Twenty years on, the Mekons are still uncompromising, undiluted and thoroughly unexpected. Capable of anything from raw punk rock and acrid synth-pop to bleary folk and liquored-up pomo country, the Mekons are a rarity in modern music -- a band that re-invents itself for creative rather than market-driven reasons. While I Have Been to Heaven and Back is a collection of oddments, figments, bits, pieces and rarities, it still serves quite well as a demonstration of why the Mekons are a Band You Should Know. It's a little of everything -- leftover session tracks, live recordings, re-recordings, obscure b-sides, longer versions, children's songs, compilation tracks and more. There's a boozy live cover of Rod Stewart's "You Wear It Well", clearly destined to be abused by college radio DJs. There's the startlingly hummable title track, withheld from The Mekons Rock N' Roll in a prophetic bit of mishandling by A&M. There's a new take on the anthemic "Orpheus", and a seventeen year old-relic of tongue-in-cheek ceremonial minimalism, "Roger Troutman". You'll tap your toes to the refurbished twang of "Cowboy Boots", groove to the gently politicized football anthem "Circle City (Mekons vs. Peace Love Hooligans)" and be amused and bemused by the traditional "Oranges and Lemons". Interspersed throughout are tiny snippets of "wild audio" -- various Mekons talking, etc. -- similar to those found on the Fall's Twenty-Seven Points; they give the disc a cheery, sometimes raucous informality. My only complaint is that the CD booklet just isn't detailed enough -- the brief production information given, as well as many of the snapshots in the booklet, hint at a fascinating background that begs a historical overview. Still, Mekons are Mekons, and while I Have Been... isn't the optimal place to start your Mekons collection, it clearly illustrates your burning need for a Mekons collection.