Editorial Review:

Album Description:
The first ever box set devoted to XTC, 60 tracks covering XTC's 10 classic 1978-1989 period albums (including their Dukes Of Stratosphear side project). All tracks have been digitally remastered. 2002.

Amazon.com:
Coat of Many Cupboards finishes the job that the 1990 collection Rag 'N' Bone Buffet started, unearthing a deluge of outtakes, demos, home recordings, acoustic versions, and rare live tracks from XTC's long, adventurous existence. Buffet and the band's other singles collections and box sets only scratched the surface of what's out there; any serious XTC collector knows about the mountains of material that have been recorded throughout the band's 26-year existence, living in third-generation tapes passed around from fan to fan. The four-disc Cupboards tracks an awful lot of it down, cleans it up, and puts it all together, showing off the overwhelming creativity and songcraft that XTC's Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding have displayed over the decades. In all, 41 of the 60 tracks here have never before been released, with lo-fi versions of favorites like 'Dear God' turning this into an interesting journey for casual fans and a dream collection for die-hard fanatics.

Precious and rare live material pops up early on the first disc in the form of 'Spinning Top' and 'Traffic Light Rock,' documenting a jagged, brash sound that seems a far cry from the meticulous approach and intricate layers of later records like 1989's Oranges and Lemons. The first two discs track that evolution in detail, exploring the band's early Clash-like pop-punk and the skewed social commentary of records like 1980's Black Sea, while offering up intriguing nuggets like a demo version of 'Senses Working Overtime' from the amazing English Settlement. The last two discs comprise XTC's later incarnation as a studio band after Partridge's mid-'80s mental breakdown and subsequent retirement from the stage. Moving through the revolutionary Skylarking, including a stunning demo of 'Grass,' the music slowly morphs into the densely produced, late-Beatles sound of Oranges and 1992's Nonsuch.

The set also includes a 60-page booklet as well as track-by-track commentary from Partridge and Moulding, making this a must-have for collectors even if they have somehow tracked down all this stuff themselves. One final note: the band does leave off material from Apple Venus Pt. 1 and Wasp Star (Apple Venus Pt. 2), but only because it's already been well-documented with the outtake records Homespun and Homegrown. --Matthew Cooke









Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

---

Related Items:
     see more

Related Items:

• Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Album
• Transistor Blast: The Best of the BBC Sessions
• Apple Box
• Chips from the Chocolate Fireball
• Rag 'N' Bone Buffet
• see more

---

Disc 1:

1. Science Friction (CBS Demo)
2. Spinning Top (Live @ Eric's, Liverpool - 1977)
3. Traffic Light Rock (Live @ Eric's, Liverpool - 1977)
4. Radios In Motion (From White Music)
5. Let's Have Fun (White Music out take)
6. Fireball XL5/Fireball Dub (White Music out take)
7. Heatwave Mk.2 Deluxe (White Music out take)
8. This Is Pop (Single version)
9. Are You Receiving Me? (Go 2 out take)
10. Things Fall To Bits (Go 2 out take)
11. Us Being Us (Go 2 out take)
12. Life Begins At The Hop (First rehearsal - extract)
13. Life Begins At The Hop (First recording, unused)
14. Making Plans For Nigel (Demo from Swindon Town Hall)
15. Ten Feet Tall (From Drums and Wires)
16. Sleepyheads (Drums and Wires out take)

Disc 2:

1. Meccanik Dancing (Live @ The Marconi Club, Sydney,1979)
2. Atom Age/Hang Onto The Night/Neon Shuffle (medley) (Live @ The Marconi Club, Sydney,1979)
3. Life Begins At The Hop (Unused US single recording)
4. Reel By Real (Unused single recording)
5. When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty (Unused single recording)
6. Helicopter (DJM version) Unused US single recording)
7. Towers of London (Rejected single recording)
8. Generals and Majors (Rehearsal tape)
9. No Language In Our Lungs (From Black Sea)
10. Sgt. Rock Is Going To Help Me (From Black Sea)
11. Paper and Iron (Live @ The Lyceum, London, 1980)
12. Crowded Room (Live @ The Lyceum. London, 1980)
13. Senses Working Overtime (Early work tape)=20
14. Snowman (Live @ The Hammersmith Odeon, 1981)
15. Ball and Chain (Unused single recording)

Disc 3:

1. Punch and Judy (Unused single recording)
2. Fly On The Wall (From English Settlement)
3. Yacht Dance (Live on The Old Grey Whistle Test,1982)
4. Jason and The Argonauts (From English Settlement)
5. Love On A Farmboy's Wages (Demo)
6. Wonderland (Home demo)
7. Ladybird (From Mummer)
8. All You Pretty Girls (Home demo)
9. Wake Up (Home demo)
10. The Everyday Story Of Smalltown (From The Big Express)
11. Grass (Demo)
12. Let's Make A Den (Home demo)
13. The Meeting Place (Home demo)
14. Dear God (Band demo)

Disc 4:

1. Brainiac's Daughter (from Psonic Psunspot version)
2. Vanishing Girl (from Psonic Psunspot version)
3. Terrorism (Home demo)=20
4. Find The Fox (Home demo)
5. Season Cycle (From Skylarking)
6. The Troubles (Home demo)
7. Mayor Of Simpleton (Early work tape)
8. King For A Day (Home demo)
9. Chalkhills And Children (From Oranges & Lemons)
10. The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead (Early home demo)
11. Omnibus (From Nonsuch)
12. The Disappointed (Home demo)
13. Bungalow (From Nonsuch)
14. Didn't Hurt A Bit (Nonsuch out take)
15. Books Are Burning (Live on the BBC's The Late Show, 1992)

Rating: - 5 stars for XTC, 1 star for the record label.
"Coat of Many Cupboards" is a somewhat frustrating collection-- on the one hand, the collection, largely consisting of unreleased tracks presented in a four CD boxed set, is full of gems that are bound to bring a smile to the face of the diehard fan. On the other, it smells a bit too much of a marketing ploy. But we'll talk about that later.

The four disc sets follows the band's career with Virgin Records, tracking their evoluition from ska/punk-tinged new wave act to studio-bound pop craftsmen. The first two discs roughly cover the band's live act era, the second the studio-only era. There is no shortage of great material throughout, whether it be for purely historical value or merit of performance.

From the earliest material, an early demo of "Science Friction" shows Andy Partridge singing not in the oddly clipped style he'd use on the band's earliest records, but rather in a full and much calmer voice. A pair of Barry Andrews compositions left off of "Go 2" at Partridge's insistence (which led to Andrews leaving the band) shed some light on what Andrews could have brought ("Things Fall to Bits" is pretty forgettable, but "Us Being Us" proves to be a fantastic guitar-driven punk song), and a handful of live tracks show how even the weakest of the early material could certainly shine brightly under the band's high powered live performances ("Spinning Top").

With Andrews' departure, Dave Gregory joined the band and provided an opportunity for more experimentation in arrangement and texture-- the dueling guitar histrionics of "Sleepyhead" and a great early take of Colin Moulding's "Life Begins at the Hop" show this off nicely, as do a number of fine live performances included in here ("Crowded Room" and the highly underrated "Snowman").

It was the band's (re)discovery of acoustic guitars that really led to a serious shift, and nowhere is this more evident than the fascinating acoustic guitar-and-vocal demo of "Senses Working Overtime". With the emphasis shifting from energy to pop hooks, it's clear even in this primitive presentation that Partridge had something going on. But with the band being studio bound, there's no chance to see how they evolved live, instead we get a picture of their demos. Curiously, many of these home demos sound pretty much like the final track ("Love on a Farmboy's Wages", "Wonderland"). On the other hand, several of them are fascinating-- "Wake Up" is a bit more subdued and while the guitars are a bit recessed, I prefer Moulding's vocal on this take. Ditto for the band demo of "Dear God", where intricate guitar work shines and Partridge's somewhat more aggressive vocal comes forth. And while it totally lacks the power the final version would have, the early work tape of "Mayor of Simpleton" is absolutely fascinating.

And while on the subject of the good, the sound quality is pretty much superb throughout-- clean and crisp, and while some of the demos are a bit shaky, by and large the set sounds fantastic. Also, the extensive liner notes (including track-by-track commentary by Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding) makes for a highly entertaining read.

Still, as great as this is, there's a lot here that's less than fantastic-- the way the CDs are held for example. Mine keep sliding out and I'm in terror that a big ugly scratch is coming. Even bigger than this though is the arrangement of the content-- there's less than four hours of music total on the set, which could have fit on three CDs. But even more to the point, 15 of the 60 tracks are available on the band's albums (well, one is a bonus track on the reissue, but it's there), and taking these out (since I can't imagine anyone buying this who doesn't have them already), there's about 2 hours and 45 minutes on the set of music. That doesn't seem like a heck of a lot when you consider that if you cut one of the tracks that sound nearly identical to the album take ("Helicopter" for example), you could squeeze this on two CDs. It ends up sounding a bit too much like a major label marketing ploy to me.

Bottom line, any fan of the band is going to want this, but I can't in good faith review this fairly without considering the complete package. 5 star for value of the unreleased stuff, 1 star for the presentation.

---

Rating: - For the diehard XTC vet only
This is a treasure trove of goodies for XTC fans. Alternative versions, early demos, rejected singles and live tracks pepper this "odds and sods" collection. You can probably cherry pick your way to a really grade A single disc here but hey, as rabid XTC fans we must have EVERYTHING!

However, if you're new to XTC I would suggest one of the 'hits' compilations out there.

---

Rating: - Hidden tracks Notice!!!! Easter EGGING
I've had this set for a while now, but recently discovered two hidden tracks.
The won't play automatically as most hidden tracks do as these are buried in the pre-roll BEFORE track 1. Insert disc 2, hit play, as the track begins to play, pause and rewind/review back past the beginning.
The First on is on disc 2. The next is on disc 3, and it is 9 minutes of live material.

---

Rating: - Pure XTC
IÕve always had a great fondness for XTC. Andy Partridge and Colin MouldingÕs stubborn commitment to their idiosyncratic musical vision doomed them to commercial obscurity even as it endeared them to fans who eagerly stuck with the band through a number of personnel changes and stylistic shifts.

Coat of Many Cupboards is essentially a closet-cleaning exercise; a 4-disc set comprised mostly of live, rare, and unreleased tracks, scattered (seemingly at random) with a handful of album tracks. ItÕs an embarrassment of riches even for the casual XTC fan.

The first two discs, which cover White Music through Black Sea, are absolutely stellar. The incredible live cuts reveal the live XTC to have been wound incredibly tight, a juggernaut of jerky adrenaline and velocity. The other standouts are variant versions of several tracks from Drums and Wires, nearly all of which eclipse the album versions.

Discs 3 and 4, which cover the remainder of the Virgin years, are a bit spottier. Home demos take the place of the live cuts, and these sometimes shaky efforts will be of more interest to established fans than to newcomers or more casual listeners. That said, thereÕs plenty of great material here too, including a wonderful live version of Yacht Dance and several outtakes from Sklarking. The only real disappointment here is that the Dukes of Stratosphear (XTCÕs tongue-in-cheek psychedelic alter-ego) are represented only by a pair of previously released album tracks; it would have been nice to delve a little deeper into the vaults of the Dukes.

To top it all off, the entire set is beautifully and cleverly packaged. The booklet contains a long essay that focuses, lovingly and in some detail, squarely on the music. Partridge and Moulding also add extensive track-by-track commentary. Highly recommended.

---

Rating: - For Fans, It's Great
Some wonderful treasures are unearthed. The two songs Andrews wrote for "Go 2" that didn't make the album, prompting him to leave ... the wild "Let's Have Fun" ...

Many of the songs which appear here are in some alternate form. Some were re-recorded with other producers to get more "commercial" versions of songs that could be singles. Sometimes the version here beats what was previously available - the "Ball and Chain" and "Punch and Judy" A and B-side here, for example.

There are too many home demos here of songs that were done better in the studio. This could easily be reduced to a 2 or 3 CD package. But, much good music is on here. XTC deserve an "Anthology" styled treatment like this, in my opinion. They are one of the truly great bands we've been blessed with. Buy this, buy "Rag and Bone Buffet" which is another collection of unused scraps, buy the "Fuzzy warbles" discs of even more demos and unused material on Andy Partridge's APE label.