The Sound

Counting the Days is a somewhat helter-skelter assemblage of songs released by the Sound from 1980's Jeopardy through 1985's Heads and Hearts, with an emphasis on the latter half of that time frame. Released in 1986 by Statik, the compilation does feature the major points of interest of the band's early work -- Jeopardy's "Heartland" and "Missiles"; From the Lion's Mouth's "Sense of Purpose," "Winning," and "Silent Air" (written for Joy Division's Ian Curtis) -- but there isn't anything from 1982's All Fall Down, and the remainder of the 15 songs rely upon 1984's Shock of Daylight EP and Heads and Hearts. Confusingly enough, the artwork is nearly identical to that of Heads and Hearts. This long out-of-print CD compilation might be a point of interest to completists, but its value to anyone else has pretty much been shot down to nothing thanks to Renascent's reissuing campaign of the band's entire catalog. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide