Matt Johnson believes a 25-year anniversary is worth celebrating. As his band The The approaches the quarter century mark, he feels it’s a worthy effort to look over exactly what he’s done. With that in mind, he has worked with Sony and his own imprint Lazarus to re-master and re-release the depth and breadth of his catalog. Johnson agrees that the scope is pretty grand, “This is a two-year period of intense activity leading up to the silver jubilee. There are about four box sets, two or three compilations, film soundtrack albums, and all sorts of stuff.” There’s a hint of humor in his voice when he says, “I thought if you don’t celebrate then, when are you going to celebrate?” It should be noted that is not just a straight set of repackaged albums – Johnson has worked to compile and prepare a great deal of unreleased material. Along the way he’s prepared a slate of DVD’s to preserve his film-related work, a few concert performances, and the like. As projects go it’s nothing short of producing a complete document of Johnson’s work over the last quarter century.
 
This may surprise many casual fans as The The have often been seen as a cult band with a limited output. The scope of the archival work goes a long way towards showing just how much Johnson has produced over the years. Johnson admits fighting against that myth, “I suppose I’m perceived as being so unprolific. I’ve always made music I’ve just not released much of it. I suppose this is a good way of catching up for lost time with all these lost recordings so there’s none of these question marks hanging over my career.”  This is a valid concern since Johnson has often included discographies in the liner notes of his albums that list two near-mythic albums that have never been officially released for personal or contractual reasons (the early Pornography of Despair and the more recent Gunsluts – infamous for rumors of being so odious to Sony when given to them it almost permanently strained relations between the longtime artist and the label.)
 
Along with the single discs Johnson has divided his work into distinct eras for detailed treatment as boxed sets. “The first set being released is called London Town and that’s Soul Mining through to Dusk. The second is called Bedsit Land 1979 to 1982 and that’s Spirits, Pornography of Despair, and Burning Blue Soul. The third is New York City which is Nakedself, Gunsluts, and there was another album recorded which wasn’t titled.” Along with expanded artwork and more detailed liner notes the discs are remastered to clean up and improve the sound to modern standards. Johnson is most pleased with the results of the remastering, “The range of the sound is so much more pure, and it’s so much closer to what we actually did in the studio.”
 
The first fruit of all this labor to see the light of day is 45 RPM Volume 1, a ‘best of’ disc. Most compilations of this nature spark a debate amongst the fans over which deserving songs escaped inclusion, this will certainly be no exception. Most notable by their absence are two duets Johnson recorded -- “Slow Train To Dawn” with Neneh Cherry and “Kingdom of Rain” with Sinead O’Connor. Johnson admits that leaving them off was tough but that will be addressed with a second volume coming out next year. The logic behind the choices was simple according to Johnson, “I’ve never had huge hits. Some singles of mine have done better than others and so for the first volume I decided to put on what are generally considered the better-known tracks. Volume Two will be the singles which might be less well known … and I think they’ll all fit together nicely.” There’s a healthy laugh in his voice when he admits that, “The 45 RPM series is as commercial as I’ll ever be.” Squabbling over song selection aside, 45 RPM Volume 1 is a satisfying collection that effectively chronicles Johnson’s musical phases and unique collaborations. The tracks are sequenced in historical order (something more bands really should consider) and allow the listener to hear his growth as both a songwriter and performer.
 
The original 7-inch versions of “Uncertain Smile” and “Perfect” meld acoustic instrumentation and early studio electronics to solid songwriting. The two songs would later be polished and refined but the emotion in Johnson’s delivery and the use of a balancing force to the songs early electronics (a flute and saxophone in the former and harmonica from New York Doll David Johanson on the latter) displayed skills already ahead of the pack rushing to produce music with a new electronic edge. The musical and lyrical scope expanded with each album with Johnson finding equal skill in portraying the world around and within him. The mix of powerful songs and blistering messages make tracks like “Sweet Bird of Truth” and “Armageddon Days (Are Here Again)” much more appealing than the usual sociopolitical musical rants. Johnson also turned his view inward and drafted poignant lyrical content in the form of the grinding stomp of “Dogs of Lust” and the blues-influenced “Slow Emotion Replay.” One track from his album of Hank Williams covers (“I Saw The Light”) shows how inventive Johnson could be with another songwriter’s material while staying reverent to the sprit of the original. On top of the previously released tracks the album also boasts three new tracks – something to help take the bite out of the purchase for those fans who already own a stack of The The releases. Johnson’s penchant for reworking older material and duets resurfaces in a version of the Nakedself track “December Sunlight (Cried Out)” which matches him with Liz Horsman to fine results. In a fitting closing the two remaining tracks are a political rumination on the state of modern day Britain (“Pillar Box Red”) and stark baring of emotion (“Deep Down Truth.”)
 
Vocally Johnson matured with his work which gives needed depth to his later material. The early tentative, warbling vocals on “Uncertain Smile” are eventually replaced with delivery that swings from confident snarl to soulful croon. Thematically the disc does a solid job of highlighting Johnson’s gifts as a songwriter. While the lyrical content varies the songs on 45 RPM all benefit from Johnson’s ear for melody whether it’s the obvious, dance-pop of “Infected” or the subtle lament of “Love Is Stronger Than Death.”  While Johnson remains the artistic core and visionary behind The The, he’s always made a point of working with a group of artists as varied as they are talented. Most are aware of his Mind Bomb-era work with Johnny Marr (a time more than any over when The The was a band) but a roll call of his other collaborators is a fascinating ‘Who’s Who’ of respected musicians, producers and artists. The collaborations with artists like harp-blower Jim Fitting (who earlier worked with Mark Sandman in the Boston-based Treat Her Right), jazz drummer Earl Harvin and vocalists like Sinead O’Connor all produced stellar results. Simply put, a The The album is always more than the sum of its parts.
 
Along with the singles, the remix disc gives additional insight as to how the sound of the band matured and Johnson’s willingness to liberally rework his own songs. The tracks open from the added instrumental performances on “Uncertain Smile,” and move on to the beat-enhanced “Infected,” a radical dance treatment of “Armageddon Days (Are Here Again)” and a creative reworking of “Dogs of Lust” done by Jim ‘Foetus’ Thirlwell. Thrilwell’s remix is unique in that it reaches back to sample “Sweet Bird of Truth.” Strangely enough there is little information on these remixes other than the label ‘12” Mix.’ Johnson admits it was an oversight to leave off that information, but with the discs pressed there’s not much to be done at this stage.
 
The disc isn’t a full historical document as it omits Johnson’s early work for 4AD released under his own name and as The The. Chief among these releases are the album Burning Blue Soul (released under his name) and the track “Flesh and Bones” (released as The The on a compilation for Some Bizarre records.) While not technically a The The album at the time of its release, Burning Blue Soul was unofficially considered a part of the catalog until 4AD re-mastered and released as a The The album in 1993. While very different from Johnson’s later output and not something for the casual fan, Burning Blue Soul is a vital point of reference for the evolution of Johnson and The The. Influenced by the sparse DIY sound of early ‘80s London, it contains standout tracks in the form of experimental instrumental tracks done in collaboration with Gilbert and Lewis of Wire and the achingly gentle strum of “Another Boy Drowning.” Finally the track “Flesh and Bones” is a grinding, political lament that mixes equal parts industrial sounds and blues-laden harmonica. It stands as a clear point of reference for his most powerful social commentaries such as “Heartland” and “Global Eyes” off Infected and Nakedself respectively.
 
After a listen or two the most obvious fact is that the compilation can be very rough in terms of continuity. The material the disc draws from is varied enough that tracks don’t always slide up next to each other so easily. The continuity wouldn’t matter as much if each of The The’s albums did not stand so well on their own as complete works. In fact, when the albums are rereleased there will be no extra tracks added so that continuity is preserved. Johnson is going even further in that one track will be removed from Soul Mining as it was included in the original US release against his wishes. “A bloke that worked at Epic in the US struck it on behind my back when it went out to CD. I was so angry about that. They didn’t even ask me, they just stuck it on! “Giant” was always the way that Soul Mining was supposed to be finished. I spent a lot of time writing the songs and planning the track listings. It’s like sticking a chapter at the end of someone’s book after it’s finished. It took me 20 years to get that off!”
 
As concerned as Johnson has been with his musical output he has also poured considerable energy into the visual representation of his work. His early video for “This Is The Day” found a receptive audience on MTV and he continued to push the medium by releasing a companion video for the album Infected. The video album is an accomplishment because while many artists use videos to push product with bland ‘performance’ videos Johnson managed to fully realize the visual potential of his work. All of that work will get the archival treatment with DVD releases and some cleaning up. Live concerts, rare video shoots and reams of material from the archives will see the light of day.
 
The schedule of releases and plans seems dizzying at times but Johnson has mapped out the plan in detail. He’s also gone to great lengths to document all the news and changes on a revamped web site at www.thethe.com. He’s pulled out archival documents from all stages of his career and detailed information on the upcoming releases. “We really wanted to keep the site fresh and get as much information up there as possible.”
 
Although he’s spending some time looking back Johnson is adamant about his place going forward. “I want to stress I’m still a current artist. Most of my contemporaries are gone now. I don’t like being lumped in with a particular era, especially the ‘80s. I didn’t really have huge hits then, I released a few singles and the albums did fairly well. My career doesn’t feel that different now than it did then. It’s not like ‘wow can I still write the hits’ because I never had any! So I’m anxious to be seen as someone who is current and contemporary writing about current things.” Johnson admits there’s still a lot more music in him and this stage is just a precursor of the work to come, “There’s a case for consolidating the past in order to draw a line under it and move forward. It’s an exciting period for me.”

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