Union Carbide Productions - Remastered to be Recycled

A European friend first turned me on to UCP in the 80's and I was immediately blown away by their intensely crazed and noisy take on Detroit 70's raw power and have searched out whatever I could find from them.  In the Air Tonight and Financially Dissatisfied are my two favorites, but I dig everything that I've heard so far - even the modern-day offshoot, Soundtrack of Our Lives. This CD is a compilation of album cuts, demos and singles and has enough bonus material and different mixes to make it another essential purchase for fans, although the "official" records should be picked up first.
them ever since.

This set gives you a good overview of the group, from the Detroit sax madness of the opener "Glad to Have You Back" to the slower and moodier (but still plenty raucous) "Chameleon Ride" to the utterly insane "Ring My Bell" and utterly ferocious "Financial Declaration" that sounds like a thousand guitars fighting it out for supremacy while Ebbott thrashes his voice over it all! "San Francisco Boogie" is a wildly different mix - with sitar as the main instrument here! - and there are quieter numbers like "Golden Age" and the psychedelic "Mr. Untitled". Looks like the only song here that was never released in any form is their cover of the MC5's "Future Now" that adds some nice, way-out horn work here.

Everything here is strong, so it would be a good starting point for a novice, as well as something for those who want everything. There's a nice booklet with the story of the band and an explanation of the origins of the songs, as well as some cool pix. Well done!