Monster (box set)

Infobox Album
Name = Monster
Type = Box Set
Artist = David Thomas


Released = June 1997
Genre = Rock
Label = Rough Trade
Producer = David Thomas
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:pr2ibkd9dak9 link]
Last album = "Erewhon" (1996)
This album = "Monster" (1997)
Next album = "Mirror Man" (1999)

"Monster" is a box set anthologizing David Thomas's solo career from the years 1981-1987, during which time his main vehicle, Pere Ubu, was inactive. In some cases, the albums included have been radically remixed and rearranged from their original forms. On its release in 1997, the box included a contemporary live disc entitled "Meadville" by Thomas' current group the Two Pale Boys; as of the current 2002 reissue, that disc has been excised, anticipating a future standalone release.

Track listing

CD1 - The Sound of the Sand

#"The Birds Are A Good Idea" – 1:58
#"Yiki Tiki" – 2:16
#"Crickets In The Flats" – 4:58
#"Sound Of The Sand" – 3:27
#"The New Atom Mine" – 5:14
#"Big Dreams" – 2:21
#"Happy to See You" – 3:32
#"Crush This Horn, Part 2" – 1:49
#"Confuse Did" – 2:32
#"Sloop John B" – 5:09
#"Man's Best Friend" – 4:28

CD2 - Variations on a Theme

#A Day At The Botanical Gardens (1983 mix) – 3:44
#Bird Town – 2:44
#Pedestrian Walk (1983 mix) – 4:17
#The Egg & I – 2:55
#Who Is It? – 3:40
#Song of The Hoe – 6:03
#Hurry Back – 4:20
#The Rain (1983 mix) – 3:48
#Semaphore – 5:11
#A Day At The Botanical Gardens – 3:21 (extra track)
#Pedestrian Walk – 4:31 (extra track)
#Hurry Back (1983 mix) – 3:57 (extra track)
#The Rain – 5:18 (extra track)

CD3 - More Places Forever

#Through The Magnifying Glass – 2:58
#Enthusiastic – 4:46
#Whale Head King – 5:50
#Song of the Bailing Man – 4:42
#Big Breezy Day – 3:23
#The Farmer's Wife – 4:32
#New Broom – 4:21
#About True Friends – 4:35

Monster Walks the Winter Lake

#My Theory Of Spontaneous Simultude / Red Tin Bus – 3:06
#What Happened to Me – 2:45
#Monster Walks The Winter Lake – 11:13
#Bicycle – 4:17
#Coffee Train – 2:24
#My Town – 3:19
#Monster Magee, King of the Seas – 2:14
#Monster Thinks About The Good Days – 3:37
#What Happened to Me – 2:41

CD4 - Blame the Messenger

#My Town – 3:07
#A Fact About Trains – 4:24
#King Knut – 5:27
#When Love Is Uneven – 3:27
#The Storm Breaks – 3:34
#The Long Rain – 4:11
#Havin' Time – 4:53
#Friends of Stone – 3:18
#The Velikovsky 2-Step – 6:50