Variety is the spice of life...and boy this is a spicy pack.
astralman | Sydney, Australia | 07/25/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Yes I shelled out the money for this assortment of LLoyd's efforts over a four year period and it was well worth it. Not worth [the money], which is what it would have cost to buy new from USA, but at the much lower used price, a good deal to find out what direction Mr Cole has been veering off into. The first disc,which I already had bought here in Australia, is 2001's best album, 'LLoyd Cole and the Negatives'. What a kick [booty] band supporting LLoyd's brillant lyrics and melodies. The standout track is a rather atypical uptempo song called "What's wrong with this picure". Great space in the recording, spot on arrangement and really tight muscianship. On par with "Rattlesnakes" and a wonderful surprise after the rather downbeat, "Love Story" released five years earlier. The overall four star rating is lifted by this masterpiece comeback album. 11 out of 10.That said, disc two is the interesting failure of "Plastic Wood", which whilst being different, doesn't highlight Mr Cole's strengths, namely his voice, his lyrics and his musicanship. Disc three, 'Etc' is uneven in it's songwriting and sounds like many Cole B sides (not that such things exist anymore) but you get my drift. It is about on par with Love Story, about 6 out of 10. Disc four, 'Loaded' is a live recording that isn't too bad with respect to the choice of song, but the actual recording is not very good. This is even taking into account that it is live.However if you are like me and live in far flung part of the world, like Australia,it is the closest you get to hearing Lloyd in his spontaneous glory.The real icing on the cake (or case) as the case is, is the exquisite packaging the 4 cds come in. Not cheap plastic but a really beautiful crafted and minimalist design package that encloses 24 great pages from LLoyd with photographs and extensive writing from the great man himself.So all in all a good package deal particularly for all those fans who miss his music and wish he would release more albums. Oh well beggars from great pop music, can't be choosers."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1