At times, the record feels as if it's been beamed in from a wonderful alternative version of 1986.

He made the case for a new kind of leader, and created a semi-fictional alternative version of himself that would fit his own job description.

They capture a sense of fragile emptiness, and through them we see an alternative version of history.

An alternative version, in which companies could charge motorists directly through toll booths or electronic card readers, has been ruled out.

Sometimes they raise objections to what they are asked to do, perhaps when an alternative version of a tale would allow them to marry the princess or whatever.