#7885 Electropunk to Technopop 1978-1985

Great retrospective of Cabaret Voltaire. Great songs and good introduction to them if you don't know them well yet.

Cabaret Voltaire is a paradox - their music ran the spectrum from crude and chaotic to slick and sleazy and little of it seems to have any right to endure. Yet that is the essence of the band's genius, since they never sounded like anybody else unless they were imitated, and this compilation highlights some of their best moments during their best years.Indeed, the sound is improved over previous incarnations of these tracks, but... from the Crackdown phase forward, 7" single versions of dance-floor hits are strung together in rapid-tempo DJ fashion - and here I would have preferred fewer but longer tracks to represent this period, or even some different choices like Badge of Evil or Blue Heat.But of course this may be Mute's marketing strategy all along, to make us want more, as they have reissued all three of the original albums from this period with full-length versions, and the insane CV collector like myself will "crack down" and keep spending. So be warned that the later part of this collection never really settles into a groove for long before jumping into another one, somewhat abruptly and relentlessly.In 2002, Mute released the Original Sound of Sheffield collection, in two volumes, with excellent sound, and #7885 is far from a perfect replacement for either of those fine releases. Unfortunately, Volume II, with the extended 12" versions, is hard to find at collector's prices. On the other hand, Volume I is still available, and covers the most creative period from Do the Mussolini through 2x45 more thoroughly than the 9 tracks included here.Serious CV listeners already know that duplication is one of the hazards of collecting their work - it's easy to have several CDs with The Set Up or Seconds Too Late, but I never get tired of those songs. So #7885 is certainly worth having and I give it a 4-1/2. But for those who want to explore more of the cabaret, I would call the following CDs essential - although I probably haven't heard everything worth hearing yet myself.Albums: 2x45 Red Mecca Crackdown Micro-Phonies Mix Up Compilations: The Living Legends Original Sound of Sheffield '78/'82 The Original Sound of Sheffield: Best of 83 - 87

I was too late to pick up the Cabs box set by the time I heard about it and those are now long gone except for the auction sites at double or more the original price. I ordered the remastered CD's from the box set and they sounded superb, so I figured this compilation was worth the price of admission. There are some great choices from the earliest single through the mid 80's, a stellar CV era. I'm pretty sure that I already have most or all of these songs on other CD's, 7" singles, or 12" singles, some of them on multiple pressings.When I cranked up Do the Mussolini on my vintage JBL's, I knew I was in for something special. Mal's voice sounds like it's coming right out of the speaker, Kirk's guitar and synth are amazing, my singles and CD compilations don't do justice to these wonderful timeless tracks. I have a minty 12" 45 Nag Nag Nag that was the best sounding version of that track to date, the previous old CD's with Nag x 3 were a little flat. The sound on this CD is amazing, you can hear things that you never heard before, not even on a pristine Japanese pressing! This CD is immediately getting loaded into iTunes as well as my car CD changer. It's a great CD whatever level of interest you have in Cabaret Voltaire, this stuff holds up perfectly well 30-40 years on, but true fans cannot bear the shame of being without it.

The first record skips....a lot!! Bad pressing.

great 80`s band. good compilation of remixes

Tasty single-sized audio nuggets on one cd or 2 lps. (I have both) The vinyl version also includes a code for mp3 download, but it didn't work. IMO, only thing missing is Yashar. The version with the sample from The outer Limits.

The best cabaret collection available. Not a waste of time for serious collectors either, as it features versions newly available on cd. Can't go wrong with this collection.

First LP of the old stuff great! the later pop crap, sucked then and sucks worse now