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Related Items:
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Related Items:

• Success
• Failure
• Every Kind of Light
• Private Sides
• Frosting on the Beater
• see more

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Disc 1:

1. Believe in Something Other (Than Yourself) - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
2. I Don't Want to Talk to You - The Posies, Auer, Jon
3. Help Yourself - The Posies, Auer, Jonathan
4. Thinking Outloud - The Posies, Auer, Jon
5. Apology - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
6. I May Hate You Sometimes - The Posies, Auer, Jon
7. Keep Me Guessing - The Posies, Auer, Jon
8. Diary of an Insecure Girl - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
9. Now They Want Your Head - The Posies, Auer, Jon
10. What Am I Supposed to Do - The Posies, Auer, Jon
11. Any Other Way - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
12. Suddenly Mary - The Posies, Auer, Jon
13. Apology - The Posies, Auer, Jon
14. Beck's Bolero - The Posies, Auer, Jon
15. 21 - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
16. This One's Taken - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
17. Magnifying Mirror - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
18. Ramblin' Rose - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken

Disc 2:

1. Flood of Sunshine - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
2. Dream All Day - The Posies, Auer, Jon
3. ¿Will You Ever Ease Your Mind? - The Posies, Auer, Jon
4. Ever Since I Was Alone - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
5. Going Going Gone - The Posies, Auer, Jon
6. Forrest Recovery - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
7. Sullen Waistcoat - The Posies, Auer, Jon
8. Depression Child - The Posies, Auer, Jon
9. Solar Sister - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
10. Finally See It Right - The Posies, Auer, Jon
11. Earlier Than Expected - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
12. Ladies and Gentlemen - The Posies, Auer, Jon
13. When Mute Tongues Can Speak - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
14. Lights Out - The Posies, Auer, Jon
15. How She Lied by Living - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
16. Féte le Muzz - The Posies, Auer, Jon
17. Velvet Monkey Theme - The Posies, Auer, Jon

Disc 3:

1. Trace My Falls - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
2. Burn & Shine - The Posies, Auer, Jon
3. Dreaming - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
4. Wiggly World - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
5. Come Along and Dance - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
6. Revelation to Follow - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
7. Daily Mutilation - The Posies, Auer, Jon
8. You're the Beautiful One - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
9. World - The Posies, Auer, Jon
10. Pay You Back in Time - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
11. Throwaway - The Posies, Auer, Jon
12. Sad to Be Aware - The Posies, Auer, Jon
13. Everybody Is a Fucking Liar - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
14. Somehow Everything - The Posies, Auer, Jon
15. Fight It (If You Want) - The Posies, Auer, Jon
16. Oh Michael - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken

Disc 4:

1. Hate Song - The Posies, Auer, Jon
2. Broken Record - The Posies, Auer, Jon
3. Terrorized - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
4. The Star-Spangled Banner - The Posies, Auer, Jon
5. Surrender - The Posies, Auer, Jon
6. What's Going Ahn - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
7. Grant Hart - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
8. Ontario - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
9. Oceanic Exploration - The Posies, Auer, Jon
10. Start a Life - The Posies, Auer, Jon
11. Flavor of the Month - The Posies, Auer, Jon
12. Solar Sister - The Posies, Stringfellow, Ken
13. Golden Blunders - The Posies, Posies
14. Suddenly Mary - The Posies, Posies

Rating: - 1,000 blankets
I wrote a bad review for Ken's solo CD. I said he should make it up to his fans, and this does, but if your a fan you know, and by now, have this in your collection. It's amazing.

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Rating: - For real fans of The Posies, it's worth the money
I'm a devoted fan of The Posies, but I have to admit I was initially wary about buying this box set, based on the sludgy "Alive Before The Iceberg" performances. But I'm definitely glad I picked this up -- it's given me a new appreciation of the early songwriting/singing talents of Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer. The crack-the-whip performance of "I May Hate You Sometimes" and the raw guitar melody of "Suddenly Mary" demo are Disc 1 highlights. The crackly, electric harmonies on "Solar Sister" and "Ladies and Gentlemen" (which later morphed into "Every Bitter Drop" on the group's last studio album, "Success") alone carry Disc 2. On Disc 3, "Come Along And Dance" combines a bittersweet wistfulness with raw rock 'n' roll guitar crunch, while the demo of "Everybody Is A Fucking Liar" reveals how strong this song was before Ken and Jon put the finishing touches on it. Finally, not to be missed is the ebullient fun of "Oceanic Exploration" (a.k.a. "Flavor Of The Month") that the band recorded for Bill Nye, Science Guy, and a note-for-note faithful cover of Cheap Trick's "Surrender" (OK, the band credits at the end of the song are a bit of a departure from the original, but otherwise it sounds just like Rick Nielson, Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos and Tom Petersson!) If you're not into The Posies yet, start with "Frosting On The Beater," "Success" and "Amazing Disgrace" before you invest in this. But I promise that once you're really a fan of The Posies, you won't be disappointed with this box set. And it has cool liner notes, too.

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Rating: - At last...
Talk about getting more than you bargained for. A few short years ago, we were told the Posies had broken up. Yet between 1999 and 2000, we have seen a plethora of Posies releases (two live albums and a Best-of), a brilliantly executed acoustic tour, and now, a four-CD box set of unreleased Posies material? If all bands who break up are this active, I hope all my (other) favorite bands break up too.

Now let's examine what we have here. Four (!) CDs of previously unreleased demos, live recordings, a few scattered b-sides, covers (Blondie, Cheap Trick, Big Star, MC5), and most amusingly, actual Muzak recordings of two of yr favorite Posies hits. For the hardcore-Posies head, this is manna.

While it's really not necessary for anyone other than devout Posies fanatics, their greatness would be obvious to anyone listening to this box. Put simply, Ken and Jon are exceptional songwriters, two of the best we've seen in the past twenty years or so. Startlingly insightful, literate, bitingly sarcastic, with a talent for pop melody that rivals the greats (McCartney, Difford/Tilbrook, Chilton/Bell). It's all here, and it's all blindingly obvious. Even on these outtakes. This is a testament to the Posies; a band that combined the melodic genius of Big Star or Badfinger and the lyrical brillance of an Elvis Costello, and who on an angry day could rock as hard as Nirvana or Mudhoney.

The demos are interesting, since many of them are full-band performances simply stripped of the various production styles used on whichever record they ended up a part of. For instance, it's fascinating to hear various Dear 23 songs without John Leckie's tower-of-swirling-echo production and realize how some benefited from it ("Any Other Way") and some would have been better off left alone ("Help Yourself"). Likewise, Amazing Disgrace songs like "World", "Fight It (If You Want)", and the particularly brilliant "Throwaway" shine equally when stripped of their grungy-guitar bombast.

The early recordings are equally fascinating; the charmingly ernest pop of "Thinking Outloud" or "I Don't Want To Talk To You", the rough early live recordings of Failure favorites "Believe In Something (Other Than Yourself)" and "I May Hate You Sometimes" (it's a shame that this box is missing "Saying Sorry To Myself", which previously appeared on the Yellow Pills Vol. 2 compilation and, for me, is the epitome of their early earnest/psychoanalytic period).

It may be intended just as a treat for fans but this box also effeciently tells the band's story. How Jon and Ken had grown from something great and beautifully naive to something far more complex, as seen on songs like "Burn and Shine" (heard here in an acoustic live performance) by the end of their (first) career. Through it all, their intelligence and inate sense of melody carried them through.

Here's hoping the story continues for a long long time.

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Rating: - A MUST HAVE FOR POWER POP FANS
Being a long time fan of the Posies, it is hard for me to listen to this cd and not be immediately pleased with just being let into this world of Ken & Jon's. A honour and a pleasure listening to some of my favorite Posies melodies in the fella's original recorded attempts. Not only is this a great fan item, but these four CD's have more to offer beyond fan product. CD 3 is exceptionally beautiful in it's instrumental beginning, it's rocking Blondie cover and some favorites on 4 track recording. To round out this box set is the inclusion of Ken & Jon's notes to each song, along with pictures throughout the years in the over sized liner notes. Even if you've just recently discovered The Posies or Jon or Ken's side careers (Jon Auer Band, Saltine, REM, Orange Humble Band), I would recommend this box set whole heartedly.

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Rating: - Absolute Necessity!
This box set is an absolute necessity for any serious Posies fan and a great addition to the collection of any "power Pop" entheusiast. Not only is it filled with catchy and poignent songs but it shows the musical development of talented teens to worldly rock stars. From the first live performance all the way to the real sign of success in today's world, muzak versions of their "hits" it is consistently pleasing. There are live versions that show vital energy that was sometimes lost in the studio recordings, shown especially in the first track of the second disc, "Flood of Sunshine". There are demos for other track that give insight to their creative process and the development of their songs. And who can beat a Bill Nye the Science Guy treatment of one of their songs as well as the National Anthem in the now rubble-ized King Dome. This collection is legendary and a pure delight.