Section 25:
Love and Hate:
Factory Benelux:
Out Now:
8/10
The recently-revived Factory Benelux reissue program rumbles on with this update of the Blackpool electro underdogs' forgotten fourth studio-album.
Originally demo'ed and recorded in 1986 by sole remaining members Larry and Jenny Cassidy, original label Factory saw fit to sit on the results for a further two years before throwing it out to an indifferent public. Larry went to his grave never understanding the reasons for such procrastination on the part of the record-label ("Tell me why? I've still no idea to this day...") - maybe Factory felt it was unfinished, or too progressive, or lacking the cutting-edge of predecessor From The Hip or just crap. Or it could be down to then music-pundit Jonathan King's publishers calling Factory's infantile bluff after the label exclaimed that album-track Bad News Week was a cover of the aforementioned King's Good News tune. Doh - there went the royalties.
Whatever - Love and Hate certainly isn't crap, in fact the album only suffers from being under-produced and constricted by a still-strange running-order, with a couple of irksome tracks getting in the way of this being a consistent outing. This version re-assembles the selections into the same chronology as the 1988 vinyl version, once again starting with the stop-start pulse of Sweet Forgiveness, followed up by the pretty pastoral epic Conquer Me and the painfully dull Sprinkling Petals Into Hell.
Highlights start with the poppy Last Man In Europe and continue with the frenetic Bad News Week, the two Satie-esque instrumentals, Tim Lick My Knees and the apt (for the time) Shit Creek No Paddle before concluding with the more familiar industrial thud of Warhead, a sort of bastard-offspring of the much-earlier Friendly Fires. Love and Hate grinds to a halt with the dubbed-up car-crash, er, Carcrash which, for me, remains one of the band's most forgettable tracks.
The contrast between that last song and the first of the bonuses is stark. Where Carcrash tries too hard, single Crazy Wisdom, given a twinkling insistent production by New Order's Bernard Sumner and ACR's Donald Johnson, sounds confident, majestic even, without breaking stride. It remains one of S25's most enduring releases, yet tricky to track down in its day. If you like hefty synth-pop with a beautiful melody to rival the likes of OMD, Pet Shop Boys and, yes, New Order, check Crazy Wisdom out - and ramp up the speakers for the closing 60 seconds of punishing electro ear-burn.
The other bonuses on this issue include three versions of Bad News Week, including a curious retake recorded for the 2009 album Retrofit that sounds like Kenny Ken and Neu were locked in a lift together, plus two rather bombastic Sumner remixes initially submitted for a 12" release, with b-side The Guitar Waltz, another Retrofit outtake (Warhead) and a more analogue demo mix of Crazy Wisdom.
Considering that most of the recordings here were written, recorded and executed by just two members of the band (brother Vin and long-serving Lee left due to lack of wages), Love and Hate inadvertently still sounds fresh and dated for unlikely reasons. Give it a shot.
Love and Hate:
Factory Benelux:
Out Now:
8/10
Originally demo'ed and recorded in 1986 by sole remaining members Larry and Jenny Cassidy, original label Factory saw fit to sit on the results for a further two years before throwing it out to an indifferent public. Larry went to his grave never understanding the reasons for such procrastination on the part of the record-label ("Tell me why? I've still no idea to this day...") - maybe Factory felt it was unfinished, or too progressive, or lacking the cutting-edge of predecessor From The Hip or just crap. Or it could be down to then music-pundit Jonathan King's publishers calling Factory's infantile bluff after the label exclaimed that album-track Bad News Week was a cover of the aforementioned King's Good News tune. Doh - there went the royalties.
Whatever - Love and Hate certainly isn't crap, in fact the album only suffers from being under-produced and constricted by a still-strange running-order, with a couple of irksome tracks getting in the way of this being a consistent outing. This version re-assembles the selections into the same chronology as the 1988 vinyl version, once again starting with the stop-start pulse of Sweet Forgiveness, followed up by the pretty pastoral epic Conquer Me and the painfully dull Sprinkling Petals Into Hell.
Highlights start with the poppy Last Man In Europe and continue with the frenetic Bad News Week, the two Satie-esque instrumentals, Tim Lick My Knees and the apt (for the time) Shit Creek No Paddle before concluding with the more familiar industrial thud of Warhead, a sort of bastard-offspring of the much-earlier Friendly Fires. Love and Hate grinds to a halt with the dubbed-up car-crash, er, Carcrash which, for me, remains one of the band's most forgettable tracks.
The contrast between that last song and the first of the bonuses is stark. Where Carcrash tries too hard, single Crazy Wisdom, given a twinkling insistent production by New Order's Bernard Sumner and ACR's Donald Johnson, sounds confident, majestic even, without breaking stride. It remains one of S25's most enduring releases, yet tricky to track down in its day. If you like hefty synth-pop with a beautiful melody to rival the likes of OMD, Pet Shop Boys and, yes, New Order, check Crazy Wisdom out - and ramp up the speakers for the closing 60 seconds of punishing electro ear-burn.
The other bonuses on this issue include three versions of Bad News Week, including a curious retake recorded for the 2009 album Retrofit that sounds like Kenny Ken and Neu were locked in a lift together, plus two rather bombastic Sumner remixes initially submitted for a 12" release, with b-side The Guitar Waltz, another Retrofit outtake (Warhead) and a more analogue demo mix of Crazy Wisdom.
Considering that most of the recordings here were written, recorded and executed by just two members of the band (brother Vin and long-serving Lee left due to lack of wages), Love and Hate inadvertently still sounds fresh and dated for unlikely reasons. Give it a shot.