Uncontrolable Urge: Young Marble Giant - Colossal Youth & Collected Works

Band: Young Marble Giant
Album: Colossal Youth & Collected Works
Country: UK
Release Date: 1980

Young Marble Giants' Colossal Youth is a collection of sparse, evocative tunes emphasizing Alison Stratton's floating vocals and minimal guitar/organ/bass/drum machine arrangements. Comparable to little else from its time or since, this is rock music at its most austere. The original album had 15 songs; subsequent CD editions added a few more. But the 2007 edition on Domino is the one to buy, pushing the total to 46 tracks, with additions from the Testcard EP, the 1979 "Final Day" single, the Salad Days album, a compilation cut, and a 1980 session for John Peel -- everything they ever did, in fact.

One of the most distinctive albums of the UK post-punk scene -- spare, stripped-down, and completely sublime! Where most of their contemporaries grabbed the world by doing more, Young Marble Giants made their mark by doing less -- just a bit of bass, some scratchy guitar, thin keyboards, and simple beats -- all topped by the light vocals of Alison Statton -- sweet and dreamy, but also a bit cold at times too! The approach is quite unique, and hard to describe accurately -- but all these decades later, the set still stands as one of the purest moments of genius from a scene that had plenty of genius to offer! Titles include "Searching For Mr Right", "Constantly Changing", "Include Me Out", "The Taxi", "NITA", "Colossal Youth", "Music For Evenings", and "Credit In the Straight World". 3CD package features a wealth of extra material too! CD 2 features 26 tracks pulled from the incredible Testcard EP, plus the "Final Day" single, the Salad Days album, and even their "Ode To Booker T" from the Is The War Over compilation! CD 3 features a John Peel session from 1980 -- with 5 more tracks -- and the package also includes a thick booklet too, with images, photos, and long notes on the group by Simon Reynolds.

CD1

1.	Searching for Mr. Right	3:00
2.	Include Me Out	1:58
3.	The Taxi	2:07
4.	Eating Noddemix	2:04
5.	Constantly Changing	2:04
6.	N.I.T.A.	3:31
7.	Colossal Youth	1:54
8.	Music for Evenings	3:02
9.	The Man Amplifier	3:15
10.	Choci Loni	2:37
11.	Wurlitzer Jukebox	2:45
12.	Salad Days	2:01
13.	Credit in the Straight World	2:28
14.	Brand-New-Life	2:50
15.	Wind in the Rigging	2:25

CD2

1.	This Way	1:41
2.	Posed by Models	1:24
3.	The Clock	1:39
4.	Clicktalk	2:42
5.	Zebra Trucks	1:33
6.	Sporting Life	1:04
7.	Final Day	1:43
8.	Radio Silents	1:53
9.	Cakewalking	2:49
10.	Ode to Booker T	3:03
11.	Have Your Toupee Ready	1:09
12.	N.I.T.A.	4:28
13.	Brand-New-Life	2:54
14.	Zebra Trucks	1:33
15.	Choci Loni	2:14
16.	Wind in the Rigging	2:38
17.	The Man Shares His Meal With His Beast	4:24
18.	The Taxi	2:03
19.	Constantly Changing	2:06
20.	Music for Evenings	2:57
21.	Credit in the Straight World	2:12
22.	Eating Noddemix	2:01
23.	Ode to Booker T	3:01
24.	Radio Silents	2:52
25.	Hayman	1:26
26.	Loop the Loop	2:59