Take It Or Leave It

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12.03.2002



Thank You for Those 20 Years
Everything But the Girl
like the deserts miss the rain
16-tracks, 70 minutes of music
CD Released : October 22, 2002 (US and Europe), November 30, 2002 (Switzerland), now released in the Philippines (thanks bunny for the info)

Well, well, well. Without thinking I plunked a 20-and a 10-swiss franc bill on the counter with this CD (the only copy in the store) and ran to the car and played it in front of Lake Geneva. That’s the effect EBTG does to me whenever I see a released item from them.

This one is such a personal thing for me. Its like Tracey and Ben sent me a mixed CD recorded from their personal files and Fed-Exed with a dedication – “To the Reviewer, thank you for 20-years of memories!” T and B.

The CD is replete of songs that meant a lot to me (and my wife too), without much of the trappings of commercials CDs. No extra disc, not much in the liners, just a photo of Ben and Tracey inviting you inside their world (and a photo of Tracey re-touching her lips – taken by Ben).

In my collection of more than a thousand CDs, EBTG, Take everything but the Group’s.

From Tracey Thorn, herself:
'Every greatest hits collection seems the same, over-familiar tunes reheated & assembled in the boardroom & generally thrown at the public on a cold plate, so we thought we'd try something different,' says EBTG's Tracey. 'If there was going to be a retrospective we wanted it to be a personal view. We wanted to look back on some of the stuff we've been proudest of over the past twenty years. Some of them happen to be famous hits, some are obscure B-sides. It's just our take on things, & we hope it throws a fresh light on these songs & what they mean.'


Track listing:
1. My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains
2. Rollercoaster
3. Corcovado
4. Each & Every One
5. Before Today (Chicane Remix)
6. Mine
7. Protection
8. Single (Photek Mix)
9. Tracey In My Room (Lazy Dog Bootleg Vocal Mix)
10. Missing (Todd Terry Remix)
11. Almost Blue
12. No Difference
13. Cross My Heart
14. Mirrorball
15. Piece Of My Mind
16. Walking Wounded


02:50