Originally released in 1989, ‘Shakespeare Alabama’ was the debut album by Fanclub/U2/INXS wannabees and psychedelic guitar band Diesel Park West arriving at a place not dissimilar to that one occupied the equally indebted Cosmic Rough Riders and vacated just as quickly.
Previously, only the band members themselves had an inkling of how the album should listen, the rest of us had to endure what was by and large a thoroughly b-list entity. This new special edition, however, has been tastefully remastered and is a certified improvement on the the sound of the original. The accompanying 12 page booklet features new sleevenotes by John Butler, original artwork, lyrics and images of the original singles sleeves.
For the anal retentive, there’s also Chris Kimsey’s previously unreleased mixes of the classic singles ‘Like Princes Do’ and ‘When The Hoodoo Comes’. The extra tracks include both sides of the band’s debut single; the self-produced ‘When The Hoodoo Comes’ and the band-defining ‘The Girl With The Name’. In addition to this mindblowing plethora of obscurities there are 3 rare tracks from the early ’90s: ‘Wanderlust’, and 2 tracks, which only appeared on the CD format of the original album – ‘Don’t Be Scared Of The Night’ and ‘What About Us’.