Disco de Squeeze: “Argybargy [Bonus Tracks]”

The domestic version of this CD sounds like it's coming out of an AM radio.

This version THUNDERS. It's a spectacular remastering job which makes the enjoyment of this fabulous record even more enjoyable.

The 1997 copyright date on the back of this Japan CD coincides with the remastering which was done on the Squeeze catalog in that year.

The two extra tracks aren't throwaways, either. Makes this package even more of an excellent deal.

Why Universal hasn't availed itself of this version for domestic U.S. distribution is a crime.

But, then again, that's Universal for you. If a way can be found to do things cheap and rip-off the consumer, Universal Music will find it.

Squeeze's album history is varied and ambitious. Their self-titled debut, produced by John Cale, was a quirky affair built on songs written in the studio. The follow-up, "Cool for the Cats," provided the foundations of a commercial breakthrough in the UK, and this third LP (the last featuring keyboard player Jules Holland) opened the doors to the higher reaches of the UK charts as well as finding wide favor on U.S. college radio. Subsequent albums provided both artistic expansion (1981's Elvis Costello-produced "East Side Story" introduced Ace's Paul Carrack to the group and held the band's trademark "Tempted," and 1982's "Sweets From a Stranger" added "Black Coffee in Bed" to the band's canon), but none lived up to the consistency of "Argybargy."

What makes this album a highlight of the band's catalog is that virtually every track on the album is as memorable as the hits. Even better, though recorded in the middle of the New Wave, Squeeze stuck to more traditional rock and pop sounds, mostly refraining from rhythms or keyboards that would have aged badly. Difford and Tilbrook wrote beautifully British songs, with the sort of rye viewpoint that made the Kinks so effective. Among the album's lesser-known charms is "Vicky Verky" - one of Difford and Tilbrook's most heartbreaking songs of teenage relationships and redemption, as well as the dancefloor rave-up, "Farfisa Beat."

A&M Japan's 2004 CD reissue includes a pair of bonus tracks ("Funny How It Goes" and "Go"), neither of which matches the brilliance of the original 11. The booklet includes liner notes and lyrics in Japanese, and typically bad English translations.

If you don't know Squeeze, first get Singles or East Side Story. If you like that first purchase and like their 70s-early 80s stuff, then buy Argybargy. It is a great album. I just wish it weren't so hard to find.