Welcome to Our World/Believe in Bloomington, MN

In 2009,
Rhino
digitized the
Mass Production
catalog and made the group's
Cotillion
albums available for downloading. Very little -- perhaps only
Firecrackers: The Best of Mass Production
-- remained in circulation as physical product. This two-CD 2014 release from the U.K.'s
Expansion
label offers the group's first two albums, straight up, with no bonus tracks. Both releases were only moderately successful -- they peaked at number 35 and 38, respectively, on
Billboard
's Soul LPs chart -- but there's plenty to dig. Among the highlights: the storming Top Five club single "Welcome to Our World (Of Merry Music)," the delirious Moog freak-out instrumental "Cosmic Lust," "I Believe in Music," and the
Rose Royce
-meets-
Heatwave
ballad "Galaxy." ~ Andy Kellman