40 (Deluxe Box Set)

1985年に英リーズで結成されたオルタナティヴ・インディー・ギター・ロック・バンド、ウェディング・プレゼントのデビュー40周年を記念した4枚組決定的ボックス！

UK最高のシンガー・ソングライターの1人と謳われ、全ての曲をライティングしている中心人物＝デイヴィッド・ゲッジの全面監修による本作は、アルバム・トラック、シングル、B面曲を時系列に沿って収録した作品となっており、現代のギター・ロックにも多大なる影響を与えたバンドの功績を伝えるものとなっている。

The Wedding Presents 40 is a box set compiling representative tracks from across the groups career, which began in 1985. Their crisp and direct sound has gone through subtle changes over time, the frantic, high-octane strumming of early releases giving way to a grungy, hard as rock mid-period, and becoming more finely honed in later years. The one unchanging variable throughout is the granite-steady vocals and ripped-from-loves-headlines lyrical viewpoint of David Gedge. His feelings about relationships started off as brutally honest and have stayed that way, which makes sense because even as the body changes and the mind may start to drift, the pain and pleasure of love found or lost never fades. The set captures highlights from all the eras of the band, showcasing a selection of singles and key album tracks, as well as a few radio sessions and acoustic versions. Starting with ace singles like "Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft" and "My Favorite Dress," the band shot out of the C-86 scene like a supercharged rocket. 40 covers that era nicely, then segues into a period where the band started to expand their sound a bit -- adding more furious power on tracks like "Kennedy" and the epic length "Take Me!", then stripping off the jangle and replacing it with space and sludge on their brilliant Seamonsters album. Songs like "Dare" and "Suck" showed that the band werent one-trick ponies; that they could take their template and add and subtract things to come up with blocks of clanging noise or sugary pop songs. Even experimental lo-fi was in their wheelhouse as "Spangle" makes clear. The last disc on the set features tracks recorded after Gedge and co. returned from a break and have all the fire and insight of earlier songs. Maybe playing it a little more straightforward than in the past, but still quite good. Gedge never lost the knack of writing cracking-good heartbreak rockers -- "Two Bridges" -- and still had the itch to paint outside the lines like on the off-kilter, thunderous dirge "Boo Boo," which is brimming with loud, thick, and gooey guitar noise and sports pleasing dynamic shifts. By the end of the set, its clear that Gedge has not lost a single step; one might even make the case that the later period Weddoes tracks are just as meaningful as the first, even though they reside a few blocks west of the indie rock zeitgeist. Ultimately, 40 is a delightful way to sum up the career of a band thats been constantly surprising and surprisingly constant for far longer than a band has the right to. Heres to the next 40 years! ~ Tim Sendra