UK four CD clam shell box set rounding up pretty much all of Altered Images' releases on Epic Records. Disc One is their debut album Happy Birthday which spent over five months in the UK charts, peaking at #26. The title track hit #2 in the singles chart and is regularly used to this day in adverts and TV shows. The second disc is 1982's Pinky Blue album which reached #12. Included are the hit singles 'I Could Be Happy' (#7), 'See Those Eyes' (#11) and 'Pinky Blue' (#35). Bite, the band's third album, is Disc Three. This reached #16 in 1983 and includes the hit singles 'Don't Talk To Me About Love' (#7), 'Bring Me Closer' (#29) and 'Love To Stay' (#46). The fourth disc is called The 12" Album, containing as it does eight extended versions from the days when mixes of all sizes were all the rage! The booklet contains detailed liner notes by Record Collector's Daryl Easlea plus illustrations of all relevant singles sleeves.
S**L
The Complete Altered Images (more or less)
Everything you'd ever want by Altered Images and more. Unless there's some obscure Lithuanian 12" single remix out there (being facetious of course), I think this covers the band's entire studio output and 12" singles, extended remixes and B-sides. I think the discs sound great, but I'm not a big audiophile who picks apart things like "This song's vocals are on the wrong channel," or the bass is mixed too high on such-and-such track. I played the first 2 discs (Happy Birthday and Pinky Blue) in my car and heard nothing out of the ordinary in terms of mastering/remastering. My final take-away: pretty much the complete Altered Images in one nice little box. Would a lyric sheet be nice? Of course, as Claire Grogan's Scots accent makes some words sound garbled (think of a more helium-voice Liz Fraser). But I'm sure the lyrics are available online somewhere at one of the many song lyric websites. Meanwhile sit back and enjoy this artifact of 80's pop perfection. You may need an insulin shot afterwards, but it's worth it.
T**N
Outstanding
What’s not to love.Some great rare songs and a 12 inch mix 4th cd.Pinky Blue has the best 2 songs they ever did, See Those Eyes And I could be happy.All the albums are great.Very well worth adding to your music collection.
M**S
Great CD
Just what I was looking for! Great sound!
S**N
Instrumental
One has to imagine how good this band might have been with an actual vocalist. The vocal stylings of Ms. Grogan - quirky in my youth - have evolved into songs largely unlistenable as an adult. The first album, in particular, is a punky challenge. The second album was more pop, then came the disco transition. They were much better live, though nothing has been released ever.
B**Y
How a Boxset should be
Great packaging and booklet = Great Boxset.
J**S
One of my all time favorite bands of the early 80's
One of my all time favorite bands of the early 80's. Good sound quality and rare mixes. What more do you want?
M**D
Altered Images excellence.
Love it, Altered Images in one collection with remixes and b-sides included.
M**X
New Wave Will Never Grow Old
Good retrospective of a band that most have forgotten about. I'd give it five stars, but that third album is hit-and-miss. No matter- the other three are great!
R**9
All in one place
Great to have all the albums in one set. Especially the one with the 12 inch mixes which used to be the second side of the cassette version of the Greatest Hits album.
F**T
Altered Iamges
Alles gut
青**知
おそらくは全音源のＣＤ化実現
とても良かった、十分満足
B**C
Golly gosh this is good
Oh my giddy aunt this is a must have, if only for the the brilliant Martin Rushent 12" remixes and fantastic 1st album which despite the chart-topping single is wonderfully dark. Some of the best tracks are the extras: Dead Pop Stars, Who Cares, the live (in the studio) version of 'Another Lost Look' (which I tihnk is much better than the over-cooked album version). The much derided 'Pinky Blue' is great too - I never understand why the title track gets so readily dismissed (even in the booklet to this boxset) - I love it. The booklet does have some interesting facts though (it's written by Daryl Easlea - I don't know who he is). Now all we need is for the BBC to step up and release all 3 Peel sessions. OK, I'm off for a cold shower...
D**S
Music
Acquired this album for my Uncle who says it was worth the money he spent.
