Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
A collector never stops finding new ways to add to their bulging corpus, the body of work or the musical exchange of information which sheds lights and offers illumination to how the world turns for them; by fair means, or sometimes foul and once illegal, they find solace in being able to place another version of what they consider beauty on a pedestal and let the spirit of their find fill their soul beyond measure.
There is more than soul to be found when the music fan is presented with a box set of work, when the sound within has been treated to modern technology and given a fresher, almost more energetic and vigorous injection of pace, it is no wonder that the listener, the fan, will not settle for what they have, and quite rightly wish to own the crispest sound available.
The deluxe boxset is a double-edged sword, it can either be seen as a way of squeezing money out of the franchise, out of the legacy, or it can enhance it, can become the go to version in which the fan, and hopeful newcomer, will play in the years to come. Some miss this opportunity and release an also ran, the tepid response to the beauty within the original, some such as Marillion, make it an occasion, give it an edge of the sublime, and this is arguably never truer than in the deluxe box set release of the classic 1984 album, Fugazi.
An album that sits perfectly in the cannon, an album that truly opened up the band and with the recently engaged Ian Mosely sat in the hot seat behind the drums and with tracks such as the incredible Assassin, Punch and Judy, Jigsaw, Incubus and the album’s stirring, phenomenal title track, Fugazi, laying down a declaration of absolute intent going forward, and even in the shadow of its predecessor, the equally sensational Script For A Jester’s Tear, there was an element of the harder, more tactile arrangement in the album which made Fish’s vocals stand out, that made the band sound incredible.
The box set release enhances that feeling as there are moments in which a sense of something that was hidden is unveiled, and with the addition of the recorded live gig at The Spectrum in Montreal adding greater depth and memory to the occasion, the pleasure of hearing tracks such as Garden Party, Charting The Single, He Knows You Know and Market Square Heroes, the muscle that is flexed, ripples and sends a shiver of dynamic aggression though the listener’s very being, cannot be denied.
A deluxe box set is only as good as its original source material, but it is rare, almost impossible for an album that already has the five-star attachment reach out and become, without doubt, stratospheric.
A grand album given even greater status. The world hasn’t gone Fugazi, but it has embraced the emblem, the standard bearer for the times, and given it the kind of polish that the genie in the lamp says with humility, if that is your only wish, then you don’t need any other wished, for Fugazi in this form is out of this world.
Ian D. Hall