Soft Cell - The Art of Falling Apart (Deluxe Edition) (1983/2025)

Soft Cell’s 1983 album The Art Of Falling Apart is to receive a 6CD reissue in October, following the format of multiple versions of each song established with last year’s similar 6CD edition of the duo’s 1981 debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.
With the remix album Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing (reissued in June) following in 1982, Marc Almond and Dave Ball were determined to torpedo their pop career with their second full LP. It reached No 5, but its singles ‘Where The Heart Is’ and ‘Numbers’ both missed the Top 20, whereas predecessors ‘Tainted Love’, ‘Say Hello Wave Goodbye’, ‘Torch’ and ‘What!’ had all made the Top Five.
The original album (“freshly remastered by Barry Grint”) is joined on the first CD by the songs ‘Martin’ and ‘Hendrix Medley’, initially given away on a 12” with early copies of the album: ‘Hendrix Medley’ comprises covers of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Hey Joe’, ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘Voodoo Chile’. The CD is rounded off with the B-sides ‘It’s A Mug’s Game’ and ‘Barriers’, plus a US mix of ‘Loving You, Hating Me’.
CD2 features extended versions of all eight album songs and its B-sides. Most of these were remixed around the original album, but ‘Kitchen Sink Drama’, ‘Baby Doll’ and the title track were mixed by Dave Ball around Soft Cell’s reunion shows in 2018.
The third CD features external remixes, by the likes of The Hacker, Nitewreckers, Atomizer, Dark Poets and Marcas Lancaster, as well as Ball’s group The Grid. It also includes a new vocal version of Soft Cell’s cover of Suicide’s ‘Ghost Rider’. Their original instrumental cover, a fan club-only release, is included among the instrumental and dub versions on CD5.
Demos, edits and the audio of TV appearances features on CD4, with ‘Numbers’ and ‘Heat’ taken from The Oxford Road Show; ‘Martin’, ‘Where The Heart Is’ and ‘The Art Of Falling Apart’ from The Tube; and ‘Ghost Rider’ from The Switch.
CD6 has live versions of each song from the album, plus ‘Martin’, ‘Hendrix Medley’, the two B-sides and ‘Ghost Rider’. Most of these are taken from Soft Cell’s reunion show at London O2 from 2018, the full concert of which was released as the live album Say Hello Wave Goodbye: The O2 London, in 2019. The exceptions are ‘Kitchen Sink Drama’, from Hammersmith Apollo in 2021 – a gig itself released as Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret And Other Stories – ‘Hendrix Medley’ from Los Angeles Palace Theater in 1983 and three songs from Hammersmith Palais in 1983: ‘It’s A Mug’s Game’, ‘Ghost Rider’ and a second version of ‘Numbers’, in addition to its O2 rendition.

Tracklist
CD1
01 Forever The Same (Remastered 2025)
02 Where The Heart Is (Remastered 2025)
03 Numbers (Remastered 2025)
04 Heat (Remastered 2025)
05 Kitchen Sink Drama (Remastered 2025)
06 Baby Doll (Remastered 2025)
07 Loving You, Hating Me (Remastered 2025)
08 The Art Of Falling Apart (Remastered 2025)
09 Martin (Remastered 2025)
10 Hendrix Medley (Remastered 2025)
11 It's A Mug's Game (7_ Version _ Remastered 2025)
12 Barriers (7_ Version _ Remastered 2025)
13 Loving You, Hating Me (Special Mix _ Remastered 2025)
CD2
01 Forever The Same (Original 12_ Version _ Remastered 2025)
02 Where The Heart Is (Original 12_ Version _ Remastered 2025)
03 Numbers (Original 12_ Version _ Remastered 2025)
04 Heat (2018 Extended Version _ Remastered 2025)
05 Kitchen Sink Drama (2018 Extended Version _ Remastered 2025)
06 Baby Doll (2025 Extended Version)
07 Loving You, Hating Me (Original 12_ Version _ Remastered 2025)
08 The Art Of Falling Apart (2018 Extended Version _ Remastered 2025)
09 It's A Mug's Game (Original 12_ Version _ Remastered 2025)
10 Barriers (Original 12_ Version _ Remastered 2025)
CD3
01 Ghost Rider (2025 Version)
02 Martin (The Hacker 2025 Remix)
03 It's A Mug's Game (Dave Ball 2025 Re-Eq Version)
04 Where The Heart Is (The Grid Remix _ Remastered 2025)
05 Baby Doll (Nightwreckage Remix _ Remastered 2025)
06 Barriers (Dave Ball Broken Down Angels Mix _ Full Version _ Remastered 2025)
07 Martin (Dave Ball Hallowe'en Mix _ Remastered 2025)
08 Where The Heart Is (Marcas Lancaster Remix _ Remastered 2025)
09 The Art Of Falling Apart (Atomizer Remix _ Remastered 2025)
10 Barriers (Dark Poets Remix _ Remastered 2025)
11 Heat (Yer Man Alternative Remix)
12 Martin (Nightwreckage Remix _ Remastered 2025)
CD4
01 Forever The Same (Original 1982 Demo _ Remastered 2025)
02 Where The Heart Is (Original 1982 Demo _ Remastered 2025)
03 Numbers (Original 1982 Demo _ Remastered 2025)
04 Heat (Original 1982 Demo _ Remastered 2025)
05 Kitchen Sink Drama (Original 1982 Demo _ Remastered 2025)
06 Baby Doll (Original 1982 Demo _ Remastered 2025)
07 Loving You, Hating Me (Original 1982 Demo _ Remastered 2025)
08 The Art Of Falling Apart (Original 1982 Demo _ Remastered 2025)
09 Numbers (Live on BBC ORS _ 14th January 1983 _ Remastered 2025)
10 Heat (Live on BBC ORS _ 14th January 1983 _ Remastered 2025)
11 Ghost Rider (Live on Channel 4 The Tube _ 1982 _ Remastered 2025)
12 Numbers (7_ DJ Version _ Remastered 2025)
13 Heat (US Single Edit _ Remastered 2025)
14 Baby Doll (Non-Stop Euphoric Dubbing Version _ Remastered 2025)
15 Numbers (Non-Stop Euphoric Dubbing Version _ Remastered 2025)
16 Barriers (Dave Ball Broken Down Angels Dub _ Remastered 2025)
CD5
01 Forever The Same (Instrumental)
02 Where The Heart Is (Instrumental)
03 Numbers (Instrumental)
04 Heat (Instrumental)
05 Kitchen Sink Drama (Instrumental)
06 Baby Doll (Instrumental)
07 Loving You, Hating Me (Instrumental)
08 The Art Of Falling Apart (Instrumental)
09 It's a Mug's Game (12_ Version _ Instrumental)
10 Martin (2025 Dub Mix)
11 Hendrix Medley (Instrumental)
12 Barriers (Instrumental)
13 Ghost Rider (Original 1983 Backing Track _ Remastered 2025)
CD6
01 Forever The Same (Live At The O2 Arena, London _ 2018 _ Remastered 2025)
02 Where The Heart Is (Live At The Hammersmith Apollo, UK _ 16th November 2021)
03 Numbers (Live At The O2 Arena, London _ 2018 _ Remastered 2025)
04 Heat (Live At The O2 Arena, London _ 2018 _ Remastered 2025)
05 Kitchen Sink Drama (Live At The Hammersmith Apollo, UK _ 16th November 2021)
06 Baby Doll (Live At The O2 Arena, London _ 2018 _ Remastered 2025)
07 Loving You, Hating Me (Live At The O2 Arena, London _ 2018 _ Remastered 2025)
08 The Art Of Falling Apart (Live At The O2 Arena, London _ 2018 _ Remastered 2025)
09 Martin (Live At The O2 Arena, London _ 2018 _ Remastered 2025)
10 Barriers (Live At The O2 Arena, London _ 2018 _ Remastered 2025)
11 Hey Joe _ Purple Haze (Live In Los Angeles, USA _ 1983 _ Remastered 2025)
12 It’s A Mug’s Game (Live At Hammersmith Palais, UK _ 1983 _ Remastered 2025)
13 Ghost Rider (Live At Hammersmith Palais, UK _ 1983 _ Remastered 2025)
14 Numbers (Live At Hammersmith Palais, UK _ 1983 _ Remastered 2025)