Pere Ubu / Datapanik in the Year Zero [Box Set]
Artist Pere Ubu
Album Title: Datapanik in the Year Zero [Box Set]
Album Cover:
Primary Genre Alternative & Punk: Art Rock
Format CD (5)
Released 08/27/1996
Label DGC/Geffen Records, Inc.
Catalog No DGCD5-24969
Bar Code No 7 20642 49692 3
Reissue Yes
Packaging Box Set (5 Disk)
Tracks
[disc 1: "1975-1977"]
1. 30 Seconds Over Tokyo (6:23)
2. Heart Of Darkness (4:46)
3. Final Solution (4:59)
4. Cloud 149 (2:38)
5. Untitled (3:34)
6. My Dark Ages (4:02)
7. Heaven (3:06)
8. Nonalignment Pact (3:19)
9. The Modern Dance (3:30)
10. Laughing (4:37)
11. Street Waves (3:06)
12. Chinese Radiation (3:29)
13. Life Stinks (1:52)
14. Real World (4:01)
15. Over My Head (3:49)
16. Sentimental Journey (6:08)
17. Humor Me (2:45)
18. The Book Is On The Table (4:01)
[disc 2: "1978-1979"]
1. Navvy (2:42)
2. On the Surface (2:37)
3. Dub Housing (3:42)
4. Caligari's Mirror (3:52)
5. Thriller! (4:41)
6. I, Will Wait (1:47)
7. Drinking Wine Spodyody (2:46)
8. Ubu Dance Party (4:49)
9. Blow Daddy O (3:42)
10. Codex (4:58)
11. The Fabulous Sequel (3:07)
12. 49 Guitars & One Girl (2:54)
13. A Small Dark Cloud (5:51)
14. Small Was Fast (3:33)
15. All the Dogs Are Barking (3:03)
16. One Less Worry (3:48)
17. Make Hay (4:06)
18. Goodbye (5:21)
19. Voice of the Sand (1:28)
20. Kingdom Come (3:14)
[disc 3: "1980-1982"]
1. Go (3:37)
2. Rhapsody In Pink (3:36)
3. Arabia (5:04)
4. Young Miles In The Basement (4:20)
5. Misery Goats (2:40)
6. Loop (3:17)
7. Rounder (3:24)
8. Birdies (2:30)
9. Lost In Art (5:16)
10. Horses (2:37)
11. Crush This Horn (3:02)
12. The Long Walk Home (2:37)
13. Petrified (2:19)
14. Stormy Weather (3:20)
15. West Side Story (2:51)
16. Thoughts That Go By Steam (3:50)
17. Big Ed's Used Farms (2:24)
18. A Day Such As This (7:22)
19. The Vulgar Boatman Bird (2:51)
20. My Hat (1:22)
21. Horns Are A Dilemma (4:21)
[disc 4: "390° Of Simulated Stereo, Volume 2"]
1. Vocal Liner Notes (0:56)
2. Theatre 140, 5/5/78 (0:07)
3. Real World (4:33)
4. Laughing (5:16)
5. Street Waves (4:34)
6. Humor Me (2:58)
7. Over My Head (5:10)
8. Sentimental Journey (8:49)
9. Life Stinks (3:14)
10. My Dark Ages (5:30)
11. C. Teatro Medica, 3/3/81 (0:12)
12. The Modern Dance (3:41)
13. Codex (3:24)
14. Ubu Dance Party (3:58)
15. Big Ed's Used Farms (3:28)
16. Real World (2:47)
17. Birdies (2:13)
[disc 5: "Terminal Drive"]
1. Foreign Bodies - The Incredible Truth / Foreign Bodies (2:34)
2. 15-60-75 - It's in Imagination / 15-60-75 (4:43)
3. Syd's Dance Band - Never Again / Syd's Dance Band (2:20)
4. Carney & Thomas - Sunset in the Antipodes / Carney & Thomas (2:26)
5. Home & Garden - (please) FIX MY HORN (my brakes don't work) / Home & Garden (3:24)
6. Neptune's Car - Baking Bread / Neptune's Car (2:13)
7. David Thomas - Atom Mind / David Thomas (2:29)
8. Tripod Jimmie - Autumn Leaves / Tripod Jimmie (4:17)
9. Friction - Dear Richard / FRICTION (5:55)
10. Pressler-Morgan - You're Gonna Watch Me / Pressler-Morgan (1:40)
11. Rocket From the Tombs - Amphetamine / Rocket From The Tombs (5:32)
12. Mirrors - She Smiled Wild / Mirrors (3:57)
13. Electric Eels - Jaguar Ride / The Electric Eels (1:46)
14. Tom Herman - Steve Canyon Blues / Tom Herman (4:16)
15. Allen Ravenstine - Home Life / Allen Ravenstine (6:43)
16. Rocket From the Tombs - 30 Seconds Over Tokyo / Rocket From The Tombs (7:00)
17. Proto Ubu - Heart of Darkness / Proto Ubu (8:46)
18. Pere Ubu - Pushin Too Hard (3:53)
Date Acquired 03/15/1997
Personal Rating
Acquired from Roadrunner Records
Purchase Price 49.99

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Reviews
All Music Guide Review:

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Pere Ubu's troubles with record companies are legendary within certain underground rock circles. In perhaps the most bizarre turn of events, the group's collected works of 1978-1982 -- after being out of print for nearly a decade -- were reissued by Geffen as a five-disc box set, Datapanik in the Year Zero. Named after the group's 1978 EP, the set is arranged chronologically and occasionally substitutes live versions for studio tracks, but that hardly matters -- nearly every song the band recorded during the five-year time span is included. In addition to the official Pere Ubu material, the box includes a disc of rare singles from early incarnations of Ubu and other Cleveland-area punk rockers like Rocket from the Tombs, 15-60-75, and Mirrors, which were released on David Thomas' independent record label. With this much material, it's safe to say that the set is a definitive retrospective. However, if you're simply interested in Pere Ubu, consider the set carefully before investing. Pere Ubu were indeed one of the most innovative and challenging bands of their era, which means that their music is an acquired taste. However, those willing to invest in the box will find a wealth of inventive, hard-edged avant rock & roll.
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