Unlimited Edition is a compilation album by the band Can. Released in 1976 as a double album, it was an expanded version of the 1974 LP Limited Edition on United Artists Records which, as the name suggests, was a limited release of 15,000 copies (tracks 14–19 were added). The album collects unreleased music across the band's history, from 1968 to 1975, and both of the band's major singers (Damo Suzuki and Malcolm Mooney) are featured. The cover photos were taken among the Elgin Marbles in the Duveen Gallery of the British Museum.
This was originally released as Limited Edition in 1974 with a different cover, not as many tracks as what is on this disc, and was limited to 15,000 copies. Both albums contain the cutting room floor outtakes of tracks – which there were many – from over the years as Can had the luxury of recording their material in their own studio. The obvious mistake (or trick) was to take a ton of these so-called studio riffs, bundle them all into one giant track, and call it “Cutaway”, but it comes off like a hideous, never-ending blooper reel. Most of the time the goofs simply come and go, and sometimes showcase other points of view in a rather light-hearted fashion – like the “Ethnological Forgery Series” tracks. There are quite a few tracks which do seem to stand on their own, especially the bookends (“Gomorrha” and “Ibis”) and a few of the spots with original vocalist Malcolm Mooney (“The Empress and The Ukraine King”, “Mother Upduff”, “Connection”). Fan interest only.
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