Living It Up
The first half of Level 42s four-disc Living It Up is for casual fans. The second half, along with the packaging, which includes lengthy liner notes from Mark King, dozens of photos, and a pictorial discography, all stuffed inside a set of furry dice -- a compact, hardcover book-like shell, actually -- is for insatiable freaks. With such an evenly split personality, its impossible to imagine anyone picking up the set without some hesitation. Discs one and two consist of the bands 34 U.K. singles, from 1980s Sandstorm through 2006s The Way Back Home, with Kansas City Milkman as the representative from the live EP A Physical Presence. Disc three, containing mostly previously unreleased material, compiles scattered versions, demos, a couple World Machine-era B-sides, and live material. A 19-minute segment from a 1991 performance in Antwerp involves a curious blow through Creams Sunshine of Your Love between Love Games and The Chinese Way. The final disc would have made a nice standalone release, or a souvenir for the bands 30th anniversary world tour. Its an acoustic album of imaginatively rearranged hits, recorded by King with Mike Lindup in 2010.