Those made of money who want to go ahead and take the plunge into full
Chrome activity could do worse than to go straight to
Chrome Box. The original release of the
Box in 1982 served as both an overview of the classic
Damon Edge/
Helios Creed lineup and the inclusion of some extra goodies. Four previously released albums appeared in full --
Alien Soundtracks,
Half Machine Lip Moves,
Blood on the Moon, and the compilation
No Humans Allowed. Also included were
Chronicles and
Chronicles, Vol. 2, containing what at the time was unreleased material from the band; those two collections were made available separately later. Many years later, after
Chrome had been reactivated by
Creed following
Edge's untimely passing, the band's new label,
Cleopatra, continued its own sporadic reissue program with a full reprint and remastering of the
Chrome Box as a three-CD set. This version also has the advantage of including the three
Chrome tracks from the
Subterranean Modern compilation on
Ralph Records from 1979. These include a rather devolved version of
"(I Left My Heart) in San Francisco," which was specifically essayed by every other band on the original compilation as well. ~ Ned Raggett