You can call it the anniversary reissue craze. It has been going on for a while, with artists (or record labels, usually both) finding any and every reason to reissue an album of theirs, whether that album deserves it or not, and it usually happens at some specific (or not so specific) date, with added ‘bonuses’ or as a ‘bare bones’ reissue.
And yet, there are quite a few albums out there that do deserve to be reissued in any shape or form, anniversary or not. One such case is definitely Melancholia by Bristol’s Modesty Blaise, and yes, it is an anniversary reissue; in this case, it is the 25th one, and it has got quite a few extra bells and whistles – from newly restored audio, through quite a few outtakes, and updated artwork to a new 3-disc version.
The question remains – was the original album worth reissuing, with a secondary one for those who are already familiar or have the album – are the updates worth getting the new version?
Fortunately, the answers to both are quite positive. When Jonny Collins, David W Brown, Gregory Jones, Clem Courtney and Julien Clapperton, who were members of Modesty Blaise at the time, recorded the original album it turns out that they had quite clear idea why they gave this album the ‘Melancholia’ title – picking up all the good things the baroque and sunshine pop had to offer from mid-sixties and The Bach Boys ‘Pet Sounds, through Left Banke and onwards, and then giving it a modern touch at the turn of the new century.
And with the original album itself, they have done a great job, not missing an original musical thread and giving it the exact shine and lustre that fits into what the new century had to offer. And then, when the original is worth it, any additional material that can offer a new light on it is worth it too.
