For sonic trailblazing and inestimable influence 808 State remain among our most important groups. Formed in 1988 during the Manchester acid house revolution which, in terms of musical depth and innovation was beating London to the punch, they released two albums [Newbuild and Headstate] before signing with ZTT, who are now reactivating the subsequent four albums in deluxe form produced by Graham Massey. Their major offensive started with Hacienda anthem ‘Pacific’ hitting the top ten in November 1989 while gaining the accolade of being the last record Derrick May played at Detroit’s legendary Music Institute. After consolidating their signature blend of riotous breaks, cheeky samples and roof-raising riffs with 808:90, 1991’s Ex:el ejaculated forth as their masterpiece, yielding hit singles including ‘Cubik’/’Olympic’,’ In Yer Face’ and the euphoric ‘Lift’ while displaying life beyond the rave with new, exotic influences and guests Bjork and Bernard Sumner. Riding Madchester, they sold out Wembley Arena with Happy Mondays and headlined Glastonbury in ’92, paving the way for names like Orbital and the Chemical Brothers to take it live and do the same in years to come. 1993’s Gorgeous was another beauty, mixing crowd-destroyers like ‘Timebomb’ and ‘Stormin’ Norman’ with cinematic, multi-strained outings like ‘Europa’. Ian McCulloch guested while they pioneered mash-ups on UB40’s ‘One In Ten’, scoring their biggest hit. 1996’s Don Solaris effectively replaced samples with live playing, guests including James Dean Bradfield on ‘Lopez’ [coming with rare Brian Eno remix]. Along with detailed notes by Ian Peel, these monumental reissues feature bonus CDs trawled from the mostly-unheard 808 Archives. Pure history.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Kris Needs
