First information about a forthcoming collection of all John Wetton albums appeared no less than three years ago, three years after the great English musician – whose solo oeuvre has always been overshadowed by the material he laid down with FAMILY, KING CRIMSON, URIAH HEEP, U.K., WISHBONE ASH and, of course, ASIA – passed away. Then, the box set got delayed in favor of one from ICON, another venture by Wetton and Geoff Downes – and another release which wouldn’t be issued for the time being… because the original plans were back on track. And now, the 8-disc anthology of John’s work, titled “An Extraordinary Life” to be tied in with the recently published book beating the same header, is to see the light of day on November 24th.
Spanning the period from 1980 to 2011, it includes all of Wetton’s studio longplays augmented with bonus tracks that, for the most part, come from singles and the album’s different versions, but strangely omits the instrumental pieces from the “Chasing The Deer” OST. Still, it’s impossible to complain, given there are two additional CDs full of rarities and cuts which have never been heard, including what looks like a bunch of ASIA demos. More so, this 12″x12″ box set – featuring a 64-page book with a lot of photos and extensive notes by Nick Shilton – is said to be the first in a series. Fantastic!
An Extraordinary Life
CD 1 – Caught In The Crossfire (1980):
1. Turn On The Radio
2. Baby Come Back
3. When Will You Realise
4. Cold Is The Night
5. Paper Talk
6. Get Away
7. Caught In The Crossfire
8. Get What You Want
9. I’ll Be There
bonus tracks:
10. Woman
11. Every Inch Of The Way
12. Out Of The Blue
CD 2 – Battle Lines (1994):
1. Right Where I Wanted To Be
2. Battle Lines
3. Jane
4. Crime Of Passion
5. Sand In My Hand
6. Sea Of Mercy
7. Hold Me Now
8. Space And Time
9. Walking On Air
bonus tracks:
10. You’re Not The Only One
11. Battle Lines (acoustic version)
CD 3 – Arkangel (1997):
1. The Circle of St Giles
2. The Last Thing On My Mind
3. Desperate Times
4. I Can’t Lie Anymore
5. Archangel
6. You Against The World
7. Be Careful What You Wish For
8. Emma
9. Nothing Happens For Nothing
bonus tracks:
10. All Grown Up
11. After All
12. The Celtic Cross
13. Take These Tears
14. Magazines
15. Woman
CD 4 – Welcome To Heaven (2003):
1. Heart Of Darkness
2. Say It Ain’t So
3. No Ordinary Miracle
4. Where Do We Go From Here
5. E SCAPE
6. Another Twist Of The Knife
7. Silently
8. Before Your Eyes
9. Second Best
bonus tracks:
10. Real World
11. Love Is
12. Space And Time
An Extraordinary Life
CD 5 – Rock Of Faith (2011):
1. Mondrago
2. Rock Of Faith
3. A New Day
4. I’ve Come To Take You Home
5. Who Will Light A Candle
6. Nothing’s Gonna Stand In Our Way
7. Altro Mongo
8. I Believe In You
9. Take Me To The Waterline
bonus tracks:
10. I Lay Down
11. When You Were Young
12. Cold Comfort
13. God Only Knows
14. Rock Of Faith
CD 6 – Raised In Captivity:
1. Lost For Words
2. Raised In Captivity
3. Goodbye Elsinore
4. The Last Night Of My Life
5. We Stay Together
6. The Human Condition
7. Steffis Ring
8. The Devil And The Opera House
9. New Star Rising
10. Don’t Misunderstand Me
11. Mighty Rivers
12. Face To Face
CD 7 – New, Live and Unreleased:
1. AD 2023
2. Raven
3. Walking On Air
4. Straight From The Heart
5. If I Was A Country
6. All Along The Watchtower
7. Deya 1986
8. Tears Of Rage
9. Maryanne
previously unreleased tracks:
10. Healer Of Shattered
11. I’d Give It All For You
12. Ultimate Emotion (unfinished idea)
13. Wings Of Angels (intro)
14. Wings Of An Angel
15. All For One
16. From A Distant Heart
17. Real World (JW and Ringo Starr)
18. The Greater Show On Earth (single edit)
19. Adagietto
20. The Water Is Wide
CD 8 – New, Live and Unreleased:
1. Raised In Captivity
2. The Other Guy Second Best
3. I Will
4. Bad Thing
5. Boys Of The Diamond City
6. Flesh And Blood
7. Burn Your Name In My Heart
8. Sex, Power And Money
9. Back In Your Lovin’ Arms
previously unreleased tracks:
10. Every Inch Of The Way
11. I Can’t Tell You Why
12. Winner Takes It All
13. Mind Over Matter
14. Gypsy Soul
15. Wasted Time
16. You Still Got Me
17. Halfway To Heaven
18. I’ll Never Stop Loving You
19. Forever
