Blur - Bustin' + Dronin' (1998)

Blur released Bustin' + Dronin', a limited-edition Japanese-only remix album, after completing the supporting tour for Blur. Apparently, this has become a group tradition, since Japanese-only albums appeared after the Parklife and Great Escape tours -- the B-sides compilation Special Collectors Edition and the double-disc Live at Budokan, respectively. The difference this time around was the fact that Bustin' + Dronin' was imported heavily in the U.K. and U.S., because of the success of Blur. Ironically, it's the weakest of the three Japanese albums the group has released and the one least worth acquiring. The main problem is that only a handful of songs on Blur lend themselves to inventive remixes. In particular, the spooky dirge "Death of a Party" and the clomping Mott the Baggy "On Your Own" are ripe for new treatments, and that's why both are here numerous times. Unfortunately, they're not interesting at all, likely because they're not helmed by name producers. Then again, William Orbit doesn't fare that well with "Moving On," and Moby's mix of "Beetlebum" (first released as a B-side to the single) sounds identical to the original, so maybe the key isn't remixers, either. That leaves only Thurston Moore's contemptuous, cacophonous remix of the silly, pretentious "Essex Dogs" and John McEntire's recasting of "Theme from Retro" as a lost cut from Millions Now Living Will Never Die. It might be amusing to hear Moore's cut once, and McEntire's work is genuinely exceptional, but that's not quite enough to make Bustin' + Dronin' worthwhile. And the second disc, a collection of six songs recorded at John Peel's home for broadcast on the DJ's show, is strong, proving that Blur live is a dynamic, intoxicating force, but its release is pointless, since all of the songs were released once as B-sides for the "On Your Own" singles, and once again on the "MOR" single. In other words, the collectors, who are the only ones who need this disc, already own this material twice, which makes its very inclusion puzzling and useless.