XTC - Apple Box '2005

Tracks list

 After a long recording hiatus, Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding gave XTC
fans something to shout about when they unveiled Apple Venus in 1999. Certainly
one of their most ambitious and sweeping projects to date, Apple Venus
painstakingly orchestrated tunes left no doubt that XTC had been working
overtime behind those closed doors, and it served to reestablish the band as a
prime pop repository. Where Venus was all atmosphere and strings, its follow-up,
Wasp Star, was all about upfront guitar -- jangly, loopy, crunchy, and fun. The
two albums complemented each other (by design) and fit so well together
(musically and thematically) that one wonders what it would have been like if
the two records had been packaged together (as they were originally intended) in
a two-CD set. Far less exciting were the collections of demos for the two
records. The strike while the iron is hot award was firmly in Andy Partridges
hand when the Homespun and Homegrown demo albums hit the shelves in late 1999
and early 2000 (respectively) -- too bad that neither of these releases offered
anything to write home about. Where XTC were concerned, the journey from demo to
finished studio take was a very short one and Homespun and Homegrown sounded too
little different from their polished siblings to warrant any critical
dissection. For fans who were poised for more forthcoming astonishment, these
throwaway releases were a letdown. For all the good and bad that comprised the
Apple saga, its almost a relief that Andy Partridges own Idea Records has
amassed the whole thing into an exhaustive, redundant (but complete) chunk of
work. Apple Box collects all four of the Apple-related releases and packages
them together in a lavish box, along with a lengthy booklet. Nothing
earth-shattering here, save for one tiny (but oh so enticing) bonus. Included in
the box is a card that allows the owner to download an additional EP (called
Apple Bite), which just so happens to include two new XTC songs (thats right,
Colin and Andy...together), Spiral and Say It, making this redundant collection
less redundant by two songs -- shrewd Andy, very shrewd indeed. 
:: TRACKLIST ::

Apple Venus
1-1 River Of Orchids
1-2 Id Like That
1-3 Easter Theatre
1-4 Knights In Shining Karma
1-5 Frivolous Tonight
1-6 Greenman
1-7 Your Dictionary
1-8 Fruit Nut
1-9 I Cant Own Her
1-10 Harvest Festival
1-11 The Last Balloon

Wasp Star
2-1 Playground
2-2 Stupidly Happy
2-3 In Another Life
2-4 My Brown Guitar
2-5 Boarded Up
2-6 Im The Man Who Murdered Love
2-7 Were All Light
2-8 Standing In For Joe
2-9 Wounded Horse
2-10 You And The Clouds Will Still Be Beautiful
2-11 Church Of Women
2-12 The Wheel And The Maypole

Homespun
3-1 River Of Orchids
3-2 Id Like That [Say A Sunflower]
3-3 Easter Theatre
3-4 Knights In Shining Karma
3-5 Frivolous Tonight
3-6 Greenman
3-7 Your Dictionary
3-8 Fruit Nut
3-9 I Cant Own Her
3-10 Harvest Festival
3-11 The Last Balloon

Homegrown
4-1 Playground
4-2 Stupidly Happy
4-3 In Another Life - Excerpt Of Original Demo
4-4 In Another Life - Jug Band Version
4-5 Some Lovely
4-6 Boarded Up
4-7 Im The Man Who Murdered Love - Early Other Cassette
4-8 Im The Man Who Murdered Love - Tamla Demo Excerpt
4-9 Im The Man Who Murdered Love
4-10 Were All Light - Early Cassette Idea
4-11 Were All Light
4-12 Standing In For Joe - Lounge Version
4-13 Standing In For Joe
4-14 Wounded Horse
4-15 You And The Clouds Will Still Be Beautiful
4-16 Lie For A Lie - Cassette Demo
4-17 Church Of Women
4-18 The Pot Wont Hold Our Love - Cassette Demo
4-19 Everything Decays - Early Cassette Demo
4-20 The Wheel And The Maypole

Related artists