****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Nothing better than this band out of ISRAEL who had stunning 'min- synth' hits all over COLLEGE RADIO like ZBC in Boston KXLU LA. CD 1 has pretty much all their big hits, songs like NEXT ONE IS REAL and the NEW CLEAR (nuclear) TWIST. Post punk, Min compact had some of the best songs of the 80's/ CD II is the CD i could do without as it brings techno to this DARKWAVE which are like two opposing polls as this music is too pure to be set to BPMS at a rave. Sure, everybody wanted to cover and REMIX the songs but doing so just makes u yearn for the real deal. The prize here are 30 whole tracks on CD III never released before mainly from when the band was utterly minimalist. It's definately worth the price they are selling it at- in spite of the DISCO MIX CD, it would be a standout in your collection. Get it!!Coming from Israel, living in Belgium and Netherlands Minimals tried to attract attention and to fulfill their dark vision of reality. Their sound was close to Joy Division but full of the oriental nostalgia. They created cold, depressive but very original performance - because the music, words and expression in the work of the Minimal Compact form the coherent whole, the unity.Buy this if you don't fear the cold, intelligent musicThis is a nice 3 CD set, and might be considered a nice introduction to Minimal Compact, but is probably most interesting for long time fans.You get 2 discs of archival outtakes, and remixes, and just 1 disc of "classics" that really feels incomplete, because it is.The 15 track "classics" disc feels like an incentive to buy the whole set, and it worked, because unfortunately the band's albums are all very hard to find, and out of print.I was excited when it came out, but in the long run this set just makes me wish they had reissued all the albums together with this stuff tacked on as bonus tracks.A note on the packaging: The box is very nice, solid, sturdy, and has a very nice, thick booklet, full of photos, history, and also includes complete lyrics to all the songs, on all of their albums...which is really a tease since the albums are so hard to find!After many years of absence from their music I decided to stroll down memory lane. Disc 1 contains all your classics from the 80's so you cant go too wrong there.Kind of a best of album. Disc 2 was a real let down and really I think that the only song that possibly worked was when i go. I just dont know how the dj managed to destroy their music. Disc3 was quite an ear opener possibly recorded on a 4 or 8 track recorder of what I could possibly call experimental music. Most of it is electronic and is by no means a let down as minimal compact did this sort of stuff before with the likes of the made to measure releases often recording with bands like tuxedomoon for the compilation. The box contains a booklet with bits of info.All in all worth a look apart for the let down of disc 2 which gets the raspberry.I was put on to this band by my Austrian girlfriend, I don't think they had much impact in the GB. This is a great retrospective but the track I really fell in love with was previously unreleased - Dedicated. Reminding me at times of Joy Division, Sister of Mercy and other 80s influences I can't recall to mind, it was like discovering a new past. Make a new friend of this old band.Diese 3-CD-Box stellt für eingefleischte Fans, aber auch für die, die es werden wollen, eine sinnvolle Anschaffung dar. CD 1 bietet einen guten Überblick über alle MC-Veröffentlichungen und enthält sogar noch ein bisher unveröffentlichtes Stück. Natürlich kann man auf eine CD nicht alle essentiellen Songs packen und die Meinungen darüber, was noch mit draufgehört hätte, gehen sicher auseinander, aber ich finde die Auswahl plausibel.CD 2 ist dann die erwähnte Einschränkung. Es ist sicher mehr als fraglich, ob man 80er-Wave in Dance-Gebolze umschreddern muss, und das genau geschieht hier leider fast ausschliesslich. Zwei oder drei Remixe sind ein wenig gelungener, aber insgesamt hätte man sich das in der vorliegenden Form besser gespart. Entschädigt wird man dann mit einem recht fetten Booklet, das wirklich sehr informativ daherkommt, z.B. sind die Lyrics aller MC-Songs abgedruckt. Ausserdem gibt es ja noch CD 3, eine Zusammenstellung unveröffentlicher Klangexperimente und Studioaufnahmen. Für Fans eine super spannende Angelegenheit, für den Einsteiger sicher ein wenig verstörend.Das Gesamtpaket kommt in einer schönen Papp-Box daher. Unterm Strich also ein schönes Bündel mit erwähntem Manko, das aber zu verschmerzen ist.
