Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx John Foxx The Virgin Years 1980-1985

Pre-order link is now up:-

http://johnfoxx.tmstor.es/cart/product.php?id=18269






This 5CD Box Set covers the 4 albums John Foxx released between 1980 - 1985 - Metamatic, The Garden, The Golden Section & In Mysterious Ways - plus B-sides and out-takes from the sessions which have been added as bonus tracks after each original album, and on a fifth CD, Fusion/Fission. The Virgin Years includes the new Metamatic master taken from newly discovered analogue tapes dating back to 1979 (featured on this year's ltd white vinyl edition), along with re-masters of the B-sides - 'This City', 'Film One' etc. The black box also houses five postcards with the artwork for the singles 'Underpass', 'No-One Driving', 'Europe After The Rain', 'Endlessly' and 'Stars On Fire'.


DISC ONE : METAMATIC
01. PLAZA
02. HE'S A LIQUID
03. UNDERPASS
04. METAL BEAT
05. NO-ONE DRIVING
06. A NEW KIND OF MAN
07. BLURRED GIRL
08. 030
09. TIDAL WAVE
10. TOUCH AND GO. EXTRA TRACKS
11. FILM ONE
12. THIS CITY
13. BURNING CAR
14. GLIMMER
15. MR NO
16. YOUNG LOVE
17. 20TH CENTURY
18. MY FACE
19. A NEW KIND OF MAN (alternative version)
20. HE'S A LIQUID (alternative version)

DISC TWO : THE GARDEN
01. EUROPE AFTER THE RAIN
02. SYSTEMS OF ROMANCE
03. WHEN I WAS A MAN AND YOU WERE A WOMAN
04. DANCING LIKE A GUN
05. PATER NOSTER
06. NIGHT SUIT
07. YOU WERE THERE
08. FUSION / FISSION
09. WALK AWAY
10. THE GARDEN.
EXTRA TRACKS:
11. SWIMMER II
12. THIS JUNGLE
13. MILES AWAY
14. A LONG TIME
15. SWIMMER I
16. SWIMMER III
17. SWIMMER IV

DISC THREE : THE GOLDEN SECTION
01. MY WILD LOVE
02. SOMEONE
03. YOUR DRESS
04. RUNNING ACROSS THIN ICE WITH TIGERS
05. SITTING AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
06. ENDLESSLY
07. GHOSTS ON WATER
08. LIKE A MIRACLE
09. THE HIDDEN MAN
10. TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING.
EXTRA TRACKS
11. ANNEXE
12. A KIND OF WAVE
13. A WOMAN ON A STAIRWAY
14. THE LIFTING SKY
15. SHINE ON ME
16. WINGS AND A WIND
17. DANCE WITH ME

DISC FOUR : IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS
01. STARS ON FIRE
02. LOSE ALL SENSE OF TIME
03. SPIN AWAY
04. ENTER THE ANGEL II
05. ENTER THE ANGEL
06. IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS
07. WHAT KIND OF GIRL
08. SHINE ON
09. STEPPING SOFTLY
10. MORNING GLORY.
EXTRA TRACKS
11. LUMEN DE LUMINE
12. TO BE WITH YOU (alternative version)
13. AND THE SKY
14. THIS SIDE OF PARADISE
15. HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
16. CITY OF LIGHT

DISC FIVE : FUSION / FISSION
01. CINEMASCOPE
02. TO BE WITH YOU
03. LIKE A MIRACLE (alternative version)
04. FOG
05. FUSION / FISSION (early version)
06. DANCE WITH ME (early version)
07. A WOMAN ON A STAIRWAY (early version)
08. ENDLESSLY (single version)
09. MY WILD LOVE (early version)
10. A LONG TIME (alternative version)
11. SITTING AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD (alternative version)
12. TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING (early version)
13. YOUNG MAN
14. THE HIDDEN MAN (alternative version)
15. ENTER THE ANGEL (alternative version)
16. MAGIC 17. SHINE ON (alternative version)

Brian

Thanks for the heads up Brian. Although there's nothing on there I don't already own,as a completist I'll still be buying it. You can't argue with the price. A nice looking package too.

I think it's worth it for The Metamatic remaster which has incredible clarity compared to the previous masters.

I have it on the Record Store Day White vinyl.

Will be nice to have a CD quality copy also.

Does look a nice package.

Brian

Looks Cinemascope-ish to me - hope it's of a similar design.

Rob - is it a limited edition like Cinemascope was?

The Virgin Years box set is broadly the same design-wise as Cinemascope, but it hasn't been created to be a limited edition. We've pressed up 1000 copies, but we've the option to create more if there's sufficient demand.

Rob

You know, I was going to fulminate against the injustice of having to buy a whole box set just to get the new master of Metamatic. Then I clicked on the preorder and discovered that it's only £15 for the box set and my objections just dissipated.

I'm not sure that I want another CD containing 'Magic' though.

I'm curious about the Metamatic remaster but considering I have these albums three or four times already, I'm having a hard time talking myself into it.

So is there somewhere I can read more about this "rediscovered master tape"?

Where was it found?
Is this the original 2" master reels that John & Gareth mixed down onto? (i.e. a higher tape generation than all previous CDs have been mastered from?)

That's it pre-ordered :-)

Like most people, I've already got all the tracks but it's a nice looking package.

The postcards are a nice touch but I'm wondering why not include one for every single from those years? Given how striking each cover was, I'd happily pay a bit extra to have a complete set.

Metamatic was recorded at Pathway Studios which John described as "an eight-track cupboard in Islington" so the multi-track tapes were only one inch, and not two inch in size. Somewhere I've got scans of the boxes which contain the Metamatic multi-track tapes - which is why I'm certain that they are one inch. Two inch tapes would be used when John recorded at studios which had twenty-four track desks.

Anyhow, a number of years ago (I can't remember the specific date - I have it written down somewhere, but I can't put my hand on it at the moment) I accompanied John to the offices of Virgin Records to retrieve all of the 'production master' tapes for the material he released during his time with them. It was that 'production master' of Metamatic which has been used on all of the previous versions.

These 'production master' tapes were then reunited with a 'large number' of other tapes which John had amassed over the intervening years - which included all of the corresponding multi-track tapes, etc. I scanned the front covers of each of these tape boxes (and the accompanying timing sheets) as part of a week-long project to catalogue John's tapes. That was when we discovered that another tape had been struck from the original one inch multi-tracks, and it's that tape which has been used in this instance.



The problem was knowing where to draw the line - because if all of the front covers had been made into postcards then that would've increased the overall price of the project.

Rob