Hardcore: you know the score. I bought the CD of this album back in 1992 and even went to a signing at a local record shop to get Mark and Chris to sign it. Finding the original album on vinyl isn't too hard (or expensive) but most copies are likely to have been spun by a DJ who didn't exactly treat it with tender loving care. So, if you were in the market for a mint copy of the album in 2016 you bought this three disc 'remastered edition'. Or at least I did.....and then never played it.
You'd have to describe this release as 'eclectic'. Whilst the original album tracks are largely present, the running order has been rejigged and more modern remixes have been thrown in at seemingly random places. The inclusion of versions of stand alone singles "Everybody" and "Brutal-8 E" only adds to the confusion. I don't understand what this release is really.
As we turn disc one over we are treated to one my favourites, "Infiltrate 202". I have always liked this song with its bleeps, clever samples and Lately/Solid bassline; highly recommended. Then its time for some Alpha Juno vacuum cleaner madness with "Move My Body". This track can only have come from the early 90's scene and unfortunately sounds dated nearly 30 years on. The single "Activ8" is presented as the Shadow Dancer remix which was commissioned for the ill fated "Christmas #1" campaign of 2013. It is a competent remix but fades in comparison to the original.
Disc two brings another single "Hypnotic St-8" and is thankfully the original version with its weird breakdown and infectious vocal sample. The afore mentioned "Everybody" comes next and whilst this remix is more akin to the hardcore ethics of the album, this track is taken from a single released at least a year later than the album. "Fist of May" is a techno track designed to piss off Derrick May who took umbrage after the band sampled one of his tracks on "E-vapor-8".
The original "Activ 8" kicks off side four and brings back a lot of memories. The Luke Vibert remix of "Frequency" from 2011 is reverential to the original but is nearly six minutes long and doesn't really go anywhere. Confusingly, another non-album single "Brutal-8-E" comes next and whilst entertaining, doesn't hit the heights of other material here. Next we have the 2011 Mark Archer version of "Frequency" which is almost identical to the original Hallucin-8 mix from the 1991 single. "Real Time Status" ticks along but doesn't impress much. Then the last song on the original album "Re-Indulge" is incongruously dumped at the end of disc three. This song even sounds like the last track on an album, how you can stick it here I have no idea. Three original album tracks "Armageddon", "A D8 with pleasure" and "8's Revenge" round out the last disc.
To be honest, by the time I'm getting to the eighteenth track, the album feels like it's dragging. As a collection of vinyl to DJ with, this compilation must be irresistible; but as a listening experience it feels like it has been padded out too far. Maybe what I need is the original vinyl after all. 3/5
