When this retrospective issued on Factory Records was purchased as a cassette back in 1986, not long after I saw The Durutti Column open, along with The Fall, for New Order, it was listened to a great deal. Looking in recent years to buy the CD proved challenging because they're rare and, naturally, expensive, but I was able to get one recently for under $15. These seventeen tracks from 1979-1985 and covering albums from The Return of the Durutti Column to Circuses and Bread, along with other other releases (samplers, a 7" single, an EP, etc.), represent an excellent overview of the finest work Vini Reilly and his varied compatriots had to offer.
Everything is here is excellent and, while some may favor the earlier material, such as the sketches for summer and winter, or others lean towards "The Missing Boy" or "Tomorrow," which were among the better-known, if such applies to TDC, tracks, I'm still very partial to the haunting and heart-breaking "Never Known. Again, though, all of these pieces are great and I find myself returning to the album again and again. Reilly, whose health was always fragile, suffered a stroke nearly a decade ago, and has not been very active at all since then, but this early-stage music and the often-remarkable work that followed remain as the enduring work of a totally underappreciated musician.
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