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There are two versions of this, the one-disc and the two-disc. The one-disc is essentially an update of
Greatest Hits So Far
so my review there applies equally here. Eleven of fourteen tracks are duplicated, though this set is not in chronological order. It might seem strange to have only one track from Metal Box (Second Issue) but let's face it, you almost can't be a PiL fan without that tour-de-force. Bad Life was added from This is What You Want, This is What You Get which disappoints me because I think The Order of Death would have been a better choice. Cruel is one of the few highlights from That What Is Not. Three Sex Pistols songs are added for good measure, as are a couple of one-off tracks. The best of those is World Destruction. It features Afrika Bambaataa and is one of the first rock-rap collaborations (yes, before Walk This Way). Open Up holds up well as a dance number. Sun (from his solo album Psycho's Path) doesn't do much for me. A new one, The Rabbit Song, is bouncy but not especially memorable. Overall it is a pretty good career retrospective. It should hold up to repeated listens and give the listener a good idea of whether they want to dive in and where to start.
The bonus disc is as frustrating as it is helpful. Who is the target audience? It seems that it can't make up its mind whether to be a rarities disc or an expanded best-of disc. Neither aim is satisfied. If I were to recommend 2 CDs to a potential fan it would be the one-disc version of this set and Metal Box (not this two-disc set). Another possibility is the recent
Gold
set but that one is limited to PIL songs and doesn't include any of the one-offs. The thing is the second disc isn't a total train wreck either. Including the album versions of Poptones and Careering might convince someone to go ahead and buy Metal Box. Religion and Banging the Door are two solid additions - classic post-punk and classic Johnny. Pardon, well, I like the song but it wouldn't be my top choice as a second track from This is What You Want This Is What You Get. After that the casual fan might as well hit the stop button.
The rest of the disc seems to be aimed to fans like me. You get four 12" mixes are added including one (Rise) that is not on the Plastic Box boxed set. But the album versions of all four songs are on the main disc so why not just put the 12" versions over there to begin with? Acid Drops, okay, that's probably the second best song from That What Is Not and an otherwise unnecessary album. An additional remix of Open Up, okay it is nice to have. The dance mix of God Save The Queen is a novelty and not designed for repeated listens. Confusing matters further, the DVD (video) version of this set has three bonus audio tracks that aren't here, two different mixes of Albatross (one completely different from the album version) and another mix of Death Disco. I'd rather have these songs than not have them but you have to admit it is annoying. Kind of like packaging records in a film canister. And whatever happened to the single mix of Memories?
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