Marc Almond�s tenth studio album, originally released in March 1999, Open All Night, is now been re-configured as a 49 track Expanded Edition by SFE / Cherry Red Records (UK).

This new deluxe Expanded Edition is a comprehensive celebration of this singularly moody and magnificent Marc Almond album, the first big solo album released without any major label involvement.

To quote Keith Phipps of AV Club, Marc effortlessly establishes himself herein as, �a smoky chanteuse of the synth age� offering �a private world of romantic martyrhood set to electronic beats�.

The curation of this Expanded Edition offers a multi-faceted insight into this unique album through the inclusion of alternative, demo and live versions of both album tracks and other contemporaneous songs.

The three discs combined offer over three and a half hours of music. Disc One features the original album with three remixes, one of each of the singles released from it. Disc Two majors on bonus period studio recordings and demos. Disc Three offers live versions of many of the album tracks as well as the three dance remixes of the album�s debut single �Black Kiss�.

CD 1: The Original Album & Single Remixes
1. Night and Dark
2. Bedroom Shine
3. Tragedy (Take a Look & See)
4. Black Kiss
5. Almost Diamonds
6. Scarlet Bedroom
7. My Love
8. Wrap My Heart in Velvet
9. Open All Night
10. Threat of Love
11. When Bad People Kiss
12. Sleepwalker
13. Midnight Soul
14. My Love (Dave Ball Remix)
15. Threat of Love (Marc Almond & Neal X Remix)
16. Black Kiss (Hard Vocal Mix)

To my mind, Open All Night was the album that Marc Almond had always been trying to make since leaving Soft Cell. Luckily for all his fans, he still managed to fuse together all of his influences: pop, disco, dance, electronic, R&B and cabaret all thrown into the mix to produce this incredibly diverse and entertaining album.

Perhaps it was the freedom of recording and releasing the album as a semi-independent release, for it was initially to be released in 1998 on the British label Echo; and, in fact, the first single release from the album, Black Kiss, was actually released on that label.

But, and for reasons only they know, Echo released Almond from his contract and he decided to go the independent route, which, for him, turned out to be a very good move.

For he produced a very original work that still falls into the Marc Almond mold and thus even though his hardened fans will always love whatever he puts out, the album was also highly accessible enough to attract new listeners as well.

Indeed, Almond surrounded himself with very talented guests on this album, including Siouxsie Sioux (of Siouxsie & the Banshees and the Creatures), who duets with Almond on the brilliant Threat of Love, and Kelli Ali (of Sneaker Pimps fame) on the glacially ethereal Almost Diamonds.

Song topics are the usual for Almond (death, sleaze, love, lust and the like), but what makes this album so interesting is the music: beautiful, well-crafted melodies with heavy dance beats. Not an easy task, but he does it very well.

As we all know by now, Almond is very talented and a great deal deeper than he has, at times, been given credit for, and this album has always stood the test of time as being a great example of just how creative he is when given the artistic freedom to be so.

CD 2: Bonus Tracks & Demos
1. Beautiful Light of Madness (Alternate Version)
2. Beautiful Losers
3. Lonely Go-Go Dancer
4. One Big Soul
5. Rhythm & Blues
6. My Porno Star
7. Satan�s Child
8. Sequins and Stars
9. One Night of Sin
10. Tale of a Tart (Hell)
11. Scarlet Bedroom (Full Version Demo)
12. Half World (Demo Version)
13. Heart in Velvet (Demo Version)
14. Sleepwalker (Demo Version)
15. Tragedy (Demo Version)
16. Almost Diamonds (Early Demo)
17. When Bad People Kiss (Early Version)
18. Lonely Go-Go Dancer (Early Version)

Undoubtedly Almond�s greatest, and most overlooked album of the whole of his recording career, to my humble mind, and featuring backing instrumentation which could adorn a Portishead album in an instant, Almond had crafted a superb, darkly tinged, collection of tracks.

And now hearing a few of them in their alternate forms, just makes the original listening pleasure even more 3D for us fans now.

People have since concluded that the album�s commercial failure was down to a poor selection of singles, but I honestly don�t think that there is a really weak track amongst the set, to be quite frank.

Indeed, on one last note, my own personal favorite is the second single, Tragedy (Take a Look and See), which unaccountably failed to achieve the chart success it should have and his now here as a haunting Demo Version.

CD 3: Live Versions & Black Kiss Remixes
1. Black Kiss (Live - Almeida Theatre, 1999)
2. Threat of Love (Live, 1999)
3. Midnight Soul (Live - Wilton�s Music Hall, 2008)
4. When Bad People Kiss (Live - Almeida Theatre, 2004)
5. One Big Soul (Live - Lokerse Festival, 2000)
6. My Love (Live - Lokerse Festival, 2000)
7. Open All Night (Live - Lokerse Festival, 2000)
8. Black Kiss (Live - Lokerse Festival, 2000)
9. Lonely Go-Go Dancer (Live - Almeida Theatre, 2004)
10. Satan�s Child (Live - Almeida Theatre, 2004)
11. One Night of Sin (Dress Rehearsal - Almeida Theatre, 2004)
12. Open All Night (Dress Rehearsal - Almeida Theatre, 2004)
13. Black Kiss (Tall Paul Mix)
14. Black Kiss (Baby Doc Mix)
15. Black Kiss (DJ Face Telephone Mix)

As you would fully expect, all the live tracks are amazing, showcasing Marc Almond�s vocals as beautifully crystalline then as they still are today, and the inclusion of five versions of Black Kiss might well be overkill, but if it is your own personal favorite, you will delight in that fact.

The discs come with a 28-page color lyrics booklet insert with photographs.

Official 3CD Purchase Link

www.marcalmond.co.uk