Chrome: C or D?

Everybody's favorite label, Cleopatra Records, is supposedly releasing a deluxe edition of the Chrome box on August 5th. Let's hope they don't screw it up.

-- brg30, Saturday, July 19, 2008 8:24 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Link

It's Cleopatra. Ergo, not a question of hoping they don't screw it up but of hoping that the damage is minimal.

-- Ned Raggett, Saturday, July 19, 2008 8:39 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Link

amen to that

-- sleeve, Saturday, July 19, 2008 8:49 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Link

new box is the same truncated bullshit as the old box, no difference in track listing.

Fuck you, Cleopatra.

Hahaha, oh my lack of surprise.

so why is it deluxe edition

b/c it has a badge and a patch! oh the joy!!!

Someone told you I mentioned Chrome in chatz tonight, didn't they, Am0n?

the chrome cover of "here come the warm jets" rules

please tell me more, never heard of it.

it's mostly pretty faithful to the original, but a little harder and noisier. the ending is awesome -- it slows down, abruptly speeds up, and fades out.

Man, I didn't know about this! What record is it on? (Or maybe I did know about it and forgot...)

Never heard of this, need to hear it.

Hope the tour makes it to Europe.

Someone told you I mentioned Chrome in chatz tonight, didn't they, Am0n?

-- Bimble, Friday, August 29, 2008 10:37 PM

hwaht

Reissued Chrome box is now MINE ALL MINE and on its way. Despite the shortcomings of the set, I reckon it'll be worth having it on a relatively accessible format - covers a lot of stuff which I only ever had on cassettes which are now decaying in the attic. Be great to renew my acquaintance with the Blood On The Moon & Chronicles material - I remember Perfumed Metal as having an absolutely monstrous main riff. Presumably Creed and widow Edge get a percentage of the proceeds too.

do cleopatra actually pay people? that'd be one thing in their favor.

Don't know one way or the other, but they're a fairly high profile operation and have been around for a while, so I'd expect that they're covering their legal obligations at the very least. Don't know what the score is with the Chrome rights and royalties, though. Acrimonious breakups usually make things messy,

I now have my DELUXE EDITION 500 Chrome Box: Matt black cardboard gift box, stickered front and back, three CDR flimsy CDR-style cases with one-sheet folded over liners; cover art made from photoshop superimpositions of the LP covers AND . . a free black and white sticker!

The music still sounds great, though.

I will bring you copies of the Noiseville remasters next time I see you.

what else is on that cleopatra box besides alien soundtracks and half machine lip moves?

o wait no "nova feedback" no sale

I love every track on The Visitation / AS / HMLP / Red Exposure -- the box is good as it's the only place you can get the 'Read Only Memory' ep, their tracks from the 'Subterranean Modern' comp, a few singles & b-sides & live excerpts... and it's got all I need from the later albums

Xpost Aldo - cheers mate! Got the Noiseville "3rd . ." which is mighty fine.

As for the box, ST 37 is the most baffling omission for me.

I have an original Chrome Box on vinyl, straight from Subterranean. At best, I'd say I might have listened to the Chronicles, 1 & 2 a couple times. They're basically one long whoosh of space jam with little variation. In the style of Third from the Sun but monotonous and not nearly as good.

No Humans Allowed is OK as noise and pastiche. Decades ago I thought "I Am the Jaw" was neat, a real room clearer. I was much younger, though.

Blood on the Moon -- the title track and "Insect Human" are good.

Which leaves the two unequivocal stars of the show: Alien Soundtracks and Half Machine Lip Moves.

However, for the best Chrome experience I rely on those two and Third from the Sun. Together, they pack the most wallop per minute and Noiseville furnishes them.

That said, The Chrome Box on Cleopatra is a good price and a reasonable shuffle of Chrome's best period. For example, it includes the strongest material from Third from the Sun -- an album not included in the old box. At this point I would part with my original. But it always included LPs which were the equivalent of filler, rare filler, granted. That was the nature of the Chrome beast.

Had Red Exposure and listened to it a lot when I was into the more straight bleak noise side of Chrome. Can't say I miss it. Apparently Beggars Banguet didn't either.

well Gorge, if you ever want to sell me your Chrome LP box I promise it will remain in good hands and be played on the radio at regular intervals.

I am a pretty big fan of the Chronicles, something about the stretched-out format really works for me. This is my biggest disappointment with the CD box, in that it drastically edits these tracks which IMO are better served by long buildups.

It and a short interview were the basis for a Chrome cover story for an old fanzine I did way back in -- hmmm -- '82, I guess. I no longer have the 'zine but the box has stayed with me all these years. It was really ambitious for its time. A six-record vinyl box set for Chrome in 1982 or so! The first Chrome vinyl I saw that actually made it into a chain store -- the old Listening Booth in my neck of the woods -- was Third from the Sun. Everything else I either got through mail order or at a funky place in State College, PA, which I don't even remember the name of.

This is undoubtedly the creepiest thing I've ever posted to the internet, but, Gorge . . any chance you could post some pics of that original boxset?

I'll make some scans later today. There's not much to see. Chrome and Subterranean definitely took the stark and cryptic approach. I guess the idea was if you bought it, you already knew all you had to.

first time I heard of chrome was when a sound choice reviewer compared my band to them in '87. went on the hunt for chrome stuff and could never find any. then touch and go reissued alien soundtracks in '90 and I discovered that the comparison was quantitatively sound but qualitatively invalid. we were no chrome!

uh what was your band?

totally obscure & forgotten

With that name, I'm not surprised.

"TOAF, to use their noted acronym..."

Is that how your allmusic entry for them starts?

A reissue of the Lyon concert boot would be nice at this point.

I haven't heard Chrome yet. Almost bought the original Chrome Box (CD version) the other day, but I held off briefly and it was gone the next day. Wish I'd picked it up now!

So the Chrome Box is only £10 + shipping on Amazon marketplace now - if I already have the T&G Alien Soundtracks/Half Machine CD and Red Exposure on vinyl, would I be better off buying the Chrome Box or just get Blood On The Moon separately? What are the bonus tracks like? Anything essential from singles/comp tracks or whatever that's not on the individual albums? Anyone care to break down exactly what's on the box and what's missing from the box?

Don't have time to break it down, but you also get most of 'Third from the Sun', singles, compilation tracks and bits of Chronicles. So, better to have a complete set of original vinyls of course, but for a tenner, I'm happy.

I broke down and picked one up. yeah it's worth it. I've been planning to set down and figure out what is and isn't on there from the albs, but as milton pointed out above the ep/singles/odds & ends are not filler. I'm thinking that between this and the noiseville alien soundtracks I'm pretty well set. if it's true that cleopatra only pressed 500 then you should probably hop on it.

also, why didn't anybody tell me how awesome red exposure is?

who besides me thinks we need a ts: alien soundtracks vs. half machine lip moves thread

Go for it.

Also:

also, why didn't anybody tell me how awesome red exposure is?

I did! Well, over here.

Chrome box is:

missing 4 Alien Soundtracks tracks

missing "Critical Mass from HMLM

missing "Room 101" and "Night Of The Earth" from Red Exposure

all 3 tracks from Subterranean Modern comp LP!!!

excerpt from "Read Only Memory", also has "The Manifestation Of The Idea" from that same EP

"information" 7" B-side

In A Dream/Dangerzone 12"

missing "The Strangers" from Blood On The Moon

1 non-LP "Instrumental"

has all of "Third From The Sun" except it has the 7" single version of "Firebomb", approx. 1 minute shorter.

then it has drastically edited versions of all the Chronicles tracks.

But I like The Strangers :(

I guess it is worth getting for the singles tracks and Third From The Sun then, esp for £10.

red exposure sounds like a joy division record made by maximalists

it was only recently that I realized the cover of 3rd from the sun is not a drawing of some weird alien, but is a lion door knocker with cut out eyes pasted over it.

http://www.staticwhitesound.com/chrome/discography/300x300/3rdFromSun_Siren.JPG

so has anybody been to one of those helios creed's chrome shows yet? tour's coming to boston next week.

I saw it a couple of years ago.
I found it kind of lacking. The band is pretty annoying, especially the drums. They used some graphic projections that may have been impressive to someone who's never seen a computer before. Helios Creed was hella stoned, though, which was a nice effort. I'm not big on reunion shows, however loosely that term can be applied to the Helios Creed plays Chrome thing.
It's just impossible to reproduce what I love about those Chrome records on stage, I think.

They never really were a live act, though the Lyon Concert boot is pretty good IIRC. Saw Helios solo live back in the 90's, and he was great. I'd basically drop whatever I was doing and go see them anywhere I could afford to get to.

i'm probably going this friday

I opened for them twice in '98 or so. They were not good then. I'm sure they are no better now. Some things are best in your imagination. Or memory. Or whatever.

from '07

the projections are funny. they look like that visualizer thing that itunes has