Dopo i loro esordi targati Creation Records, gli House Of Love firmarono per Fontana e si imbarcarono in quattro anni di registrazioni e tour non-stop che li avrebbe portati nel mainstream. Questo cofanetto, prodotto in collaborazione con il fondatore, frontman e principale compositore Guy Chadwick, dà uno sguardo approfondito a quel periodo della carriera della band, sia in studio che sul palco. Ovviamente non mancano i dischi incisi per l’etichetta, ovvero “The House of Love”, “A Spy in the House of Love”, “Babe Rainbow” e “Audience With the Mind”, ma è tutto “il contorno” (se così si può chiamare) che ci esalta.
Con innumerevoli demo mai sentiti prima, brani perduti e registrazioni dal vivo provenienti dall’archivio della Fontana Records, insieme a rare uscite per i fan club, apparizioni su compilation, versioni promo e brani mai disponibili prima su CD, “Burn Down The World” (che vede anche le note scritte dallo stesso Guy Chadwick) getta nuova luce e funge da doveroso approfondimento sul passaggio che portò gli House Of Love da beniamini indie a fenomeno guitar-pop più mainstream (ma non per questo meno accattivante dal punto di vista qualitativo).
Presentato in un lussuoso cofanetto e accompagnato quindi da un ricco libretto, questa uscita targata Cherry Red Records (attesa a fine luglio), è una gradita opportunità di guardare in profondità la carriera di una delle più grandi band dell’era pre-britpop della fine degli anni ’80 e dei primi anni ’90.
Ecco la tracklist completa:
DISC ONE
THE HOUSE OF LOVE (PLUS)
1 Hannah
2 Shine On
3 Beatles And The Stones
4 Shake And Crawl
5 Hedonist
6 I Don’t Know Why I Love You
7 Never
8 Someone’s Got To Love You
9 In A Room
10 Blind
11 32nd Floor
12 Se Dest
BONUS TRACKS
13 Never (Chocolate Factory Demo)*
14 Beatles And The Stones (Chocolate Factory Demo)*
15 In A Room (Chocolate Factory Demo)*
16 Se Dest (Chocolate Factory Demo)*
17 Someone’s Got To Love You (Chocolate Factory Demo)*
18 Waiting In Water (Chocolate Factory Demo)*
19 Man To Child (Live)*
20 Nothing To Me (Live)*
*previously unreleased
DISC TWO
BABE RAINBOW (PLUS)
1 You Don’t Understand
+2 Crush Me
3 Cruel
4 High In Your Face
5 Fade Away
6 Feel
7 The Girl With The Loneliest Eyes
8 Burn Down The World
9 Philly Phile
10 Yer Eyes
BONUS TRACKS
11 Burn Down The World (Eel Pie Reference Mix)*
12 Cruel (Eel Pie Extended Reference Mix)*
13 Feel (Eel Pie Extended Reference Mix)*
14 Yer Eyes (Eel Pie Reference Mix)
15 Crush Me (Demo)*
*previously unreleased
DISC THREE
AUDIENCE WITH THE MIND (PLUS)
1 Sweet Anatomy
2 Audience With The Mind
3 Haloes
4 Erosion
5 Call Me
6 Shining On
7 Portrait In Atlanta
8 Corridors
9 Hollow
10 All Night Long
11 Into The Tunnel
12 You’ve Got To Feel
BONUS TRACKS
13 Train Song*
14 Into The Tunnel (Alternate)
*previously unreleased
DISC FOUR
A SPY IN THE HOUSE OF LOVE (PT 1)
1 Safe
2 Marble
3 D Song ’89
4 Scratched Inside
5 Phone
6 Cut The Fool Down 7 Ray
8 Love II
9 Baby Teen
10 Love III
11 Soft As Fire
12 Love IV
13 No Fire
14 Love V
15 Shake and Crawl (Demo Version 2)
16 No Fire (Demo)
17 Hannah (Demo)
18 Destroy The Heart (Live 1989)
19 Christine (Live 1989)
20 Man To Child (Live 1989)
DISC FIVE
A SPY IN THE HOUSE OF LOVE (PT 2)
1 No Fire (Promo Mix)
2 Safe (B-Side Version)
3 Secrets
4 I Can’t Stand It
5 Clothes
6 Rouge
7 Phone (B-Side Acoustic Mix)
8 Scratched Inside (B-Side Mix)
9 Marble (B-Side Mix)
10 Never (12″³ Version)
11 The Spy
12 I Don’t Know Why I Love You (7″³ Version)
13 Rosalyn
14 Allergy
15 Glorify Me
16 Beatles And The Stones (Single Mix)
17 Purple Killer Rose
18 Tea In The Sun
19 Pink Frost
20 Let’s Talk About You
DISC SIX
A SPY IN THE HOUSE OF LOVE (PT 3)
1 It’s All Too Much
2 Strange Brew
3 Sweet Anatomy (Alternate Version)
4 Kiss The Fountain
5 Third Generation Liquid Song
6 The Last Edition Of Love
7 Love 10
8 Skin 2 Phase 2
9 Shine On (Acoustic)
10 Hope (Acoustic)
11 Hannah (Acoustic)
12 I Don’t Know Why I Love You (Acoustic)
13 Crush Me (Acoustic)
14 The Girl With The Loneliest Eyes (Acoustic)
15 Phillyphile (Acoustic)
16 Fade Away (Acoustic)
17 Baby Teen (Radio Edit)
18 I Don’t Know Why I Love You (7″³ Drip Of Rockman Mix)
19 Who by Fire
20 Rock Your Baby
21 Fall In Love With Me
DISC SEVEN
LIVE IN LEICESTER (1990)
1 Hannah
2 I Don’t Know Why I Love You
3 In A Room
4 Beatles And The Stones
5 Nothing To Me
6 Road
7 Plastic
8 Love In A Car
9 Se Dest
10 Never
11 Hope
12 Salome
13 Shine On
14 Christine
15 Man To Child
16 Destroy The Heart
17 I Can’t Stand It
All tracks previously unreleased
DISC EIGHT
LIVE IN LONDON AND NEW YORK (1991-1992)
1 Phone (London)
2 Hannah (London)
3 Love 2 (London)
4 High In Your Face (New York)
5 You Don’t Understand (New York)
6 Burn Down The World (New York)
7 Christine (New York)
8 Feel (New York)
9 Hannah (New York)
10 Shine On (New York)
11 The Girl With The Loneliest Eyes (New York)
12 Cruel (New York)
13 I Don’t know Why I Love You (New York)
All tracks previously unreleased
