A somewhat uneven, though promising start - The debut album by Altered Images is an interesting and inconsistent starting point for the band. By this time they had already been compared to Siouxsie and the Banshees, though I never really understood why. The Banshees Steven Severin did produce the band s early singles, as well as most of this album, but I don t hear too much of the influence. Before this album, Altered Images released two unsuccessful singles, Dead Pop Stars and A Day s Wait. Both were great, stark Post-Punk singles with excellent B sides as well, though failed to capture the public s attention. For the re-recording of the band s first big hit, Happy Birthday, (which was originally produced and recorded by Steven Severin, though rejected by CBS), the record company brought in Martin Rushent, who had already made a very good reputation for himself. His recording of the song became a massive hit, and rightly so. It set the foundation of what would eventually define Altered Images - fun, catchy and colorful. While Happy Birthday, the song, is excellent fun it is very out of place with the rest of the material on the album. Most of the songs continue in the same stark Post-Punk mode of the early singles, though not completely successful. While I m a huge Banshees fan and mean no disrespect to Severin, many of the songs sound like demos, and probably would have benefited at the hands of Rushent. Some of the album comes off as obvious filler, such as the pointless Happy Birthday intro and outro, as well as the undeveloped Love and Kisses and meandering Legionaire. Some of the album highlights include the upbeat Beckoning Strings, in which Clare adorably tweets at the end, and Real Toys. Some of the more moody successes include Faithless and Idols. The original version of Insects, included here, is good but pales in comparison to the Rushent produced re-recording for the B side of the next single, I could be happy.The bonus material is the real highlight here. Dead Pop Stars has a great, simple driving beat and was a great debut single for the band. That singles B side, Sentimental, is the first bit of the fun and colorful greatness that would represent the band in 1982. The song could have easily fit on Pinky Blue .Who Cares?, the B side of A Day s Wait, is heavy on the drums, and surpasses in quality much of what appears on Happy Birthday .So we go whispering is a self-produced number that makes the listener wonder if Clare is really singing, Just eat me, don t smell me??? The cover version of Marc Bolan s Jeepster has more of their trademark bounciness that made the band appealing. The Happy Birthday (Dance Mix) is quite good, though the middle Happy birthday, happy birthday refrain goes on WAY too long and should have been edited down a bit. The only thing missing from this era is the superior original recording of Leave me alone. This insane version has Clare screaming, wailing and growling like a loon. It s fantastic! It was originally released on the Dead Pop Stars cassette single, then on the flexipop flexidisc, then finally on the poor quality Best Of CD released on the Connoisseur Collection label in 1992. That CD is worth seeking out purely for this song. Quality wise, this is the best of the three Edsel Altered Images reissues. Everything has come from master tape sources, and sounds really good. It would have been a great idea to include some of the band s pre-CBS demos. There is an amazing song said to be titled Prayer before birth that is among the best things I ve ever heard from Altered Images. Unfortunately, it s only available in terrible, multi-generation bootleg quality. An official release of those early demos is desperately needed.While Happy Birthday is a good intro to the band, the best was yet to come, regardless of what the humorless critics thought.