In one of the band's most radical moves, the commercial single version of this amazing Songs track, the "Zephyr" mix, was done by
Butch Vig, then well-established as a producer for the likes of Nirvana and
the Smashing Pumpkins but still a couple of years away from success with
Garbage. Adding squalling feedback, a new shimmering guitar line, and piano, he made the track start off a bit more calmly and sweetly than before, in turn making the reintroduction of the dramatic keyboard chord and beats from the original that much more striking in context. The song alternates between the two moods throughout, topped off with extra (very
U2-like) guitar, and while it's not quite as successful as the original take in the end, it's still a very good effort, one the band themselves used during its 1998 tour. Besides both a regular and extended take of Vig's revamp, two other versions surfaced on the single. The Johnny Dollar and
Portishead team, having done a fine job with a "Walking in My Shoes" mix, returned with the great "Jeep Rock" mix, with severely funky beats and scratches mixing with the swirling strings of the original, a snarling guitar loop, and a sparkling new keyboard line. Meanwhile, fellow
Mode remix veteran
Brian Eno stepped in with the nicely moody "Apex" mix, which focused in on
Gore's vocals while causing a lot of initial confusion, since everyone assumed from the name that
Aphex Twin had done it instead! Francois Kevorkian, whose masterful mixes during the
Violator era demonstrated his abilities to a tee, contributed the "Adrenaline" mix of "Higher Love," a good dance mix with extra echo and effects as it went. As a final bonus, two live cuts surfaced on the American EP (more appeared on the overseas version). One was the take on "In Your Room" from the Songs of Faith and Devotion Live album, which made it irrelevant. The other, the brilliant
Violator single "Policy of Truth," gets a deservedly strong run-through here. ~ Ned Raggett