This came out in 2005 — or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
This two-disc retrospective from these Velvet (Underground)-textured indie-rock vets is subtitled A Smattering of Scintillating Senescent Songs. I couldn’t have put it any better.
With 26 highlights cherry-picked from virtually all their albums over the past two decades, Prisoners Of Love provides a decent overview of the band’s noisy folk-pop psychedelia without getting all anal about it. Which is to say: If you’re looking for a good starting point into the world of guitarist Ira Kaplan, his drumming wife Georgia Hubley and their various bandmates over the years, this is it.
YEARS: 1985 – 2003.
HIGHLIGHTS: None of these tracks has ever dented a pop chart, but any fan would tell you pretty much all of them are gems. Some of the most precious might be fuzzy little rockers like Sugarcube, Big Day Coming and Tom Courtenay, though softer cuts like The Summer and Tears Are in Your Eyes are gorgeous, the bumptious cover of Sun Ra’s Nuclear War is a must-have and From A Motel 6 is a keeper for the Bob Dylan-inspired title alone.
EXTRAS! EXTRAS! On the two-disc edition, nothing. But a simultaneously released deluxe set comes with an extra disc of rarities and outtakes for fanatics.
