disc 1
1. dream within a dream2. murder of love, the
3. jewel
4. duel
5. frozen faces
6. p:machinery
7. sorry for laughing
8. chase, the
9. dr. mabuse
10. dream within a dream [analogue variation]
11. jewel [analogue variation]
12. duel [analogue variation]
13. p:machinery [analogue variation]
14. dr. mabuse [first life]
15. the last word (strength to dream),
disc 2
1. do well [the first
cut/duel/jewel (cut rough)/wonder/bejewelled]
2. testament one
3. die tausend augen des mabuse
4. sorry for laughing [unapolagetic 12" version]
5. thought [part one]
6. thought [part two]
7. p:machinery [goodnight 32 mix]
8. chase, the [goodnight mix]
9. echo of frozen faces
10. p:machinery [p:polish]
11. testament three
is this the best album that ztt records ever put out ?
oh yes.
originally released in 1985 this album encapsulated everything good (and some may say bad) about the 80s.
the european mystery and drama, the expansive production by ztt studio boffin stephen lipson (his boss trevor horn had to go off and look after frankie goes to hollywood), the darkly beautiful anton corbijn photography, the collector scum teasing 12” and cassette versions, the paul morley wordplay, and those evocative ice cold vocals.
basically, to this day i have yet to come across a pop band (and lets be clear about this, for all their arty pretensions, they were at the core a radio friendly pop band) as fucking cool as propaganda.
it really is as simple as that.
for a brief period in pop music, propaganda provided the lot.
catching this particular listener mid flight between his early years of musical discovery, and his eventual destination to the world of john peel sanctioned guitar noise and head pounding beats, i fell hard for this album.
yet here we are with the definitive version being released in 2010 and only now am i beginning to realise how little i knew about the albums creation and back story.
i had picked up the ORIGINAL 12” single of DAS TESTAMENT DES DR. MABUSE (twice under the hope that the 2 different artwork sleeves would provide me with a remix .. oh how much you must have laughed at that ruse at ztt hq !), the cassette version, and then naturally picked up the vinyl edition of the bands debut album upon its day of release.
and for years i lived a happy man in the belief i had this perfect album in its purest form.
little did i realise that a few months after the original release, ztt records pressed up a cd copy which revised/extended/remixed most of the tracks providing a subtley different listening experience for those so lucky.
as is often the way with the ztt golden era, this early doors digital edition has been out of print for years, meaning when i eventually decided to wipe out the perfectly placed rhythmic 33 1/3 rpm scratch on the albums quiet masterpiece, dream within a dream, with a shiny cd version, i replaced like for like (sort of .. ).
now thankfully, for those of us who missed out on the full experience ztt records have released this definitive edition which tells the whole story once and for all.
the first cd in this beautifully packaged reissue is a remastered edition of that first cd pressing with the original ‘analogue’ album versions tagged on at the end, and, the second cd is a welcome addition for anyone who needs that lilttle bit extra.
the curator, mr ian ‘i have access to the ztt holy grail’ peel, has, along with writing extensive sleeve notes giving the full story of the album, chosen 72 minutes of propaganda brilliance.
there is the full 20 minute cassette version of duel/jewel which violently cuts back and forth between the synthetic beauty and the industrial aggression of the evil twins providing a disorientating but mesmerising experience, a couple of inclusions from the followup revisit album, wishful thinking‘, an unreleased 12” version of dr. mabuse, (aka die tausend augen des mabuse : the reasons for these titles is explained in the sleeve notes) a couple of previously unreleased instrumental tracks, and so much more.
personally, my favourite treat is the saxophone enriched 12” version of frozen faces, 10 minutes of bubbling synths, manic beats, and more of those ice cool spoken overdubs (susanne freytag may not have been a singer in the traditional sense, but her spoken vocal additions proved to be a vital extra to the overall sense of drama and mystique). this track despite being created in the mid 80s, remains relevant in 2010 for dance floor action. if only i could find that dancefloor.
even if you have the outside world rarities collection from 2002, a secret wish (in whatever variation), then this deluxe edition is still a valid addition to anyones collection, but then given that i think that this is one of the best albums of the 80s (if not all time – yes it really did hit me that hard), i would say that.
more detail : here