Soft Cell - 'Keychains & Snowstorms' The Box Set - A Fans Review

I’ve been a fan of Soft Cell and Marc Almond since 1981 when ‘Tainted Love’ first thrust the duo into the public spotlight. That was 37 years ago. Almond had a great 10-disc box set a couple of years back, he’s made many solo albums and been involved in many collaborations and various theatrical projects in the intervening years and was even recently given an OBE. 10 discs just didn’t seem enough. Soft Cell though released 3 albums in their short career, a fourth followed in 2002 during a brief reunion and there’ve been remix projects etc. but my initial reaction was ‘What do you put on a 10 disc Soft Cell set?’ when I heard of this. Well, this is what they’ve done....

Disc One, ‘The Phonogram Hits 12” 1981-1984’ is a remastered ride through Soft Cells glory days via the extended mixes, regarded by Dave and Marc as the definitive versions, with just minor editing to allow them onto one disc. ‘Tainted Love’ was number one in 17 countries and ‘Torch’ would’ve been their second number one if Gallup had done things correctly. There are 3 other top five hits too. The later singles weren’t as successful but were just as great. The band was a hit machine. Everything in the box has remastered audio which has been done sympathetically and the songs have never sounded so good.

Disc Two gives us the B-sides to these hits. Back in the day when singles mattered and sold many units as physical products, B-sides were important, and many bands put a lot into them. Soft Cells B-side repertoire demonstrates this era perfectly. Production is often a bit rougher or looser and the songs a bit less polished, but everything here demonstrates the evolution of the band as well the actual hits themselves do.

Disc Three, ‘New Extended and Reworked Mixes’ is possibly my favourite set in the box. Using (almost exclusively) original recording elements but taking advantage of modern production techniques and tools Dave Ball has pieced together 12 tracks from the bands past as they ‘envisaged’ them at the time. ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’ sounds a complete version now rather than a track glued together with an instrumental version somewhat crudely. ‘Youth’ is the anthem it always wanted to but never quite managed to be. ‘Kitchen Sink Drama’ now has the orchestral flow it tried to attain originally, and ‘Martin’ takes its place as a genuine classic rather than the clumsy album bonus track it was once presented as. The best thing you can say about this disc is that many tracks actually outshine their original versions, and that’s no mean feat.

Disc Four presents rarities, alternate versions and ‘curios’. Highlights for me are the second album (‘The Art of Falling Apart’) extended and USA mixes. ‘Loving You, Hating Me’ should have been a single everywhere, it would have been the albums biggest hit I’m sure. The sound quality remains great throughout, the remastering breathes life into tracks from third album (‘This Last Night in Sodom’) allowing the dense sound space and clarity that I’ve not heard on it before. And, to be fair to the aforementioned ‘Martin’, the original mix sounds pretty epic here. The ‘Soul Inside’ demo is urgent and sparse with a great vocal.

Disc Five, ‘The Early Years 1978-1981’ is pretty self-explanatory, the story of the band before hit singles and fame. There’re even three songs from the band’s first ever gig. Although all remastered the sounds is a little questionable in places due to the nature of the source material. But there’s so much here of interest. The legendary self-released and financed by Daves’s mum, ‘Mutant Moments’ is officially released on CD here for the first time ever and in the best quality I’ve ever heard it in (I once to the horror of my wife paid 20 quid for a bootleg 7” of this record). A demo of ‘Tainted Love’ masks the mega hit that the bands version of the song would become. There are songs the band never released officially (some saw the light of day many years later on the semi-official ‘Bedsit Tapes’ demo CD’s); anyone fancy a rough electronic take on Black Sabbaths ‘Paranoid’? That’s here.

Disc Six gives us radio sessions and tracks from 2002’s now regarded as a wasted opportunity ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ 2002 reunion sessions. There’s nothing really new to entice listeners in, the BBC stuff has been out before though as with everything else in the box it’s never sounded this good. The trio of songs releases before the 2002 album on various compilations convey a sense of direction that the finished album itself seemed to lack. The group even released a song that had been considered as a single instead of ‘Tainted Love’ back in 1981, Frankie Valli’s norther soul stomper ‘The Night’. It felt like a semi desperate attempt to recreate a moment when it was released (also see ‘Monoculture’ vs ‘Memorabilia’). It’s actually pretty decent but little to do with the reunion added to the groups legacy or even held a candle next to most of Marc’s solo stuff. Having said that everything sounds heavier, darker and more enticing on these new masters.

Disc Seven, ‘Non-Stop Euphoric Dubbing’, attempts be a ‘non-stop’ volume three with a continuous mix of ‘dub’ mixes from across the bands catalogue. It works on one level, it sounds great and it’s very well done but for me falls short on another level; I don’t see myself returning to this disc for repeated listens. But it could be a grower, there’s some great stuff on this disc.

Discs Eight and Nine give us a 1983 Los Angeles gig and other live recordings. The L.A. gig has the band presenting ‘This Last Night in Sodom’ to the American public and willfully refusing to play ‘Tainted Love’ which had been a mega huge hit in the States. The quality of the gig recorded in front a very enthusiastic crowd is superb. It puts the bands only official live album from the ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ tour to shame and builds excitement for the bands upcoming final ever show at London’s O2. There’re also four songs recorded at the Hammersmith Palais in 83/84. These are fan recordings so the quality drops but it’s still very listenable. Finally, there’s four tracks recorded around the UK in 2003 and these sound great too, from the Scott Walker-ish ‘Barriers’ to a sprightly ‘Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go’.

Disc Ten gives us a DVD extravaganza. There’s the original ‘Non-Stop Exotic Video Show’, original first album promos with some specially recorded bonus stuff. I feel this could have been cleaned up and remastered to a higher standard, it’s pretty much VHS quality here. The groups other promo videos are scooped up and there’s plenty of BBC and other TV performances too. Most interestingly there’s a live in May 1981 (pre-success) show. The band look as though they’re performing from in the middle of the audience and the set is very ‘Mutant Moments’ yet the performance is lively and its a fascinating glimpse into the early genesis of a band on the brink of huge success. Very few artists would be comfortable releasing something like this but then there are/were/will be very few artists like Soft Cell. When ‘Tainted Love’ kicks in its already a lot tighter than the demo version from earlier in the box and key elements from the breakthrough ‘Top of the Pops’ performance are in place. The looks on the faces of some of the audience are a joy.

(there has been a reported issue with DVD, and indeed my copy won’t play the BBC section. Phonogram are aware, and I believe its likely replacement discs will be issued, so you can buy with relative confidence...)

*Since I wrote this this morning it has been confirmed that the DVD discs will be replaced, though the reason for the fault was a little strange, ‘hand picking issues’…

There’s also a nice hardcover book with an intro from both Dave and Marc and a fantastic potted history/essay from Simon Price. As you’d expect there’s a good spread of pictures too. The set pleases me perhaps more than I expected it too. There not too much repetition, ‘Tainted Love’ is only represented about half a dozen times including video’s and I’m pleased this was not just presented as the four albums with bonus tracks which would’ve been boring. The unreleased, early rare and ‘new stuff’ is a joy. The band have recently announced a total of three new tracks, it’s a shame they came along too late to be included. And we have the farewell gig in London in late September to look forward too. There plenty of supporting merchandise out there if you want it, there is even a ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’ real ale, in pubs now and for sale at upcoming O2 show. There are reissued albums on the way and a CD/DVD/Blu-ray of the farewell show to look forward too. It’s been hinted that the duo could continue to work together as some sort of ongoing studio concern but live it seems like this is it. The box set is the icing on the cake of the bands 40th anniversary and farewell celebrations, and it’s not overly expensive either. Highly recommended if you’re a fan of the band or Marc Almond, or even if you’re just a casual fan with a disposable income.

9/10