Shoot Your Shot: The Divine Anthology

I'm going to stick my head out on the proverbial Guillotine here and (unbelievably) come to the defense of persons responsible for this new Divine anthology. But allow me a few caveats first. Cherry Red (and their sub labels) have an uneven track record with cd reissues of legacy catalogue titles. Sometimes they are pretty good, others not so. Particularly if the source is a crackly old vinyl record. This can of course be a fault of the companies or artists that own the masters and what files they've provided for the project. It can also be a sign of the condition of the master tapes themselves. There may be no tape in storage for a particular title or it's in such bad shape it can't be used. This is especially relevant to early extended remixes for say a 12" single. I'm talking about edits done the old fashioned way with a razor blade and (a special kind of) sticky tape. And this means magnetic tape that is 25+ years old and getting to the stage where it may no longer be possible to pass it across reader heads to record a copy either via a tape to tape transfer or digital conversion. All this is also dependent upon how the tapes have been stored for the last 30 plus years.So some basic understanding of tech is required to appreciate the work that goes into compiling these reissues or compilations. Yes it's true that the quality control is not what it should be and it's also true that too many errors are making it through to manufacture. A "Sign O' The Times" as the late Mr Rogers-Nelson so eloquently called it in 1987. These faux pas are caused by the use of the digital world to find them and of course, human error which in turn is magnified by our reliance on computers to do menial tasks (Blame the machines).Now to Divine. This is a great collection. Yeah there are some problems but I'm one happy fan. If there is no tape available to copy certain tracks for inclusion here I'm ok with that. The vinyl rips present here sound pretty good. I must stress that "You Think You're A... Medley" was created back in 1985 using vinyl records as it's source and has NEVER sounded impressive (I have the original 12" single). This would be an example of a master tape that is either missing or in no condition for playing. The cd set itself is not named Complete Anthology which is why someones favourite edit or mix is not here. I'm missing the single mix of "Walk Like A Man" as are other reviewers. The digital errors, which I believe are from the source files are a different matter. It's possible these were present on the masters provided to Hot Shot. It also could've occurred during compiling or mastering. Either way they need to be addressed. If anyone from the label reads this you need to acknowledge the faults, find out where they first appear and either correct them and do a repress or offer your customers some kind of explanation instead of doing the usual thing, ignoring them/us. I'm personally not into Facebook but blocking your customers because they are asking about an obviously faulty product is no way to do business or improve your status in the music retail industry (which is pretty low by the way).So for me, it's a decent compilation (minus the errors) and the bulk of what's here is ok. I'm very grateful that in this ever increasing digital streaming download world we now live in I have a physical copy in my hands of a Divine Anthology. It's not perfect or complete and like the artist himself, a little rough around the edges but it reminds me of a time when a large bodied foul mouthed female impersonator made the top 10 in Australia."You Got What I Want You Got What I Need Shoot Your Shot..."

I love Divine. I waited 30 years to buy a decent Divine's greatest hits album, and I'm glad as hell I did. This magnificent double album is the best compilation of his/her greatest hits ever in my opinion, because it offers all the American chart-toppers (produced by Bobby Orlando) as well as the British hits (produced by Stock/Aitken/Waterman). It is truly comprehensive in that respect. I find both the sound and the booklet/photos (visuals) superb. They certainly weren't stingy with us on this double CD. Almost 80 minutes of music on each disc. Remixes and single versions of several songs are included, plus a medley/megamix that'll tear the roof off. Who's complaining ? Certainly not yours truly.

Just simply the best, sadly missed. Great tunes to scare the neighbours with.

These two cds are excellent the different versions of tracks are great.blasts out of the speakers .great sound.if you like divine buy it.worth the money.

Loved it. Takes me back

Great product, price and customer service ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Takes me back to many nights in various northern nightclubs!

Got to have this in my collection