It has been Cutting Crew’s fate to have enjoyed a hugely successful career that will always be remembered for one song, namely their enormous, multi-million selling international hit ‘(I Just) Died In Your Arms’. Having graced every wedding reception in the civilised world, the track has notched up over three million radio plays in North America alone, and forms the centrepiece of this, the band’s debut album.
Recorded in both the United States and the UK, the album is a superior example of ambitious, guitar driven mid 80s pop-rock, with extremely strong songwriting and the classic production and ideals of that era present throughout. The record also spawned another huge hit in the shape of ‘I’ve Been In Love Before’, a track which went Top Ten in America and itself boasts over three million radio plays worldwide. Unsurprisingly, the album was also a massive hit, even earning the band a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 1987, and still proves a strong listen twenty three years later.
Two more singles were issued, in the form of ‘One For The Mockingbird’ and ‘Any Colour’, and the band enjoyed all the trappings that international success brings, including several memorable international tours. The two live bonus tracks on this collection are sourced from this period, namely a stunning version of the album’s title track fused with ‘Any Colour’, and the aforementioned ‘I’ve Been In Love Before’. Other bonus tracks come in the form of the extended 12” mix of ‘(I Just) Died In Your Arms’ and the very rare B-Side to the original release of that single, ‘For The Longest Time’, which has never been issued on CD until now. This collection also contains three tracks in their superior US mixes, which have, until now, only been available in the States.