Review: 25 years have now passed since Liverpool legend Pete Wylie and his long-term backing band released Songs of Strength & Heartbreak, which marked the post-punk era combo's return to action after 16 long years. Something of a triumphant return, the set flits between raucous punk energy ('Never Loved as a Child'), Oasis-ish riffs on mid-late period Beatles ('Sing All The Saddest Songs', 'Disneyland Forever'), riff-heavy post-Britpop indie-rock ('I Still Love You', post-punk headiness ('Loverboy') and all manner of orchestrated, reach-for-the-ceiling sing-alongs ('Hey! Mona Lisa'). To mark the album's birthday, Chrysalis has served up this expanded 'deluxe' edition. Unusually, this time round CD1 boasts the album as it was originally demo'd and produced in 1998 - including a slew of songs that were subsequently shelved - with the 'released' version (2000) nestled on CD2.
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