THE MELROSE YEARS

As this is from my favourite period of TD I welcomed this release with open arms. I have listened many times now and although some of the tracks are different enough to make it a worthwhile project it is obvious that all the tracks are definetly not re recorded as stated on the box. They are all just added to with a few different percussive tracks and synth pads or guitar parts added. The best of the three is Optical Race which sounds refreshed and more dynamic than the original. Lily on the Beach is perhaps no better or worse than it's sister album. Melrose however which is one of my personal faves does nothing and appart from a slight difference in sound quality is almost identical to the original. There are also two faults in the pressing or was it the mastering ?who knows but these two faults sound like a dodgy CD skipping slightly. Amazingly Edgar Froese said that these 'effects' wer deliberately place to go with the music. Pull the other one Edgar.

As a whole the set is only for completists and the only album contained worthy of a rehash is Optical Race . This set was limited to 1000 copies so may be difficult to find at a reasonable price. If you already have the originals I would stick with them.