BEST OF 2023
REISSUES
SOFT CELL’S CLASSIC DEBUT EXPANDED, PET SHOP BOYS’ SINGLES COLLECTED AND A GEM OF A PRINCE BOXSET
1 PRINCE & THE NEW POWER GENERATION DIAMONDS AND PEARLS
(NPG/WARNER)
Prince’s team continue to set the gold standard for thoroughness in reissues. It helped that Diamonds And Pearls was Prince’s most straight-up pop album – and that there were so many superb previously unreleased songs offering potential alternative visions for his new band.
The New Power Generation are superb throughout the intimate Minneapolis homecoming show on the boxset’s Blu-Ray, Prince at his peak... until the police arrived.
2 FUN BOY THREE THE COMPLETE (CHRYSALIS)
The Specials get the attention, but what Terry Hall did next is possibly his most undiluted vision. There’s still nothing like the devilment of FB3’s debut, while getting David Byrne to produce the follow-up is hardly more mainstream. A cavalcade of apocalyptic partying and mighty percussion, they couldn’t last. This boxset lives up to the ‘Complete’ tag in offering all their mordant glee.