MUD FOR IT
When it comes to throwing down the funds for overpriced "live imports", finding Kiss The Stone listed on the back has always been a representation of fine quality and a worthwhile purchase. Wrapped Up In The Pleasures Of The World, however, is a bit of a smudge on the roster.
One of the Pumpkins' greatest showings, the Reading Festival headline spot on August 25, 1995 has been presented on other bootlegs in such immaculate sound quality and in full length, that it's entirely disappointing to take a listen to the version which, if we're to believe KTS' press, is absolutely the best. The fact that it should have been, is the biggest defeat.
There's nothing wrong with the performance. In fact, I'd toss it a full score. This was the first show where the new Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness material was brought out for an audience larger than the Double Door club in Chicago. Old hits mixed with unheard new ones made for an exceptional live experience, and the execution overshadowed the rest of the weekend fest. The newer numbers are done pretty-well identical to the recording versions, which is rather interesting when the gap between this show and the next is taken into account. When the band began it's massive world tour in December of 1995, many of the songs were already slightly transformed and extended. Granted, it is a little bit of a stretch to spend this amount of money merely because the outro quiet bit of Bullet With Butterfly Wings is sans the annoying Infinite Sadness World Tour gaps and giggles, but the show crackles with a rare energy and enthusiasm. The crowd is surprisingly perceptive to the new material, and the opening Jellybelly is enough to shake an invalid out of a coma. Porcelina comes in waves of sound, and runs right into Rocket -- a segueway that would later be used to brilliant effect in extended jams later on in the tour. Siva is reclaimed from the disastrous 1992 Reading Fest spot (ending in a near final break-up of the band -- check out the starla.org Chrono site for more information), with a raging run-through whose length zips by in an adrenaline infused heartbeat. The pinnacle of the show is a Mayonaise so gorgeous and visceral, it demands numerous instant replay listens. These are the shows of which legends are made.
After looking at everything that's so right about Wrapped Up In The Pleasures Of The World, it's time to go into what's wrong with it. And it's oh so very very wrong. The sound quality is composed of places on the treble range just below where only dogs can hear. The bass drops out nearly entirely, and barely manages to make a notable appearance even after the settings are turned to maximum. There are certainly loads of other bootlegs in my collection, which are worlds worse when it comes to quality. Yet, while comparing the Reading Festival recording here with that presented on other boots, the immense difference is entirely obvious. The Oxygen disc Disconnect includes the Siva and Mayonaise clips in sound quality so clear and balanced, that it sounds close to an in-studio session -- until the thousands of screaming fans kick in, that is. With the Kiss The Stone logo on the back, our expectations automatically, and rightly so, go up. What's most confusing and aggravating is how the sound quality here differs completely with the crystal-clear perfection of the three Reading Fest tracks on the Turpentine Kisses bootleg, also compiled and released by Kiss The Stone.
It's just not the sound quality on Wrapped Up In The Pleasures Of The World that's so irksome, but the unnecessary cuts and edits, as well as some glaring omissions. An interesting tidbit for Bowie fans such as myself, is the fact that he personally introduced the appearance of the band. Unfortunately, it's nowhere to be found. When the show actually begins, 98% of the stage banter is excised. The band was in a terrific mood, and the stage-talk was great -- which makes the loss all the more pointed. When Porcelina ends and Rocket begins, the effect is fantastic. What makes it bitter was the complete removal of an above-average spin of Geek U.S.A. While some bootlegs are edited due to time restrictions, the running time on Wrapped Up comes to a paltry 59 minutes. Everything could have, and should have fit.
Before transferring under new ownership, Wrapped Up was one of Kiss The Stone's final Smashing Pumpkins release (besides the so-far unreleased Zero Zero Zero). Better recordings of this show are available in abundance, and we haven't seen anything new as of yet from our old Kiss The Stone friends. Maybe it's time to exercise a little caution before blindly sending off a cheque for the next Kiss The Stone release.
Unfortunately so.
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