Retrospective is a double-disc compilation of Red House Painters' songs from the band's 4AD era. The compilation was released in July 1999. Disc one is a collection of definitive Red House Painters tracks culled from their debut album Down Colorful Hill through 1995's Ocean Beach, as picked by 4AD label owner Ivo Watts-Russell. Disc two, subtitled Demos, Outtakes, Live (1989-1995), is a collection of unreleased demos and live recordings from their 4AD years. The essay inside the booklet was written by Rob O'Connor in April 1999. A working title for this collection was Red Perspective.[3]
Wire photograph by Chris Bigg; lighthouse photograph by Dominic Davies.
Liner notes by Rob O'Connor (credited to "Rob O'Condor"; this is a typographical error. Rob O'Connor also penned the liner notes for the vinyl edition of Mark Kozelek's Admiral Fell Promises album in 2010[4]).