforts (and his wife's efforts) critically and STINYC/LJ is the result of one such lapse in judgment. It may not be a great or even a good album, but I suppose in the end a few failed experiments are the price we pay for John's daring and originality.

Though they began as Beatle protégées, Badfinger quickly developed into power pop innovators whose four-part harmonies and infectious guitar melodies echo in the music of Big Star, The Raspberries, The Shoes, and The Posies among others.

No Dice is a great introduction to Badfinger, largely because producer Geoff Emerick was happy to capture the band's live sound instead of overexerting his own influence on the music as Todd Rundgren, Bill Collins, and even Chris Thomas would sometimes do.

As with all of Badfinger's albums, it's the Pete Ham songs that really shine brilliantly, though Tom Evans and even Joey Molland more than rise to the occasion. If you like this album (and I honestly can't imagine who wouldn't) be sure to pick up Wish You Were Here, Straight Up, and the Pete Ham demo compilations 7 Park Avenue and Golder's Green.