Go Nuts For Marc Almond Box Set

Published on

July 20, 2016

Marc Almond Trials Of Eyeliner Box Set Cover - 530

Since forming Soft Cell in the late 70s with David Ball, Marc Almond has carved a singular path as a musical shape-shifter every bit as chameleonic as one of his undoubted influences, David Bowie. Perhaps that was always going to be the way: Soft Cell’s first major success was a transatlantic chart-topper, ‘Tainted Love’, which fused of Northern soul with the emerging electro-pop of the early 80s, and showed scant regard for boundaries.

Therein lay the seeds for a career that would see Almond tackle new wave (with Marc And The Mambas), traditional Russian music (Orpheus In Exile), opera (Ten Plagues: A Song Cycle) and all points in between. Add in collaborations with artists as varied as industrial noise-rock pioneers Throbbing Gristle, 60s pop icon Gene Pitney and avant-garde experimentalists Coil, and Almond emerges as a consummate artist unafraid to explore the furthest reaches of the musical map.

As Almond himself puts it: “I can’t think of many artists who’ve been able to straddle the underground and the mainstream, to work in the underground and the commercial world.” Likening making music to being on a ride, he adds, “You pick up different people for different parts of the journey. It just happens.”

A true survivor in every sense of the word, Almond’s career cannot be summed up with a simple anthology… which is why it takes 10 CDs to give a fair overview of the stunning work that he’s put his name to. Released on 28 October, Trials Of Eyeliner: The Anthology 1979/2016 is curated by Almond himself and collects all of his single releases, along with 18 unreleased recordings and a slew of rarities, totalling 189 tracks in all. With a hardcover, 64-page book including rare photos and an interview with noted journalist Alexis Petridis, Trials Of Eyeliner is a stunning testament to one of the most startling careers in the history of music.

Scroll down to read the full Trials Of Eyeliner tracklist, and pre-order the box set here:

CD1: History
Soft Cell – ‘The Girl With The Patent Leather Face’
Marc And The Mambas – ‘Fun City’
Marc And the Mambas – ‘Sleaze (Readers Wives Club Edit)’
Soft Cell – ‘Sex Dwarf (Original Version)’
Soft Cell – ‘Youth’
Soft Cell – ‘Insecure Me (2002 Edit)’
Soft Cell – ‘Loving You Hating Me’
Soft Cell – ‘Heat’
Soft Cell – ‘Meet Murder My Angel’
Soft Cell – ‘Surrender To A Stranger’
Marc And The Mambas – ‘Untitled’
Marc And The Mambas – ‘Big Louise’
Marc And The Mambas – ‘Torment’
Marc And The Mambas – ‘Catch A Fallen Star’
Marc And The Mambas – ‘A Million Manias’
Marc Almond – ‘Love Amongst The Ruined’
Marc Almond And The Willing Sinners – ‘Joey Demento’

CD2: History
Marc Almond And The Willing Sinners – ‘Gutter Hearts’
Marc Almond And The Willing Sinners – ‘Crime Sublime’
Marc Almond – ‘Always’
Marc Almond And The Willing Sinners – ‘I Who Never’
Marc Almond – ‘Body Unknown’
Marc Almond And The Willing Sinners – ‘Saint Judy’
Marc Almond And The Willing Sinners – ‘The Hustler’
Marc Almond And The Willing Sinners – ‘There Is A Bed’
Marc Almond And The Willing Sinners – ‘Mother Fist’
Marc Almond – ‘The Devil (Okay)’ (‘Le diable (Ça Va)’)
Marc Almond – ‘Lost Paradise’ (‘Le Paradis Perdu’)
Marc Almond – ‘The Stars We Are’
Marc Almond – ‘These My Dreams Are Yours’
Marc Almond (Featuring Nico) – ‘Your Kisses Burn’
Marc Almond – ‘Toreador In The Rain’
Marc Almond – ‘The Sea Still Sings’
Marc Almond – ‘Meet Me In My Dream’
Marc Almond – ‘Champagne’

CD3: History
Marc Almond – ‘Vision’ [live]
Marc Almond – ‘Night And No Morning’
Marc Almond – ‘Deadly Serenade’
Marc Almond – ‘The Edge Of Heartbreak’
Marc Almond – ‘Come In Sweet Assassin’
Marc Almond – ‘Lonely Go Go Dancer (Open All Night European Version)’
Marc Almond – ‘Midnight Soul’
Marc Almond – ‘My Love (Dave Ball Remix)’
Marc Almond (Featuring Siouxsie Sioux) – ‘Threat Of Love (Neal X Remix)
Marc Almond – ‘One Big Soul’
Soft Cell – ‘Darker Times’
Soft Cell – ‘God Shaped Hole’
Marc Almond – ‘Under Your Wing’
Marc Almond – ‘Tantalise Me’
Marc Almond – ‘Lights’
Marc Almond – ‘Redeem Me (Beauty Will Redeem The World)’
Marc Almond – ‘The London Boys’
Marc Almond – ‘Stardom Road’

CD4: History
Marc Almond – ‘Sleeping Beauty’
Marc Almond – ‘The Storks’
Marc Almond With Aquarium – ‘Gosudaryunia’
Marc Almond (Featuring The Orchestra Rossiya) – ‘Pearly Night’
Marc Almond – ‘Friendship’
Marc Almond And Michael Cashmore – ‘Feasting With Panthers’
Marc Almond And Michael Cashmore – ‘The Man Condemned To Death’
Marc Almond – ‘Variety’
Marc Almond – ‘Lavender’
Marc Almond – ‘Trials Of Eyeliner’
Marc Almond – ‘Farewell’
John Harle And Marc Almond – ‘Ratcliffe Highway’
Marc Almond With Jeremy Reed And Othon – ‘The Green Fairy’
Marc Almond And Carl Barât – ‘Love Is Not On Trial’
Marc Almond – ‘The Dancing Marquis’
Marc Almond – ‘Tasmanian Tiger’
Marc Almond (Featuring Danielz) – ‘Death Of A Dandy’
Marc Almond – ‘Zipped Black Leather Jacket’
Marc Almond – ‘Life in My Own Way’

CD5: Singles
Soft Cell – ‘Memorabilia’
Soft Cell – ‘Tainted Love’
Soft Cell – ‘Bedsitter’
Soft Cell – ‘Say Hello Wave Goodbye’
Soft Cell – ‘Torch’
Soft Cell – ‘What (Mono Mix)’
Soft Cell – ‘Where The Heart Is’
Soft Cell – ‘Numbers’
Soft Cell – ‘Soul Inside’
Soft Cell – ‘Down In The Subway’
Marc And The Mambas – ‘Black Heart’
Marc Almond – ‘The Boy Who Came Back’
Marc Almond – ‘You Have (Full Version)’
Marc Almond – ‘Tenderness Is A Weakness’
Bronski Beat And Marc Almond – ‘I Feel Love (Medley)’
Marc Almond – ‘Stories Of Johnny’
Marc Almond – ‘The House Is Haunted By The Echo Of Your Last Goodbye’
Marc Almond – ‘Love Letter’
Marc Almond – ‘Ruby Red’
Marc Almond – ‘Melancholy Rose’

CD6: Singles
Marc Almond – ‘A Woman’s Story’
Marc Almond – ‘Tears Run Rings’
Marc Almond With Gene Pitney – ‘Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart’
Marc Almond – ‘Bitter Sweet’
Marc Almond – ‘Only The Moment’
Marc Almond – ‘A Lover Spurned’
Marc Almond – ‘The Desperate Hours’
Marc Almond – ‘Waifs And Strays’
Marc Almond – ‘What Makes A Man’ [live]
Marc Almond – ‘Jacky’
Marc Almond – ‘My Hand Over My Heart’
Marc Almond – ‘The Days Of Pearly Spencer’
Marc Almond – ‘The Idol (Part 1)’
Marc Almond – ‘Adored And Explored’
Marc Almond – ‘Out There’
Marc Almond – ‘Brilliant Creatures’
Marc Almond – ‘Child Star’

CD7: Singles
PJ Proby And Marc Almond With My Life Story Orchestra – ‘Yesterday Has Gone’
Marc Almond – ‘Black Kiss’
Marc Almond – ‘Tragedy (Take A Look and See)’
Marc Almond With Mekon – ‘Please Stay’
Marc Almond – ‘Glorious (Radio Edit)’
Marc Almond – ‘Gone But Not Forgotten’
Rosenstolz With Marc Almond – ‘Total Eclipse’
Soft Cell – ‘Monoculture’
Soft Cell – ‘The Night’
Marc Almond With Sarah Cracknell – ‘I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten’
Starcluster With Marc Almond – ‘Smoke And Mirrors (Original Version)’
System F (Featuring Marc Almond) – ‘Soul On Soul (Radio Edit)’
King Roc (Featuring Marc Almond) – ‘Prime Evil (Boris Dlugosch Mix – Edit)’
T-Total Featuring Marc Almond – ‘Baby’s On Fire’
Mark Schneider With Marc Almond – ‘Perfect Honey (Temptation)’
Marc Almond – ‘Nijinsky Heart’
Marc Almond – ‘Burn Bright’
Marc Almond – ‘Scar’
Marc Almond – ‘Bad To Me’
Marc Almond – ‘Demon Lover’

CD8: Gems
Marc Almond – ‘Oily Black Limousine’
Marc Almond – ‘Indigo Blue’
The Burmoe Brothers (Featuring Marc Almond) – ‘Skin’
Coil With Marc Almond – Dark Age Of Love’ [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘Amnesia Nights (Demo)’
Marc Almond With Mekon – ‘Theatre Of Dreams’
Marc Almond – ‘Demented, Deluded, Delirious (Mekon Remix)’
Mekon (Featuring Marc Almond) – ‘Out Of My Soul Remix (Edit)’
Andrei Samsonov And Laska Omnia With Marc Almond – ‘Passion And Pain’
Andrei Samsonov And Laska Omnia With Marc Almond – ‘The Guilt of My Secret (Original Version)’
Marc Almond – ‘Three Monkey Tango’ [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘The Exhibitionist’ [original first demo]
Punx Soundcheck (Featuring Marc Almond) – ‘Vanity, Poverty, Revenge’
Marc Almond – ‘Fur’ (Jóhann Jóhannsson Mix)
Marc Almond – ‘Dead Eyed Child (Remix)’
Marc Almond – ‘Black Satin (Remix)’
Marc Almond – ‘Sequins And Stars’
Othon (Featuring Marc Almond) – ‘Last Night I Paid To Close My Eyes’
Marc Almond – ‘Beautiful Losers’
Marc Almond – ‘City Of Nights’

CD9: Gems
Marc Almond – ‘Tale Of A Tart (Hell)’
Marc Almond – ‘Urban Velvet’ [1997 demo]
Marc Almond – ‘The Beautiful Light Of Madness’ [demo]
Marc Almond – ‘Suburban Opera’ [1997 demo]
Marc Almond – ‘Life’s A Lonely Drag (But I’m Alive)’ [demo]
Marc Almond – ‘Bluegate Fields’ [demo] [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘Someone Like Me’ [demo] [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘I’m Your Karma’ [demo] [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond (Featuring Armen Ra) – ‘Kill Me Or Make Me Beautiful’ [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘When Bad People Kiss’
Marc Almond With Othon – ‘The Tango Song’
Marc Almond With The Rossiya Orchestra – ‘The Sun Will Arise’
Marc Almond With The Rossiya Orchestra – ‘Tenderness’
Marc Almond With Antony Hegarty And The Rossiya Orchestra – ‘River Of Sorrow’
John Harle With Marc Almond – ‘Angel Eyes’
Marc Almond – ‘Keep Back Your Tears’
X-TG (Featuring Marc Almond) – ‘The Falconer’
Marc Almond With The Gaslight Troubadours – ‘Eros And Eye’ [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond With Brian Reitzell – ‘Snake Charmer’

CD10: Gems
Marc Almond With Jools Holland And His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra – ‘Cry’ [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond With Jools Holland And His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra – ‘On My Soul (I Swear)’ [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘Idiot Dancing’
Marc Almond – ‘Dark Is My World (Without Love)’ [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘Kiss The Ghost Goodbye’ [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘I Am No One’ [demo] [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond And Neal X – ‘Criminal Lover’
Marc Almond – ‘The Crimson Diva’
Marc Almond – ‘Rhythm and Blues’ [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘Suicide Saloon’
Marc Almond – ‘For Only You’ [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘Brewer Street Blues’
Marc Almond – ‘Miss Urania’ [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘The Perfumed Garden Of Gulliver Smith (Afghan Candles Version)’ [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘Eyes’ [demo] [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘Be Still’ [demo] [previously unreleased]
Marc Almond – ‘Late Night’
Marc Almond – ‘Hurt Me’ [edit]
Marc Almond – ‘When I Was A Young Man’ [live]
T.Rextasy With Marc Almond, Tony Visconti And The Dirty Pretty Strings – ‘Teenage Dream’ [live]
Marc Almond – ‘I Created Me’