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Sparks - Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins (1994) {2019, 3CD Box Set, Remastered} CD-Rip

Sparks - Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins (1994) {2019, 3CD Box Set, Remastered} CD-Rip

BAND/ARTIST: Sparks

  • Title: Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins
  • Year Of Release: 1994 / 2019
  • Label: BMG #BMGCAT410TCD
  • Genre: New Wave, Synth-Pop
  • Quality: EAC Rip -> FLAC (Img+Cue, Log)
  • Total Time: 02:10:15
  • Total Size: 1,38 Gb (Full Scans)
  • WebSite:
25 years since its original release, Sparks’ 16th studio album ‘Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins’ is reissued with remastered and bonus material. The original, remastered album is accompanied by a further two CDs of eclectic bonus tracks and rarities and, in a rare move, Sparks have opened the vaults to share previously unreleased demos and recordings. After a few years working on the as-yet-unrealised Mai The Psychic Girl film project - with both Tsui Hark (whose vocals appear on this record) and Tim Burton -, collaborating with Scottish band Finitribe on 1993’s ‘National Crime Awareness Week’, and producing demos for Star Trek regular and future Sparks drummer Christi Haydon, Ron and Russell Mael returned to the pop forum and the charts in 1994 with ‘Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins’. The first song written for the album ‘When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way’ (originally titled ‘Punch And Judy Show’) would go on to become the number one radio song of ‘94 in Germany and a top 40 hit in the UK. A mouth-watering collection for fans and completists, the two bonus discs of this 25th anniversary collection comprise B sides, remixes, live recordings and the unreleased tracks from the Christi Haydon EP and, uniquely for Sparks, a selection of demo tracks or “orphan songs”. The release comes complete with fresh artwork and booklet with liner notes by Ron and Russell Mael.

Even the cover art is great, playing with the same fake tabloid style that Guns N' Roses tried but with funnier results. Beginning with a semi-echo of the start of Propaganda, with the a cappella "Gratuitous Sax" leading into the surging, well-deserved European smash hit "When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way'," Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins broke a near seven-year silence from Ron and Russell Mael -- the longest period of time by far since their start in between major releases. Rather than sounding tired or out of touch, though, the brothers gleefully embraced the modern synth/house/techno explosion for their own purposes (an explosion which, after all, they had helped start with their work during the late '70s with Giorgio Moroder). Solely recorded by the Maels with no outside help, Sax keeps that same, perfect Sparks formula -- Russell's sweet vocals soar with smart and suspect lyrics over Ron's sometimes fast and furious, sometimes slow and elegant melodies, here performed with detailed electronic lushness. They make their style live yet again, feeling far fresher here than on Interior Design. "(When I Kiss You) I hear Charlie Parker Playing" finds Russell rapping (!), "I Thought I Told You to Wait in the Car" has a great building chorus, and "Let's Go Surfing" helps wrap up the album with a wistfully triumphant call to arms. "Tsui Hark" is the one slight departure from the formula, featuring the Hong Kong director Hark himself giving a brief autobiography while a colleague speaks in Chinese. Though some longtime fans groused that they missed the more rocked-up Sparks of the early '70s (or early '80s) in comparison, all in all, Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins is a well-deserved return to form from a band which has deserved far more attention from the musical world, or the world at large, than they have received.

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music

Track List CD1:

01. Gratuitous Sax [0:31]
02. When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' [4:37]
03. (When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing [5:13]
04. Frankly, Scarlett, I Don't Give A Damn [5:03]
05. I Thought I Told You To Wait In The Car [4:20]
06. Hear No Evil,See No Evil,Speak No Evil [5:37]
07. Now That I Own The BBC [4:59]
08. Tsui Hark [4:32]
09. The Ghost Of Liberace [4:16]
10. Let's Go Surfing [5:03]
11. Senseless Violins [0:50]

Track List CD2

01. National Crime Awareness Week (Psycho Cut) [5:17]
02. When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way'(The Grid Radio Edit) [4:09]
03. (When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing (Bernard Butler's Fashionable... [7:06]
04. Now That I Own The BBC (Live Acoustic Version) [1:32]
05. When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' (Vince Clarke Remix [4:38]
06. She's An Anchorman [5:08]
07. Little Drummer Boy [3:03]
08. Beat The Clock (Live In Concert) [5:43]
09. National Crime Awarness Week (13 MInutes In Heaven) [13:05]
10. When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' (Stcks And Stones Remix) [6:20]
11. (When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing (The Beastmasters' Full Blown... [5:34]
12. Now That I Own The BBC (Motiv 8 Extended Vocal Mix) [6:02]
13. When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' (Pro-Gress Mix) [4:36]
14. National Crime Awareness Week (The Janet Leigh Mix) [5:50]

Track List CD3:

01. Where Did I Leave My Halo [3:24]
02. She's Beautiful (So What) [3:40]
03. Mid-Atlantic [3:33]
04. The Farmers Daughter [4:02]
05. The Angry YoungMan Ain't Angry No More [4:28]
06. Bob Hope [3:41]
07. She's An Anchorman (Demo) [4:54]
08. Love Can Conquer All [4:26]
09. Thats What I Call Paradise [5:27]
10. This Angry Young Man Ain't Angry No More (Ron Vocal Version) [2:11]
11. Mid-Atlantic (Ron Vocal Version) [3:28]
12. That's Entertainment (feat. Les Bohem) [2:46]
13. Katharine Hepburn [5:04]
14. Titanic [4:42]
15. Othello [4:02]
16. Holiday [3:43]
17. Boris The Spider [3:44]

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