(Amazon USA's listings for these two reissues are very mixed up, and are too expensive anyway, so I'm only going to link to the Amazon UK listings ...)
Pills 'N' Thrills And Bellyaches
A swirling, neo-psychedelic kaleidoscope of hallucinogenic drugs, trippy beats, borrowed hooks, and veiled threats, Pills 'n' Thrills & Bellyaches is Happy Mondays' masterpiece and the peak of the entire `Madchester' craze. Where the Stone Roses were pop classicists, Happy Mondays pushed pop into the ecstasy age. The Mondays' cut-and-paste rhythms and melodies were clearly influenced by hip-hop and electronic dance music, and their songs had the same sort of twisted internal logic, subverting conventional pop song structures while reinterpreting oldies, occasionally stealing entire songs and claiming them as their own (John Kongos' "He's Gonna Step On You Again" is transformed into "Step On," LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade" provides the basis for "Kinky Afro"). Most of the musical collage is the creation of producers Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne, but the vision of Pills 'n' Thrills & Bellyaches belongs to Shaun Ryder, who reveals himself as a surreally gifted lyricist. Lifting melodies at will, Ryder paints a bizarre vision of modern urban life, fueled by sex, drugs, violence, and dead-end jobs -- and instead of lamenting the state of affairs, he celebrated them. The Collector's edition of Pills 'n' Thrills expands the original album on disc one with extended versions and mixes, while the second disc is a DVD that collects all of their videos into a virtual video "Best Of" the band from 1986's `Tart Tart' through to `Judge Fudge' in 1991.
Disc: 1 (CD)
1. Kinky Afro
2. God's cop
3. Donovan
4. Grandbag's Funeral
5. Loose Fit
6. Dennis And Lois
7. Bob's Yer Uncle
8. Step On
9. Holiday
10. Harmony
11. Step On (Twisting My Melon Mix)
12. Kinky Afro (7" Euro Mix)
13. Loose Fit (12" Version)
14. Bob's Yer Uncle (12" Version)
15. Tokoloshie Man
Disc: 2 (DVD)
1. Tart Tart - Produced and directed by Michael Atavar and Donald Guy, London October 1986
2. 24 Hour Paty People - Produced and directed by the Bailey Brothers, December 1987
3. Lazyitis - Produced and directed by the Bailey Brothers, May 1989
4. Wrote For Luck - Produced and directed by the Bailey Brothers, September 1989
5. Hallelujah - Produced and directed by the Bailey Brothers, December 1989
6. Clap Your Hands - Produced and directed by the Bailey Brothers,December 1989
7. Step On - Produced and directed by the Bailey Brothers, March 1990
8. Kinky Afro - Produced and directed by Keith Jobling of the Bailey Brothers, October 1990
9. Loose Fit - Produced and directed by Philip Shotton of the Bailey Brothers, February 1991
10. Judge Fudge- Produced and directed by the Bailey Brothers, November 1991
(The bonus DVD is in PAL format, so it unfortunately won't be playable on most North American systems.)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000V3OL8I/?tag=imwan-21
___________________________________
Bummed
Happy Mondays first essayed their fusion of dance-club beats, hip-hop, funk, and rock `n' roll on Bummed. A considerable improvement from the unfocused Squirrel and G-Man, by Bummed the group's sound was beginning to gel. In particular, Shaun Ryder's incoherent bluster of non sequiturs, surreal imagery, and verbal threats is coming into its own, and it adds a sense of menace to dark grooves like "Lazy Itis," "Mad Cyril," and "Wrote for Luck." The latter was remixed by Vince Clarke after the album's release, and the new version, which was included on later pressings, was the hardest dance tune Happy Mondays had yet attempted, suggesting the direction they would follow on their next album. The Collector's edition features the original album, now re-mastered and expanded on CD one with the "Rave On" E.P.plus a clutch of bonus `B'-sides and mixes, and adding an entire second disc of extended mixes such as the Vince Clarke remix of "W.F.L."and the rare promo-only "Deadstock" mix of "Hallelujah".
Disc: 1
1. Country Song
2. Moving In With
3. Mad Cyril
4. Fat Lady Wrestlers
5. Performance
6. Brain Dead
7. Wrote For Luck
8. Bring A Friend
9. Do It Better
10. Lazyitus
11. Hallelujah
12. Holy Ghost (aka `Mad Guitar')
13. Clap Your Hands
14. Rave On (Club Mix)
15. Boom (B-side of `Wrote For Luck')
16. Mad Cyril (Hello Girls)
17. Wrote For Luck (12" B-Side)
Disc: 2
1. Wrote For Luck (7" Version)
2. Hallelujah (Club Mix)
3. Wrote For Luck (12" Version)
4. Hallelujah (MacColl Mix)
5. Lazyitis (One Armed Boxer) (Feat. Karl Denver)
6. WFL (Think About The Future)
7. Hallelujah (12" Version)
8. Kilamenjaro (aka `Rave On')
9. WFL (Vince Clarke 12" Mix)
10. Hallelujah (Deadstock Mix)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000V3OL88/?tag=imwan-21
____________________________________
Related thread ~ Happy Mondays' new album
Uncle Dysfunktional:
http://www.imwan.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15118
