Audiophile Digital

John Cale
Ship Of Fools – The Island Albums
Esoteric ECLEC32881 (three discs)

Easily the most talented musician from what I consider an overrated band – Velvet Underground – Cale has delivered around 25 solo albums, of which this box set contains three of the best. Following two each for Columbia and Reprise, his trio of releases for Island – Fear (1974), Slow Dazzle and Helen Of Troy (both 1975) – were issued in just over a year, attesting to insane productivity that didn’t sacrifice quality. This is both haunting and amusing stuff, with rocking moments and enough to suggest that Nick Cave is Cale with a ‘v’. From an ode to Beach Boy Brian Wilson to a cover of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, with A-list guests, new remastering, and seven bonus tracks, it’s a feast even for slavish Velvets fans. KK

Sound Quality: 95%

Kim Wilde
Love Moves
Cherry Red CR3POP 284 (two CDs + DVD)

Among the more unusual comebacks, after voluntary exile, is Kim Wilde’s. Following a career as a gardening authority, she’s resumed touring and is due for a new studio album which should be out around the time you read this. Long before Mesdames Grande, Swift, et al, Wilde was, with brother Ricky, writing and producing masterful pop singles and albums, of which this – from 1990 – was her seventh and the beginning of a lull. That said, it’s easy on the ears, if lacking hits. This expanded set is loaded with extras, including all the singles and videos. Uniform with it are 1992’s Love Is [CR4POP 285] and 1995’s Now & Forever [CR4POP 286], both 3CDs + DVD. KK

Sound Quality: 85%

Thom LaFond
Lawless
Octave Records OCT-0029

Concept albums which beg a matching film suggest a chicken-and-egg situation: this mini-epic about a ‘romance between human and alien’ is like an aural update of the David Bowie 1976 movie, The Man Who Fell To Earth, even though it preceded Lawless by nearly a half-century. It delivers precisely that feel, a mix of the earthly and the other-worldly, achieved by mixing electric and acoustic guitars and pianos, percussion and vocals with sufficient synthesiser activity to disarm the listener. The vocals are lush and ‘human’ enough to seem as if lifted off a singer-songwriter album from 1970, while the ‘soundspace’ is as majestic as you’d expect of this label. KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Gerry And The Pacemakers
I Like It! Anthology 1963-1966
Strawberry Records CR3JAM027 (three discs; part mono)

There’s no shortage of Gerry And The Pacemakers anthologies, but this 98-track package is the best yet. It covers their most important period, before Gerry went solo, and is bursting with riches. Along with the hits which made the group one of The Beatles’ main rivals in the USA, there were whole albums which could serve as synecdoche for ‘Merseybeat’, with the usual cover versions and originals, all presented in glorious mono. Then you get to CD3, with an entire live album (first time in stereo) from 1964, and six stereo tracks including ‘Ferry Cross The Mersey’ and ‘Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying’, plus a load of previously unreleased cuts. Perfection. KK

Sound Quality: 85%