One major component in an in-depth series of remastered releases overseen by founding member Richard H. Kirk, #8385 (Collected Works 1983-1985) contains a core of The Crackdown, Micro-Phonies, Drinking Gasoline, and The Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord. An additional disc compiles crucial 12" versions -- the format that allowed this era of CV to truly thrive -- while another features unreleased material recorded during the same period. A pair of DVDs documents two 1984 gigs, recirculates the experimental film Gasoline in Your Eye (previously available on VHS only), and four videos. All the discs are standard foldout sleeves with individual artwork. There's a substantial book, 40 pages in length and heavy on images, with notes from Kirk and an essay from CV sleeve artist Phil Barnes. Around the time of the release of this box -- available in CD and vinyl-with-CD editions -- the studio albums were also reissued separately. For serious listeners not content with the original vinyl and/or CD pressings, this excellent and thorough package is essential.
Bit of a heafty price tag ($120) but seeing Arm Of The Lord (recorded completely on heroin), Crackdown and Drinking Gasoline have been out of print or ridiculously expensive in their own right it's well worth it. Plus, I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for a decent "remastering" of Voltaire's catalog for years. I hope Richard Kirk's paranoia is prevalent here. When I listen to Cabaret Voltaire I seriously want to kill somebody.
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