Some 21 years, seven months after its initial release, the classic Blue Lines gets buffed up in time for Xmas with the focus on quality over demos and distracting extra tracks.
Both you and I know that regardless of what you read next, you’ve already decided to either fork out for the reissue of one of THE landmark albums of the last 30 years, or make do with the battered CD version you ripped onto iTunes years ago.
For the few straddling the fence of indecision, these remasters sprinkle a subtle atmospheric zest on familiar but enduringly seductive classics. The best bang for your buck lies not in this CD but in the hi-res download version, also bundled with the indulgent �55 CD/DVD/Vinyl box set, but you’ll need a serious hi-fi to get the most from it.
Use the left-over cash on cherry-picking some choice remixes from the Bristolians’ pupil-dilating Singles 90/98 box set instead, if you haven’t already; Blur’s semi-conscious take on Angel, the loping beat/agitated chorus of Manic Street Preachers’ Inertia Creeps, Nellee Hooper’s wondrously warmed 7” mix of Unfinished Sympathy, and the jaw-dropping nine-minute Eno mix of Protection.
5 stars
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