THE ALBUM COMPILATIONS
The Album Volume 1
Cocky sods Virgin…
This seems to be the follow up series to “The Best Album In The World Ever”, god knows what’s next…The, probably..
Volume 1
Record Label: Virgin TV
Release Year: 2001
EAN: 0724381035726
1. Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz
2. Mr Writer - Stereophonics
3. Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus
4. Burn Baby Burn - Ash
5. Plug In Baby - Muse
6. Buck Rogers - Feeder
7. Let Love Be Your Energy - Williams, Robbie
8. Dancing In The Moonlight - Toploader
9. With Arms Wide Open - Creed
10. You Stole The Sun From My Heart - Manic Street Preachers
11. Oxygen - JJ72
12. Too Many DJ's - Soulwax
13. Always Your Way - My Vitriol
14. All The Small Things - Blink 182
15. I'm Not Trading (radio edit) - Sunna
16. Taste In Men (radio edit) - Placebo
17. I Can Only Disappoint U - Mansun
18. Closing Time - Semisonic
19. Optimistic - Radiohead
20. Star 69 - Fatboy Slim
21. Dirty Beats - Roni Size
1. Trouble - Coldplay
2. Fever - Starsailor
3. Door - Turin Brakes
4. Song For The Lovers (edit) - Ashcroft, Richard
5. Moving - Supergrass
6. Once Around The Block - Badly Drawn Boy
7. Coffee And TV - Blur
8. Love What You Do - Divine Comedy
9. Catch The Sun - Doves
10. Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One mix) - Alabama 3
11. Tijuana Lady - Gomez
12. All I Need (edit) - Air
13. Toxic Girl - Kings Of Convenience
14. Crystal Lake - Grandaddy
15. Late Night Radio - Gray, David
16. Wherever You Are - Finn, Neil
17. Bookends - Alfie
18. Red - Elbow
Toploader. You have to ask what we were all thinking of. And why is David Gray allowed on these compilations? Surely someone saw him creeping round the back.
“oy, Gray, bugger off back to ‘The best coffee table album in the world…ever”.
Aaaanyway, Robbie Williams and the evil overlords of the early noughts aside (Phonics/Manics, WHY?), it’s not bad, there’s the end of the line rapidly approaching for Mansun, Elbow (the superior Coldplay, as I used to think of them, if I ever thought of them), Soulwax, Radiohead…again, as with the Reloaded albums, it doesn’t feel so much ‘Indie’ as ‘Rock’, but it’s none too late.
The Album Vol.2
(April 27, 2001)
Number of Discs:2
Label: Virgin TV
ASIN: B00005RKRE
Catalogue Number: VTDCD394
Disc: 1
1. The Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You
2. Wheatus - A Little Respect
3. Manic Street Peachers - So Why So Sad
4. Coldplay - Yellow
5. Muse - Feeling Good
6. Ash - Shining Light
7. Supergrass - Pumpin' On Your Stereo
8. Weezer - Hash Pipe
9. Feeder - Just A Day
10. Toploader - Achilles Heel 11. Radiohead - Knives Out
12. Starsailor - Alcoholic
13. Depeche Mode - I Feel Loved
14. Fatboy Slim feat. Bootsy Collins - Weapon Of Choice
15. Pepe Deluxe - Before You Leave
16. Daft Punk - Digital Love
17. The Chemical Brothers - It Began In Afrika
18. D12 - Purple Hills
19. The Music - Karma
Disc: 2
1. Gorillaz - Rock The House
2. Moby - Natural Blues
3. Turin Brakes - 72
4. Embrace - Wonder
5. Oasis - Half The World Away
6. The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
7. Super Furry Animals - Juxtapozed With U
8. Stereophonics - Have A Nice Day
9. Badly Drawn Boy - Disillusion
10. Matthew Jay - Call My Name Out 11. The Divine Comedy - Perfect Lovesong
12. Fun Lovin' Criminals - Loco
13. The Avalanches - Since I Left You
14. Air - Radio N°1
15. Goldfrapp - Lovely Head
16. Kings Of Convenience - I Don't Know What I Can Save You From (Röyksopp Remix)
17. Elbow - Newborn (Single Edit)
18. The Beta Band - Human Being
19. Zero 7 - In The Waiting Line
Well, here we are ladies and gentlemen. A compilation containing Toploader, Feeder, Stereo-bloody-phonics and Oasis.
I can barely contain my excitement.
But wait! What’s this?
The Beta Band? The Super Furry Animals?
Daft Punk? Radiohead?
The Chemical Brothers (dodgy late period, but hey!)…
….
It couldn’t be a…
no, it’s not possible, it could be a….a..good compilation?…
…
Oh wait, Starsailor.
Bugger.
The Album Vol.3
(March 25, 2002)
Number of Discs:2
Label: Virgin TV
ASIN: B0000647L4
Catalogue Number: VTDCD441
Disc: 1
1. The Hindu Times - Oasis
2. There Goes The Fear - The Doves
3. Lazy - X-Press 2 featuring David Byrne
4. Get Off - The Dandy Warhols
5. How You Remind Me - Nickelback
6. There's A Star - Ash
7. Say Something - Haven
8. (Drawing) Rings Around The World - Super Furry Animals
9. Silent To The Dark - Electric Soft Parade
10. Hate To Say I Told You So - The Hives 11. Highly Evolved - The Vines
12. You Held The World In Your Arms - Idlewild
13. Lessons Learned From Rocky I To Rocky III - Cornershop
14. Love Burns - B.R.M.C.
15. Can't Smile - Vex Red
16. The People - The Music
17. Come With Us - The Chemical Brothers
18. To Get Down - Timo Maas
19. Shot Shot - Gomez
Disc: 2
1. Handbags And Gladrags - Stereophonics
2. Underdog (Save Me) - Turin Brakes
3. Squares - Beta Band
4. Silent Sigh - Badly Drawn Boy
5. Asleep In The Back - Elbow
6. Don't Panic - Coldplay
7. Eple - Röyksopp
8. Distractions - Zero 7
9. Everything In Its Right Place - Radiohead 10. Apple Of My Eye - Ed Harcourt
11. Poor Misguided Fool - Starsailor
12. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? - Moby
13. Tomorrow Comes Today - Gorillaz
14. Breaking Up The Girl (Timo Maas Mix) - Garbage
15. Sex With Strangers - Marianne Faithfull Featuring Beck
16. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk
17. Breathe - Telepopmusik
Now, I realise it’s Virgin compilation department to include an oasis track at every possible opportunity, but couldn’t they have skipped the Hindu Times, I mean, everyone else did. Boom boom.
<Sigh>
Well, well, Starsailor, we meet again, and Stereophonics, great, fantastic, missed you.
No, really.
But, it’s got to be said that, while these aren’t anywhere near as appalling as they could be, (there’s a nice mix of dance and indie (Xpress 2, Timo Maas, Daft Punk), there’s a few smaller acts (Electric Soft Parade, Vex Red)) , it’s all just very ‘worthy’.
By now, it seems obvious this series isn’t doing the same job Indie Top 20 compilations did, there’s nothing small around, no John Peel bothering artists, nothing for you to discover…it’s all so..so…alright, so Mum And Dad thinking it’s ‘a nice tune’, so top 40.
And where’s the rage? The punky angst.
Not in anything Zero 7 did, anyway.
‘Silent Sigh’ is about right.
The Album Vol.4
(September 2, 2002)
Number of Discs:2
Label: Virgin TV
ASIN: B00006GF8G
Catalogue Number: VTDCD481
1. In my place - Coldplay
2. Flowers in the window - Travis
3. Stop crying your heart out - Oasis
4. Hero - Kroeger, Chad & Josey Scott
5. Vegas two times - Stereophonics
6. Envy - Ash
7. Girl all the bad guys want - Bowling For Soup
8. Rock star (Jason Nevins remix) - NERD
9. Main offender - Hives
10. Never done nothing like that before - Supergrass
11. Get free - Vines 12. Take the long road and walk it - Music
13. In your world - Muse
14. I can climb mountains - Hell Is For Heroes
15. Big boy - Minuteman
16. Spinnin' wheels - Crescent
17. Spread your love - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
18. You and me - Easyworld
19. Til the end - Haven
20. Wide open sky - Goldrush
21. Westside - Athlete
Disc: 2
1. Pounding - Doves
2. American english - Idlewild
3. Falling - McAlmont & Butler
4. Soldier girl - Polyphonic Spree
5. Something to talk about - Badly Drawn Boy
6. Good souls - Starsailor
7. So easy - Royksopp
8. In the bath - Lemon Jelly
9. Extreme ways - Moby
10.
Starry eyed surprise - Oakenfold, Paul
11. Ghosts - Dirty Vegas
12. Sexiest man in Jamaica - Mint Royale
13. Real life - Audio Bullys
14. Test - Chemical Brothers & Richard Ashcroft
15. Let a good thing go - Hayes, Gemma
16. Concrete sky - Orton, Beth
17. Good disease - Aim & Stephen Jones
18. Future boy - Turin Brakes
By now, you’re not even expecting anything exciting, surely?
You must know the drill.
Gemma Hayes features.
There’s Moby.
Something off a motion picture from some bloke who’s in Puddle Of Mudd.
And some more worthy, rather dull tracks.
Gah!
Again!
The Album '05
(I’m assuming it’s the same series, well, you would)
Big gap, though…
(March 14, 2005)
Number of Discs:2
Label: Virgin TV
ASIN: B0007SMEOU
Catalogue Number: VTDCD707
Disc: 1
1. Athlete - Wires
2. Feeder - Tumble And Fall
3. Doves - Black And White Town
4. Stereophonics - Dakota
5. The Killers - Somebody Told Me
6. Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll
7. The Chemical Brothers - Galvanize
8. LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
9. Muse - Time Is Running Out
10. Idlewild - Love Steals Us From Loneliness
11. Baby Shambles - Killamangiro 12. The Kills - The Good Ones
13. Graham Coxon - Freakin' Out
14. The Music -Freedom Fighters
15. Placebo - Nancy Boy
16. The Vines - Ride
17. The Libertines - What Became of The Likely Lads
18. 22-20s - Such A Fool
19. Steriogram - Go
20. OK Go - Get Over It
21. Supergrass - Grace
Disc: 2
1. Bloc Party - So Here We Are
2. Embrace - Ashes
3. Willy Mason - Oxygen
4. KT Tunstall - Black Horse And The Cherry Tree
5. The Thrills - Big Sur
6. Travis - Sing
7. Oasis - Little By Little
8. Turin Brakes - Painkiller
9. Morrissey - Suedehead
10. R.E.M. - Don't Go Back To Rockville
11. The Dandy Warhols - We Used To Be Friends
12. Moby - Lift Me Up
13. Radiohead - Paranoid Android
14. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Breathless
15. The Beta Band - Dog's Got A Bone
16. Kings Of Convenience feat. Feist - Know-How
17. Engineers - Forgiveness
18. I Am Kloot - Over My Shoulder
19. The Bees - Wash In The Rain
20. 41 Client - Pornography
Modern times, a 3 year gap and a lots changed, or so you’d think ,but really it’s an improvement rather than a total overhaul.. Ok, we’re not still firmly in the valley of the dulls, but nonetheless, this odd mixture has some boring stuff laced in amongst the better.
Add Athlete to our dull but worthy foes, but hats off for including the Bees, Engineers, Bloc Party, Willy Mason and so on….certainly a better class of track.
REMs track is an odd choice, that track is ancient!
Nice compilation though…for new indie people or grungers, or whatever the daft title is this days.
Ta!
