Magazine - "After The Fact" CD, Album, Compilation, 1989 (I.R.S. Records)

For me, the band Magazine is or was the foundation where a lot of post-punk bands based their aesthetic on - especially Radiohead and The Bad Seeds.   It's very much an orchestrated sound surrounding the vocalist and lyricist Howard Devoto.   Therefore a real band where each member of the group contributes to the overall sound that embraces Devoto.  Think of it as a heist job where criminals get together to rob a horse betting track or a bank.  Each member of the gang is crucial in making sure everything works out together.   In turn, I think Magazine were influenced by Roxy Music.  

"After the Fact" is a compilation album of their 45 rpm singles and b-sides.  Magazine issued singles that were separated from the albums.  Not sound wise difference, but often the single wasn't on the 'official' album.  Perhaps they were the last traces of the 60s mentality of the importance of the 45 rpm single, and that it was a different medium.   There is not a bad cut on this album.  Magazine were a fantastic 'singles' band.  

Devoto singing "Goldfinger" is the perfect fit.  At one time, the group wanted to be produced by John Barry, which makes perfect sense with respect to their aesthetic.  Not in a campy way, because Magazine doesn't do 'camp.'   More to do with the John Barry sound of mixing strings with the voice. It's a shame that they never had the opportunity to write and produce a James Bond theme song. Nevertheless in the world of Magazine that are so many treasures to explore.  Also if the song is on the album, usually it's a different recording.  For example, "Shot by Both Sides" is an entirely different recording.  I believe the single, their first recording, didn't have any keyboards on it.   So if you do buy this album, you really don't have to worry about getting repeated tracks, except for their late single "About the Weather" and "A Song Under the Floorboards." 

"A Song Under the Floorboards," "Upside Down," and "Touch and Go" are Magazine classics.   The classic lineup of Barry Adamson, John Doyle, Dave Formula, and guitarist John McGeoch couldn't be better.   "After The Fact" came out after the band broke up, and it was a series of moments that became perfection, practiced by a gang of visionaries.