Bill Nelson - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam (3CD/Blu-ray Deluxe Edition Box Set)
Four and a half decades on, 1981's Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam by Bill Nelson, who had formed new wave band Red Noise in 1979 (following his disbandment of creative art rockers Be Bop Deluxe the year before), still makes an impact through its Nelsonic mix of new wave, electro-groove, avant-garde-rock and synth textured art-pop.
Recorded and ready to go in the summer of 1979 as the second Red Noise album (the band's debut Sound On Sound had been released at the top of the year, to initially mixed opinion and review), Bill Nelson’s then label EMI Records declined to release it.
However, following its two-years-later release on Mercury Records as a Bill Nelson solo album, it became his most commercially successful album, hitting #7 in the UK Charts (ironically, one of the reasons EMI didn’t release the album was they felt Nelson's new direction had no commercial appeal).
Additionally, and as if to underline Bill Nelson’s ability to always stay ahead of the curve, many a new or emerging electro-pop, new wave, post-punk or synth-based act would soon get on the beam of what now stands as one of Nelson’s most influential and adventurous works.
This Deluxe 3CD/Blu-ray version from Esoteric Records (the label responsible for the excellent deluxe edition re-releases of Sound On Sound and the entire Be-Bop Deluxe catalogue) features a fully remastered version of the original album as well as new Stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound mixes (the latter on the Blu-ray disc that forms part of the box set) from the original multi-track masters.
The new mixes come courtesy of Stephen W Tayler, who did the same, top-notch job on the aforementioned Nelson/ Be-Bop re-releases. As previous, Tayler has concentrated on achieving a brighter sound and pulling out little subtleties that were lost, or sonically too low, first time around.
Musically, the 13 track Quit Dreaming... shakes off the shackles of conformity and announces itself as a highly individualistic and groundbreaking work.
From the insistent synth-pop of opener 'Banal' and pulse-groove of 'Living In My Limousine,' Quit Dreaming... threads its way through darker, synth-textured moments ('Vertical Games'), guitar-led post-punk ('Decline And Fall'), hooky new-wave pop ('White Sound,' 'A Kind Of Loving,' 'Youth Of Nation'), and more atmospheric, synth-led moments ('Life Runs Out Like Sand,' the title track).
The album also includes the infectious, bubbly pop of 'Do You Dream in Colour?,' which initially featured as the title track of an EP Bill Nelson released in 1980 on his newly formed Cocteau label.
The new mixes of the album also include two bonus tracks – the funky, dance-club vibe of 'The World And His Wife' and the short and sharp 'Dancing Music.'
The Blu-ray also includes the rare promotional film of 'Do You Dream in Colour?'
Recorded and ready to go in the summer of 1979 as the second Red Noise album (the band's debut Sound On Sound had been released at the top of the year, to initially mixed opinion and review), Bill Nelson’s then label EMI Records declined to release it.
However, following its two-years-later release on Mercury Records as a Bill Nelson solo album, it became his most commercially successful album, hitting #7 in the UK Charts (ironically, one of the reasons EMI didn’t release the album was they felt Nelson's new direction had no commercial appeal).
Additionally, and as if to underline Bill Nelson’s ability to always stay ahead of the curve, many a new or emerging electro-pop, new wave, post-punk or synth-based act would soon get on the beam of what now stands as one of Nelson’s most influential and adventurous works.
This Deluxe 3CD/Blu-ray version from Esoteric Records (the label responsible for the excellent deluxe edition re-releases of Sound On Sound and the entire Be-Bop Deluxe catalogue) features a fully remastered version of the original album as well as new Stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound mixes (the latter on the Blu-ray disc that forms part of the box set) from the original multi-track masters.
The new mixes come courtesy of Stephen W Tayler, who did the same, top-notch job on the aforementioned Nelson/ Be-Bop re-releases. As previous, Tayler has concentrated on achieving a brighter sound and pulling out little subtleties that were lost, or sonically too low, first time around.
Musically, the 13 track Quit Dreaming... shakes off the shackles of conformity and announces itself as a highly individualistic and groundbreaking work.
From the insistent synth-pop of opener 'Banal' and pulse-groove of 'Living In My Limousine,' Quit Dreaming... threads its way through darker, synth-textured moments ('Vertical Games'), guitar-led post-punk ('Decline And Fall'), hooky new-wave pop ('White Sound,' 'A Kind Of Loving,' 'Youth Of Nation'), and more atmospheric, synth-led moments ('Life Runs Out Like Sand,' the title track).
The album also includes the infectious, bubbly pop of 'Do You Dream in Colour?,' which initially featured as the title track of an EP Bill Nelson released in 1980 on his newly formed Cocteau label.
The new mixes of the album also include two bonus tracks – the funky, dance-club vibe of 'The World And His Wife' and the short and sharp 'Dancing Music.'
The Blu-ray also includes the rare promotional film of 'Do You Dream in Colour?'
For the Bill Nelson aficionado and completist, there’s also a Singles & Radio Sessions disc, compiling 23 tracks from 1980 and 1981.
Kicking off with the other three Do You Dream in Colour? EP tracks ('Ideal Homes,' 'Instantly Yours,' 'Atom Man Loves Radium Girl'), Singles & Radio Sessions contains pretty much everything Bill Nelson did in that 1980-1981 timeframe that’s not on Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam.
Including single edits, B-sides, 12" mixes and a John Peel Radio Session, the real gem is four experimental electro-rock tracks recorded for Piccadilly Radio, Manchester (thought lost, an off-air recording survived; now restored, the songs appear here for the first time).
With an illustrated 68-page booklet and essay, plus postcards and a poster, Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam has never sounded, or looked, better.
Forty-five years on, it remains a defining statement of Bill Nelson’s creative artistry.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Kicking off with the other three Do You Dream in Colour? EP tracks ('Ideal Homes,' 'Instantly Yours,' 'Atom Man Loves Radium Girl'), Singles & Radio Sessions contains pretty much everything Bill Nelson did in that 1980-1981 timeframe that’s not on Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam.
Including single edits, B-sides, 12" mixes and a John Peel Radio Session, the real gem is four experimental electro-rock tracks recorded for Piccadilly Radio, Manchester (thought lost, an off-air recording survived; now restored, the songs appear here for the first time).
With an illustrated 68-page booklet and essay, plus postcards and a poster, Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam has never sounded, or looked, better.
Forty-five years on, it remains a defining statement of Bill Nelson’s creative artistry.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ