Belly submits to the despicable "soak the diehards" practice in the U.K. for only the second time. The first single off King, "Now They'll Sleep," had the same (great) B-sides in all formats, but as for "Seal My Fate," Belly supporters will have to purchase two different CDs and a 7" to get all the new recordings. Fortunately, as with the other time they did this ("Gepetto"), they give more value than most. First of all, EP number one has three more B-sides that are preferable to the bulk of King, especially the exuberant "Diamond Rib Cage." "Spaceman" is sort of like "Sweet Ride," charming in its acoustic base, and "Think About Your Troubles" is wonderfully whimsical. Suggestion: Buy or borrow the seven non-LP tracks and five live songs from the last two singles, and put them on a tape with the four best cuts off King (i.e., the two singles, "King," and "Puberty"), and you'll have a far-better follow-up to Star than the admittedly decent one they released. Way better.
© Jack Rabid /TiVo