Recoil: Selected

If you like any of these bands, then chances are that you will like Recoil. Recoil is what you get when you mix these three bands together w/ a tad bit more darkness: trip-hopish soundscapes with a multitude of guest singers set to some fantastic, hypnotic beats. "Selected" is a collection of remastered Recoil (Alan Wilder, ex-Depeche Mode) tracks handpicked by Alan himself. The selection spans over all but the first Recoil album, "Hydrology plus 1+2" (which was pretty much just a demo anyways.) As an added bonus, the expanded special edition adds an extra 12 tracks of remixed goodness. Let me tell you that the remixes are of TOP QUALITY and give you a totally different experience on the tracks. Also, unlike many "remasters" of today that just try to make the mix louder, the remaster quality of this album concentrates on providing quality crispness. Standouts are "Prey (Shotgun Mix)", "Want", "Luscious Apparatus" and "Black Box (Excerpt)".

Nothing to fancy to see here in my review. If you are a fan of Alan's stuff you will dig this take on a "greatest hits" (for lack of a better term) type collection. My wife is a HUGE Recoil fan and a huge Depeche Mode fan, she loves it. Whil;pe Recoil does not find a home in everyones music catalogue, it is one worth listening to. Great stuff.

If you are not a fan of Alan's work after Depeche Mode, this might be a good place to start. But with some groups their original albums are structured to fit into a certain theme or style. This is Recoil to a t. Recoil has several albums from pure electronic trance, to blues orientated to albums that feature a specific style of singer. From that wide of a selection this "hits" package suffers the most. It's hard to mash up a collection of songs and make them sound decent in a best of setting. Actually I really like the mix bonus CD more than I did the Selected album. And Recoil really need to make a new album sometime soon!

I always will remember with admiration the fourth member of Depeche Mode. It was a fundamental part inside the great linen that is now Depeche Mode. No doubt Alan Wilder is the architect of the sound. This one is a marvellous selection of songs of his project Recoil. Excellent

I did not even expect the disc would be so great. Of course, you can easily recongnize Alan's talented manner and style. To be honest, I liked mostly remix part of the selection.

This MP3 download is only the first disc of Alan Wilder's Selected and Remixed "best of" release. If it were me, I'd pay extra for the remixed disc with 12 tracks as well. I think that disc is superior to the one here. Fans of Recoil and Depeche Mode will want to pick this up, but it really isn't a good starting point for listeners new to Recoil. There are many songs left out that really flesh out the feel of Recoil and here Alan has for the most part picked only the most "Pop" oriented. A wide variety of vocalists sing these songs so just about every song sounds like it could be from a different artist. When listening to the individual albums, this isn't really an issue. Get this if you are on a budget, but if you can afford it, the 2 disc set is the better version to own.

Each track, you notice the sound difference. The second disk, with the remixes, are real, amazing. The third, disk, have extra, the live shows are worth, it. The books included, have awesone photography. If you fan of Recoil, it's worth every penny.

I'm not the biggest Recoil fan, and really I got this disc as an introduction to the works. Unfortunately there was only one or two songs I felt were decent. I'm not hating on his work at all, I know that I only was introduced to this project because of his previous affiliation with Depeche Mode, so I was expecting more synth/pop and this is not it. So, if you want synth/pop, this won't be for you. If you like more industrial/soundscapes sort of like some earlier Moby, then I'd recommend you get this.