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I need someone to take some joy in something I write.
If you don't order this CD, I tell you I'll bite.
You know know you love them here's the irony.
Your going to walk away intact.
Or did you really want it anyway?
You like CD's especially
Ones with rarities,
Nine ninety eight
Eight twenty nine
I think you've woken up to this
You better buy it
If you like this band, you gotta try it
If you like the kooks, then your an arsewipe
How long will it take?
Probably 7 days?

Rating: 5 out of 5

If you are unfamiliar with the sound of Belle and Sebastian and you are curious enough to be reading this humble review, then may I take it upon myself to suggest that this collection could serve as a very worthy introduction to the band! It gathers tracks from all their EP releases on the Jeepster label, and is absolutely chock-full of wonderful, vital music.

Disc 1 features the 12 tunes from their first 3 fantastic EPs and it is difficult to spot a duff one! There is "Dog on Wheels" with its infectious minor-key hushed vocal melody, choppy acoustic guitars and a bold mariachi trumpet break. "String Bean Jean" is perfectly simple jangly guitar pop with understated vocal harmonies. "Lazy Line Painter Jane" is a remarkable GET-OUT-OF-BED tune with echoing, Spector-esque production, boy/girl vocal interplay and gigantic flurries of hammond organ. "Beautiful"(my personal fave!) is just that: a gorgeous downtempo baroque folk masterpiece, sung plaintively by Stuart Murdoch. The trumpet solo here (underpinned by shimmering strings and reverb guitar) always moves me deeply. BEAUTIFUL indeed.

Disc 2 features all the cuts from their next 4 EP's and as such is positively RIDDLED with diverse charms. "Modern Rock Song" is a 3 chord slow burner, building on a base of acoustic guitar, adding electric, strings and brass until it crescendos with almighty vocal harmonies from Murdoch and Stevie Jackson. BLINDING. "Slow Graffiti" is another winning ballad which could almost be categorised as "indie soul". "Jonathan David" is the band doing what they do best - wrapping an intricate vocal line around a spiralling piano groove. "Marx and Engels" is almost bafflingly good - a steady beat, a gorgeous descending piano riff, twinkling organ and a predictably splendid whispered vocal from Murdoch. Musical ambrosia, to be sure.

Listening to this compilation now, it is easy to see why B+S have captured many people's imagination over the years. Many of their fans have developed unshakable obsessions with the band! Their spellbinding music and affable personalities have ensured them a devotional fanbase. For myself, on a personal level, I have often found that listening to their music has resulted in lifting my spirits and eradicating my frequent melancholy moods.

As I said at the opening of this review, if you are new to B+S, this collection is a great place to start. Be warned, however: The likelihood is that you will subsequently shell out on all of their albums and ultimately not want to listen to much else!

Rating: 5 out of 5

In comparison to other 5 star album, I have to agree with the previous reviewer - we are in solid 6 STAR TERRITORY HERE. For a band that still do not receive the recognition they so clearly deserve, the level of musicianship is stunning. This is grown up music with grown up subject matter. The type of songs that, in 15 years time, will have young song-writers falling over themselves to site as influences. My favourites must be "The State I Am In" - (recently discovered that this is the demo version), "Lazy Line Painter Jane", "The Loneliness of a Middle Distance Runner" and "I Know Where The Summer Goes". And the packaging is cool, too - hard back book style.Go on, do yourself a favour. Forget the Coldplay album, Oasis' next re-run or even Jack and Meg - (you can get them later, Ed.). Treat yourself to some 24 carat class and discover your new favourite song.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Although I already possess all of the above titles the idea to re-package some of the bands most inventive material is a brilliant one and I'll certainly be buying it. Is it possible to give something six stars? Just one correction to the official review though, 'The State I am in' did appear on the group's first album 'Tigermilk', albeit without the word 'the' at the beginning.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Oh, what a joy this will be for people who have not had the good fortune to come across these EPs when originally released.Many of Belle and Sebastien's best tracks were laid as singles rather than on their albums, and these EPs reveal a much broader sweep to their music than their albums do.There's a clutch of classics here - the Wurlitzer driven duet Lazy Line Painter Jane, the winsome and beautiful You Made Me Forget My Dreams, the Spector-esque Slow Graffiti... the list goes on and on. This is Just a Modern Rock Song is a wonderful, fey slow-burner of a song, A Century of Fakers and Le Pastie de la Bourgeoisie rattle along like few B&S songs do anywhere, Take Your Carriage Clock and Shove It is a wonderful mini-drama of a country song.More than any other B&S long-player, this one should be in everybody's collection. It is close to pop-perfection and explains to the doubters (if explanation were really necessary) why B&S have been so lauded by so many of us over the last 10 years.

Rating: 5 out of 5