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Sparks / New Music For Amnesiacs: The Ultimate Collection box set

By Paul Sinclair

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A new box set featuring the music of California band Sparks is released next week and has has been personally curated by Ron and Russell Mael.

New Music For Amnesiacs: The Ultimate Collection is a limited edition four CD collection presented within a a hardbound book, and comes with a selection of replica memorabilia, including posters, tickets, lanyards, photos and button badges. The 64-page book includes hundreds of photos from Ron and Russell’s personal archives, and features a foreword by Morrissey.

The detailed content of the box is as follows:

  • • 64 page hardback book containing 4 CDs
  • • A4 Certificate of Authenticity
  • • A2 Poster
  • • Vellum envelope containing
    • -2 replica tickets
    • -4 A4 black and white prints
    • -4 A4 colour prints
  • • Brown paper envelope with replica address sticker containing three A4 black and white proof sheets
  • • Souvenir CD in card wallet
  • • Laminated AAA pass
  • • Lanyard with plastic snap lock
  • • Car window sticker
  • • Button badge

The four discs feature 81 songs handpicked by the band, and remastered by legendary mastering engineers Bill Inglot and Dave Schultz from the original sources. The selection includes tracks from all 21 studio albums. In addition a bonus CD contains studio tracks commemorating two of Sparks’ live events, “Islington N1” from the Sparks Spectacular (21 albums in 21 nights), and “Two Hands One Mouth” from the eponymous tour.

New Music For Amnesiacs: The Ultimate Collection is released on 21 October 2013.

Sparks / New Music For Amnesiacs: The Ultimate Collection box set
Click to enlarge

Track listing

Disc: 1

  • 1. Wonder Girl
  • 2. Roger
  • 3. High C
  • 4. Girl from Germany
  • 5. Batteries Not Included
  • 6. Whippings and Apologies
  • 7. This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us
  • 8. Amateur Hour
  • 9. Equator
  • 10. Talent Is an Asset
  • 11. Barbecutie
  • 12. Propaganda
  • 13. At Home at Work at Play
  • 14. Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth
  • 15. Something for the Girl With Everything
  • 16. Alabamy Right
  • 17. Hospitality On Parade
  • 18. Happy Hunting Ground
  • 19. Looks, Looks, Looks
  • 20. Get in the Swing
  • 21. Miss the Start, Miss the End
  • 22. Big Boy
  • 23. Nothing to Do
  • 24. Looks Aren’t Everything
  • 25. Tearing the Place Apart

Disc: 2

  • 1. Goofing Off
  • 2. Over the Summer
  • 3. The Number One Song in Heaven
  • 4. Beat the Clock
  • 5. Tryouts for the Human Race (Unreleased Version)
  • 6. When I’m With You
  • 7. Young Girls (Single Version)
  • 8. Tips for Teens
  • 9. Funny Face
  • 10. I Married a Martian
  • 11. Angst in My Pants
  • 12. I Predict
  • 13. Mickey Mouse
  • 14. Eaten By the Monster of Love
  • 15. Cool Places
  • 16. Popularity
  • 17. I Wish I Looked a Little Better
  • 18. Pretending to Be Drunk
  • 19. A Song That Sings Itself

Disc: 3

  • 1. Music That You Can Dance To
  • 2. Change
  • 3. Let’s Get Funky
  • 4. Singing in the Shower (With Les Rita Mitsouko)
  • 5. So Important
  • 6. A Walk Down Memory Lane
  • 7. Madonna
  • 8. National Crime Awareness Week (Psycho Cut)
  • 9. Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins
  • 10. When Do I Get to Sing ‘My Way’
  • 11. (When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing
  • 12. Tsui Hark (Feat. Tsui Hark & Bill Kong)
  • 13. Let’s Go Surfing
  • 14. Propaganda
  • 15. Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat
  • 16. This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us (With Faith No More)
  • 17. Bullet Train
  • 18. It’s a Knockoff
  • 19. Calm Before the Opera

Disc: 4

  • 1. Concerto in Koch Minor (Wunderbar)
  • 2. The Rhythm Thief
  • 3. How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall?
  • 4. My Baby’s Taking Me Home
  • 5. Suburban Homeboy
  • 6. I Married Myself
  • 7. Dick Around
  • 8. Perfume
  • 9. The Very Next Fight
  • 10. Metaphor
  • 11. As I Sit Down to Play the Organ at the Notre Dame Cathedral
  • 12. Good Morning
  • 13. Lighten Up, Morrissey
  • 14. Strange Animal
  • 15. Photoshop
  • 16. I’ve Never Been High
  • 17. I Am a Bookworm

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16 Comments

16 thoughts on “Sparks / New Music For Amnesiacs: The Ultimate Collection box set”

  1. Pingback: New Music For Amnesiacs | kssmusic

  2. No sooner does it appear then we get details of ‘New Music For Amnesiacs: The Essential Collection’ – due out on 23rd November. A 2 CD version with two tracks (‘A Big Surprise’ and the original album version of ‘Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat’) not on the box set!

  3. The production values of the box and it’s content are excellent – the book is just brilliant, full of memorabilia, quotes, photos I’ve not seen before, like a really ramped up version of the 2008 ’21 Nights’ programme. It is frustrating, that more rarities couldn’t be included, when fans know there’s quite a bit in existence (see those Japanese reissues of a few years back). But taken as a collector’s item versus a musical treasure chest (both are reasonable wishes!) it has it’s good points.

  5. @Killian Scott

    To be honest, for the price of the box set, you can probably buy up a full Sparks discography of the 18 (I think) albums you don’t own from Amazon, either new or second-hand. All the albums are available on CD. Some are faulty (track speed issues on Halfnelson/A Woofer In Tweeter’s Clothing, a poor mastering source for Introducing Sparks), and some are musically a bit suspect, but you’ll get more songs – if you buy the box set, chances are you’ll be enticed to buy the albums anyway, so just cut out the middleman!

  6. Pingback: Out This Week / 28 October 2013 | superdeluxeedition

  7. I got an Amazon gift voucher and am tempted to use it on this. I only own four Sparks CDs – Kimino My House, Propaganda, Indiscreet and No. 1 In Heaven.

    I presume it covers all bases for somebody who only has a small Sparks collection?

  8. I’d much rather a Deluxe Edition of No. 1 In Heaven. Interviews, edits, videos, extended versions, unheard of tracks from the recording sessions.

  9. Hi, does anybody know if the 2013 “deluxe” remaster of Halfnelson/Woofer in Tweeter’s Clothing fixed the last four tracks or not? For that matter, I notice that two of the four tracks are on here, so maybe they could be fixed on here.

  12. I love Sparks and I would love this package, but as Hedley says, £100 for 4 CD’s is a joke. Compare this to the Bob Dylan box set with 47 CD’s.
    They should release a much cheaper package without the large format book and extras, long book style.

    1. I totally agree with the previous comments. Also shelled out for a ‘golden ticket’ for the 21 Nights Sparks Spectacular in 2008 for which I also got CD with an exclusive track “never to appear on an album”, well here it is -‘Islington N1’.
      £100 for one unreleased version is not great value for money, no matter how fancy the book is, something I pointed out on the official Sparks forum and was rewarded with abuse. Fans eh?

  13. 100 pounds for a glorified 4 disc Greatest Hits package. This sure ain’t no Nilsson for effort and content – which is my nomination for best offering for 2013

  14. To quote Ron & Russell themselves…thanks but no thanks. This is an excellent set musically speaking, and it’s great to see an entire disc devoted to Sparks’ most recent years, but there’s nothing to make me want to re-buy a load of songs I already have. I guess the appeal of badges, certificates, stickers, replica tickets etc are lost on me; instead I’ll lament the substantial lack of rarities etc (as found on the recent Japanese CD reissues), and be thankful that after throwing money at Sparks for 21 consecutive gigs in 2008, they don’t bankrupt me entirely…

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