Collected Work Vol. 1 - 1989-1997 (Clamshell Box)

ジャケは4AD名物デザイナー!小悪魔系裏重要90'sUKドリーム・ポップ / シューゲイザー、バンド第1期&絶頂期作品収録のメンバー監修レア曲入り超全集!

このジャケットを見てピンと来た方は、ドリーム・ポップ / シューゲイザー大好きでたまらないはず....! 2023年作『JOHN PEEL SESSIONS (1989-1990)』、2024年作『FUSE』と激レア音源の発掘リリースが止まらないクレインズ。今度は彼等の第1期にして絶頂を極めた1989年～1997年の音源を集めた激アツ・アンソロジー盤が到着!

今回収録されるのは1989年作『SELF-NON-SELF』、1991年作『WINGS OF JOY』、1993年作『FOREVER』、1994年作『LOVED』、1997年『POPULATION FOUR』、そして1996年に完全限定販売された『LA TRAGEDIE D'ORESTE ET ELECTRE』の6枚。それぞれにレア曲だらけなボーナス・トラックをヴォーカリスト、アリソン・ショー監修で収録! オリジナル・シューゲイザーの胎動～終焉と重なるクレインズの活動歴は、音楽性の儚さと可憐さにも似ています...ジャケットを手掛けた4AD名物デザイナー クリス・ビッグによるズバリなデザインと6枚に渡るドリーム・ポップ～シューゲイザー夢の旅、アリソンの中毒性しかない声の世界へどうぞ!

UKインディ・チャートで好成績を残した時期の"SHINING ROAD"、"BEAUTIFUL FRIEND"、"PALE BLUE SKY"は今聴くと、現代のインディを先取りしていたとしか思えません!

Cranes have always occupied a singular space in alternative music -- their songs (and especially Alison Shaws distinctively childlike voice) can be frightening and bewildering at first, but repeated listens reveal them to be as heartfelt as they are mysterious. Their music has constantly evolved and never really stuck to one style or mood, but theyve generally been embraced by fans of goth, darkwave, and dream pop (even if "nightmare pop" might sometimes be more accurate). The much-welcome six-CD box set Collected Works, Vol. 1 (1989-1997) compiles nearly everything Cranes released on Dedicated, the label the band was signed to for pretty much the entirety of the labels existence. Only a handful of stray remixes from that period are missing, and a couple songs from Christmas compilations, if you really want to nitpick. The bands earliest demo tape, 1986s Fuse, is also absent, though it was given a stand-alone reissue by the band shortly before the release of the box, as were the groups Peel Sessions. Mini-album Self-Non-Self, originally released on vinyl by Bite Back! in 1989 but later reissued on CD by Dedicated, starts the box, tracing the groups beginnings as more of an industrial-influenced art rock group, with Shaws voice often submerged beneath heavy drum machine beats and noisy guitars. Wings of Joy, Cranes 1991 debut full-length, is much more delicate, leaving space for acoustic guitars and neo-classical arrangements but also featuring intense, noisy moments such as the Swans-like "Starblood" and the brooding "Sixth of May." 1993s Forever was the bands commercial breakthrough, thanks to the success of "Jewel," a heartbreaking song about pining for past love which remains the bands most emotionally affecting moment. While Forever is the bands most accessible album overall, it still varies in style from the ambient pop of "Cloudless" to the tense shoegaze waltz "Adrift." Several excellent bonus tracks are included, among them two vastly differing versions of "Leave Her to Heaven," longtime supporter Robert Smiths exploratory, Eastern-tinged rework of "Jewel," and a dense, sample-heavy industrial dance mix of "Clear" by J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus). Loved appeared a year after Forever, and largely continues in the same direction, kicking off with the propulsive single "Shining Road" and the surfish twang of "Pale Blue Sky," and also including the harsh, disturbing "Lilies," which best exemplifies the bands "Alice stumbling around a haunted forest" vibe. La Tragedie dOreste et Electre was originally intended to be released with Loved as a double album but was ultimately given a limited issue in 1996. Its best approached as its own singular work as its a clear departure from anything else the band has ever done, consisting of Jean-Paul Sartre poems recited over curious neo-classical compositions. Population Four, released in 1997 before Dedicated went under and Cranes disbanded for a few years, is perhaps their most relatively conventional-sounding alternative rock album, though it still has some marvelous standouts, such as the breezy "Cant Get Free" and the profoundly gorgeous acoustic ballad "Sweet Unknown." ~ Paul Simpson