Track Listing

1. Flowers
2. Pictures
3. 3.23
4. Parking Lot
5. Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste
6. Temperature's Rising
7. Oblivious
8. It's Getting Late
9. Instrumental
10. Tugboat
11. 3.53
12. King Of Spain
13. Blue Thunder
14. Tell Me
15. Snowstorm
16. Strange
17. When Will You Come Home
18. Decomposing Trees
19. Another Day
20. Leave The Planet
21. 2.40
22. Plastic Bird
23. Isn't It A Pity
24. Victory Garden
25. Ceremony
26. Cold Night
27. Fourth Of July
28. Hearing Voices
29. Spook
30. Summertime
31. Way Up High
32. Listen The Snow Is Falling
33. Sorry
34. Melt Away
35. King Of Spain (1)
36. Here She Comes Now
37. Cheese And Onions
38. Them
39. Final Day
40. Blue Thunder (2)
41. Maracas Song
42. Crazy
43. Jerome
44. Song In 3
45. Oblivious (1)
46. I Can't Believe It's Me
47. Walking Song
48. Other Side
49. On The Floor
50. Rain/Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #276898 in Music
• Released on: 2002-04-01
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Enhanced, Limited Edition, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered

CD Description
Galaxie 500, who recorded for the now-defunct U.S. branch of Rough Trade Records in the late '80s and early '90s, was one of the brightest stateside bands in the era when indie rock really was indie. Often compared with the Velvet Underground, Galaxie 500 began with the simplest of structures. The band's staple was the strummy three-chord pop song, to whichit added jazz-like percussion, intricate bass lines and otherworldly guitar and vocal effects. In showing the way to create something transcendent and glorious out of the skeletaland elementary, Galaxie 500 left a giant legacy.
For those who want to follow the irrepressible talent of this trio,singer-guitarist Dean Wareham went on to form Luna (and Luna 2), while bassist Naomi Yang and drummer Damon Krukowski continued with their own duo, Damon & Naomi, and became the rhythm section in Magic Hour, a post-rock ensemble.

Customer Reviews

Dean Wareham is god -listening is believing!
There are times of great depression and times of extatic joy and they are all encompassed in the magnificence of Galaxie 500. As time passes, you forget just how important certain events are in the span of your lifetime. I had the privelage to see Dean Warehams' post Galaxie resurrection in Leeds (Yorkshire , England)with Luna a few years ago, and when they finished their set with "When will you come home" you felt that you had died and gone to heaven. Dean takes the Velvet Underground blueprint and re-writes it to the eleventh degree. The simplicity of the chord structure belies the depth of feeling in the songs. If you looked for perfection in the form of music, you would find this set of songs at the top of the list. I feel lucky to have been alive when these works were released. God speed.

Heaven in a Box
This really is a superlative box set. If you are reading this you are probably already aware of the fragile beauty of Galaxie 500's three studio albums, their sound undoubtedly influenced by the Velvet Undergound but influential in their own right on successive bands like Low, but the real joy here is the fourth CD of `uncollected' material.

A fine collection of outtakes from all the band's studio sessions and early demo material, B-sides, etc., the `uncollected' CD transcends the often patchy quality of such projects to be the equal in quality of the three main albums. `Cheese and Onions' shows the band has a sense of humour as the Rutles Beales spoof gets the full shimmering guitar treatment. The saxophone-enhanced version of `Blue Thunder' is great and even on the band's demo songs, `Walking Song', `The Other Side' and `On the Floor' their potential shines through.

This box set really is the complete package: the three main CDs are enhanced with video tracks and you also get all of the relevant B-sides as bonuses. To round things off, there is a full-colour 48-page booklet chronicling the story of the band from all members' perspectives (unsurprisingly, Naomi's and Damon's carry a very different tone to Dean's) richly augmented with Naomi's lovely artwork for their sleeves and gig posters. Oh, and you get a full discography too. Heaven in a box!

"Everything all at once forever...."
If I was on desert island discs, I'd take this as the only thing I'd need. Uncollected includes outtakes, alternates and rarities. The three original albums include extra tracks taken from the Blue Thunder and Forth of July EPs as well as the b-side of their first single, Tugboat. Also saves my vinyl getting worn out. All comes with nice box, booklet with the Galaxie 500 story written from each members perspective, discography etc. Oh, and a CD-ROM video on each CD. Will we ever see their like again? (Check out Damon and Naomi live or Low for as near as you'll ever get)