Is it an anthology? No, that would indicate a greatest hits catalog of sorts – and they already have one of those. So what's the story behind these five CDs? That's the question I was asking myself when I received The Alarm's In The Poppy Fields: One through Five, each of which have been individually titled Close, The Normal Rules Do Not Apply, Trafficking, Edward Henry Street, and Coming Home, respectively. Reviewing this project was relatively daunting, yet exciting in light of the fact that it's the bands first newly recorded music in better than ten years. They've teamed up with the likes of Billy Duffy (The Cult) and Bruce Watson (Big Country) and created 54 new songs which are available in this set exclusively through their website, to be shipped in monthly intervals.

Mike Peters, the brainchild behind the project, has shed his spikey 80's mullet for a more modern look and the band's music has followed suit. While you can catch a glimpse of old Alarm on VH1 Classics, their new image and sound is slightly more mature. Some of the tunes are piano-driven, some guitar-motivated, but all are punctuated by Peters' soothing vocal and extraordinarily written songs. Picture a less political U2 complete with Bono-like croons, covering the gamut of human emotions and experience. The harder tracks, and as such my personal favorites, are "Trafficking" which had a cool almost Soundgarden-y riff (ala "Spoonman" --listen hard you'll hear it), "Federal Motor Voter" with its Cult resemblance; the punk appeal of "The Drunk and the Disorderly"; "The Search for the Real Life" which channels the Beatles; "45 RPM", with sonically strong similarities to the band's own "68 Guns"; the brilliantly retro-sixties-pop "Wherearewegoingandwhatarewegonnadowhenwegetthere" and "Lazy Dayz"; and hell, basically all of Trafficking, Edward Henry Street and Coming Home. Essentially the first two CDs are mellow and ballad-rife, whereas the second three show the rock and original punk-like sound that The Alarm is known for. So theoretically, you could use this as your daily music mix, starting out with the tranquil stuff early in the morning and weaning in to the rock as afternoon approaches.

The only concern I have would be that the release of all 50+ songs at once will cause some really incredible stuff to become lost in the over stimulation. Which is probably why the CDs have been shipped on a monthly basis – Good idea! Another sly move by these pioneers in the world of technology (being one of the first bands to establish a dedicated website), The Alarm has asked their listeners to not only comment on the new music at their website, but also vote on the best 10-12 songs. The top tracks are destined to appear on a general release later this year to coincide with a tour. So, I guess that answers my original question. The CDs are a pre-cursor to the best of In The Poppy Fields. I get it... I think. Regardless, I’m happily rockin’ out to The Alarm so there’s no complaints here!

www.thealarm.com