Re: XTC album.

[ihnp4!alberta!tim@UCBVAX.BERKELEY.EDU (Tim Breitkreutz)]

> From: Dan Stewart <STEWART_SYS%uta.edu@RELAY.CS.NET>
> 
> I have my first XTC album, 'Skylarking' (actually first two, since I have
> the first 'Skylarking' release, and the second with 'Dear God' on it), and
> I *really* like their stuff.  I'm wanting to get my hands on some more, and
> wondered if anyone could give me a good tip on the next one to try.  Does
> XTC have a 'Sgt. Pepper', 'Dreaming', or 'PG III' that no fan should miss
> out on??  Any comments would be appreciated.

Well, I've been an avid XTC fan since 1982 when I bought (by accident)
"English Settlement".  I like all their albums and I don't have a
favourite, except that I don't like the three most recent albums as
much as the older stuff.  If you want to find out what their *old*
stuff is like, get the first one, White Music.  If you like that, then
buy GO2 also.  Now, if you like Steve Lillywhite (who did U2's best
stuff, Simple Minds best stuff, etc.) then try out Drums and Wires,
which will give you a good idea of what their middle stuff is like.
One of the great things about XTC is, of course their diversity and
especially earlier, their style changed from album to album.  A good
sampler of their styles would be the Compact XTC, which will give you
their singles from 1978 to now, or else the two records which were
sold for the price of one some years back called "Waxworks" and
"Beeswax".  Waxworks is a compilation of their singles until about 82,
and Beeswax has the b-sides.  The b-sides are far better (in my
opinion).  If you could get a copy of Beeswax or both at a used record
shop then you might be able to tell if you'll like the older styles or
not.  Hope this helps....  (Always ready to convert willing victims to
XTC fandom...)

			Tim
			ihnp4!alberta!tim