Yaz In Your Room CD - Import

The band, also known as Yazoo in the U.K., are Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet. They were formed in 1982 when the founding member of Depeche Mode replied to an ad placed by Moyet in the Melody Maker looking for 'rootsy blues musicians.' For the first time ever, Yaz's only 2 albums have been re-mastered and packaged together in this 4 disc deluxe box set. Also included are a CD of B-sides and remixes, and a DVD with a short film including new Clarke and Moyet and exclusive archival footage, promo videos, and Yazoo at the BBC in 1982 and 1983 on Top of the Pops, Cheggers Plays Pop, and Saturday Live.

Yazoo: Alison Moyet, Vince Clarke.
Personnel: Alison Moyet (vocals, piano); Vince Clarke.
Aficionados of vintage (i.e., early 1980s) synth-pop are blessed with a bounty in the form of the four-disc Yaz box set, IN YOUR ROOM. The duo featured original Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke and soulful singer Alison Moyet, and turned out some of the gutsiest electronic pop of the era. In addition to both of the group's original albums, IN YOUR ROOM features a wealth of remixes and B-sides, as well as a DVD containing live footage from the BBC, videos, and a short film. Though Clarke and Moyet would go on to other successes--Erasure and a solo career, respectively--Yaz's work made for some of the brightest moments in '80s British pop, and this set handsomely documents the pair's brief-but-brilliant career.
With only two albums and a handful of singles released before they broke up, the '80s synth pop duo Yazoo -- or Yaz if you're outside the United States -- are in the "all or nothing" category when it comes to box sets. Save a couple remixes, Mute's 2008 set In Your Room is everything the duo -- instrumentalist and former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke along with the as yet unheard of vocalist Alison Moyet -- released in its short career, and then some. Disc one of this three-CD/one-DVD set features their debut 1982 album, Upstairs at Eric's, while disc two features the follow-up, You and Me Both, from a year later. Both are remastered splendidly -- giving the albums more depth and punch in the bass -- as are the remixes and B-sides that occupy disc three. The non-album tracks "State Farm" and "The Other Side of Love" both get a proper home on the third disc and sit next to a wealth of desirable extended mixes of club hits like "Situation" and "Don't Go." The DVD is a fan's dream with both albums remixed in impressive 5.1 Surround Sound plus all the official videos and appearances on the television show Top of the Pops as a bonus. The reasons to complain are the layout of the remixes, making disc three more of an archive than a disc to be listened to in one go, and the fact that the two albums could have fit on one disc since they both clock in at 40 minutes each, give or take a few seconds. Newcomers unfamiliar with Yazoo are best served by 1999's The Best of Yaz, which features the prime cuts plus some more modern remixes that aren't compiled here. Fans, however, will appreciate the vids, the rare tracks, the great sound, and a beautiful booklet that features archival photographs, articles, and images. ~ David Jeffries

Mojo (Publisher) (p.121) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Debut album AT ERIC'S still sounds exuberant, with Clarke's euphoric synth patterns set against the resonant, bluesy Moyet..."