Cherry Red Records are releasing a remastered and expanded deluxe version of Toyah’s debut album Sheep Farming In Barnet as the first release of a reissue programme of Toyah’s entire Safari Records catalogue. The 2CD/1DVD set is released on 4 December 2020, with a limited edition white vinyl version of the main album also released on the same day.
The main album has been given a quality remaster by Nick Watson. Key tracks such as Neon Womb, Victims Of The Riddle, Danced and Race Through Space sound crisper and clearer than the previous CD release, and if you are a fan of this album, you will love this 2020 remaster.
The album is expanded with the single tracks Bird In Flight & Tribal Look, plus rare / unreleased recordings, the highlights of which are the almost hard-rock Gaoler, an early version of The Blue Meaning‘s Love Me and four tracks from the BBC drama Shoestring – live in the studio recordings of Our Movie, Waiting, Neon Womb and an electrifying version of Danced.
The second disc is dedicated to rare and archive material, including many early demos. Whilst the demos are not of the same high quality as the main album, they give a unique insight into the band’s development. Close Encounters (Demo) would later become Danced and some of Watch Me Sane‘s lyrics ended up on Waiting.
My favourite track from the demos is Problem Child, featuring an expansive arrangement, veering from the pop / new-wave sound of the time to a lovely almost progressive outro.
The alternative mixes include a version of Neon Womb with no saxophone (I’m so used to the sax version, this take jars a little for me), and a less produced, more live sounding alt mix of Our Movie.
My favourite alt version on this disc is Waiting (Alternate Vocal Mix), I’ve always loved the bubbling synth lines underpinning the deep bass line on this track, and Waiting also has one of my favourite Toyah vocals. This alt mix goes on a little longer than the album version, with no fade out.
The final disc is a DVD featuring two 2020 interviews with Toyah Willcox (The Story Behind The Album and Track-By-Track Album Commentary), a 1979 What’s On interview plus TV appearances from 1979 and 1980 (including The Old Grey Whistle Test) and a 2020 acoustic Session featuring performances of Neon Womb, Computer & Bird In Flight featuring Toyah Willcox (vocals) & Nigel Clark (guitar). Note: the DVD’s visual content & the remastered vinyl was not provided for this review.
The sleeve notes for the 2 CD/ 1 DVD version feature a scene-setting intro from Toyah Willcox and August 2020 notes from Craig Astley with input from former band-member & co-writer/guitarist Joel Bogen, along with lots of band pictures from the era making this the definitive version of Sheep Farming In Barnet.
Buy Toyah Sheep Farming In Barnet: 2CD/1DVD Deluxe Digipak from Amazon
Buy Toyah Sheep Farming In Barnet: Limited Edition White Vinyl 11 track LP
Disc One:
- Neon Womb
- Indecision
- Waiting
- Computer
- Victims Of The Riddle
- Elusive Stranger
- Our Movie
- Danced
- Last Goodbye
- Victims Of The Riddle (Vivisection)
- Race Through Space
Bonus Tracks
- Gaoler
- Bird In Flight
- Tribal Look
- Love Me (Dangerfield Session)*
- Tribal Look (Alternate Mix)*
- Our Movie (Shoestring Version)*
- Waiting (Shoestring Version)*
- Neon Womb (Shoestring Version)*
- Danced (Shoestring Version)*
- Previously Unreleased
Disc Two:
- Computers (Demo)*
- Little Boy (Demo)*
- Close Encounters (Demo)*
- Watch Me Sane (Demo)*
- Jailer (Demo)*
- Race Through Space (Demo) *
- Elusive Stranger (Demo)*
- Problem Child (Demo)
- Israel (Demo)
- Christmas Carol (Demo)
- Race Through Space (Alternate Mix)*
- Neon Womb (No Saxophone)*
- Our Movie (Alternate Mix)*
- Waiting (Alternate Vocal Mix)*
- Indecision (Alternate Vocal Mix)*
- Computer (Alternate Vocal Mix)*
- Vivisection (Improvisation)*
- Love Me (Demo)
- Tribal Look (Demo)
- Guilty (Demo)
- Three-Sided Face (Demo)
Disc Three (Ntsc – Region Free Dvd):
- The Story Behind The Album : 2020 Interview
- Track-By-Track Album Commentary: 2020 Interview
- Neon Womb: Acoustic Session 2020
- Computer: Acoustic Session 2020
- Bird In Flight: Acoustic Session 2020
- Race Through Space: What’s On 12/04/1979
- Toyah Interview: What’s On 19/04/1979
- Danced: The Old Grey Whistle Test 04/03/1980
- Indecision: The Old Grey Whistle Test 04/03/1980
Buy Toyah Sheep Farming In Barnet: 2CD/1DVD Deluxe Digipak
Buy Toyah Sheep Farming In Barnet: Limited Edition White Vinyl
Mr Kinski's Music Shack 
Utterly superb!
This is one of my fave artists with probably her best album
The extras are excellent also
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