5 comments about Ultimate Collection.

1. Finally, a Fixx collection that has the album versions instead of "live versions" of several hits. I can remember seeing them open for Flock of Seagulls in the summer of 1983. Their videos were all over MTV '83-86.



2. The Fixx's ULTIMATE COLLECTION is the ultimate anthology by the one 80s MTV band that actually got critical praise along with its commercial success. The reason the Fixx didn't get bad reviews from the press is because of several differences between them and their peers. For one, guitarist Jamie West-Oram's guitar was one of the dominant instruments in this band, rather than the synthesizers which dominated such groups as the Human League, making the Fixx sound a lot like Roxy Music crossed with the Steve Miller Band and Fleetwood Mac. For another, the band's lyrics often discussed serious issues, such as nuclear war, abuse of technology and science, and divisions between people, the latter two of which inspired me to try out Eastern diet ideas, as well as to walk more instead of relying on Arab oil all the time for a ride, eventually resulting in the college-aged female lifeguard at the swimming pool I attended thinking I was cute. Where as a Human League shirt might get you nominated for TLC's WHAT NOT TO WEAR these days, the Fixx still sound contemporary today because the issues they discuss can still have relevance as the Bush era draws to a close. Overall, while the Fixx certainly use their share of synths, they're not really a synth-pop group.



3. Nice overview. Really bought this CD for a couple of songs only.
   Some good stuff on it and some dull things too.



4. Has all the tracks I was looking for, and a few other (mediocre) ones as well.... Kind of, a bonus.(?) Overall excellent though!



5. I much prefer this greatest hits collection because the original versions of 'Stand or Fall' and 'Red Skies' come from 'Shuttered Room', my favorite Fixx album. The versions on the other older GH were horrible by comparison. While 'Reach the Beach' is probably their most popular album, I still prefer 'Shuttered Room'. My interest in the band focuses primarily on the first two albums. After that, their hits are the only thing that mattered to me.
   
   I was surprised at the track selections from 'Shuttered Room' on this compilation. I think 'Cameras in Paris' or 'I Live' are better songs than 'Lost Planes' or 'Some People'. Nonetheless I appreciate the extra attention to 'Shuttered Room'.
   
   I still have no idea why they insisted on the long version of 'Deeper and Deeper'. And since I'm biased toward their early material, the anthology they have is not necessary for me.

5 comments about Room On Fire.

1. after reviving rock and roll, the strokes come back with a solid second effort, after this however they begain to backslide in my opinon.



2. There a lot of snobs who try to knock any band that gets any public recognition while clinging to obscure bands that can't sing or play their instruments. Why all the music politics? I've listened to television, velvet underground and the stooges... I have their albums. The worst strokes song is easily better than the best television song especially because the singer of television has a HORRIBLE voice. Velvet underground is a mere novelty, and the stooges are ok at best. If anything, the strokes build from all the obscure idie bands and make them actually listenable by having talent.
   
   There are so many few bands left that are actually good songwriters and the music snobs all want you to not listen to any of them and sit in a basement listening to Marque Moon all day. Don't listen to them and buy this album and if you are a fan of rock music this album can not possibly fail to deliver. The strokes are one of the only true rock bands left. When the rest is horrible rap-metal, brat-punk, emo-trash, and bubblegum-nonsense, you gotta thank your lucky stars for a band like the strokes. I Can't say enough about all their albums, pure songwriting genius.
   
   Do yourself a favor and tell the hipster snobs living in their mom's basement to sit on a stick. Buy this album! Don't ever let anyone dictate to you what is "cool" or not. Use your own ears and you'll be rewarded.



3. When this album came out it got great critical reviews, but they ended up hurting it in the long run because of the over hype. Some critics claimed the band to be "the saviors of rock n' roll" in the fury of their first release of Is This It. While both of their releases contain some great rock n roll tunes that are incredibly catchy and memorable, there just isn't anything original. But then again it's kinda hard to come up with something ground breaking and original when just about everything has already been done.
   
   Singer Julian Casablancas sings with a straightforward style a-la Lou Reed, yet lets it rip from time to time, kinda breaking away from his style on the first album. Oddly enough the guitars at times sound like synthesizers, making it a slight different from than their first album into a more new wave '80's vibe. The album is only a mere 33 minutes but it it sorta nice because it's not weighed down by boring "filler" tracks/songs.



4. I have used Amazon and their distributors on many occasions, and I have always been quite satisfied. My purchases, including this one, arrive on time and in the conditon that I expect...good. I also appreciate the low prices that amazon offers. I will continue to use their services and would recommend them to anyone who doesn't want to pay an arm and a leg for a book or cd.



5. Since I really love the first album, I had high expectations for this one. It is a fairly modest album. Most of the songs are fairly forgettable with a few highlights. It has some of the most interesting guitar tones on any of their albums as in: "12:51", "The Way It Is", "The End Has no End", some of the vocal highlights are probably "Under Control" "Reptilia" and "Automatic Stop." My main complaint is that the songwriting seems very uninspired and drab for the most part. The lyrics are mostly about relationships and partying. There is only so long that can be really interesting. They lack the sophistication of bands like Nirvana whose musical progress seemed inevitably brilliant. While I do love this band, I get the sneaking suspicion that they are still in the beginning phase of finding their real unique voice. To me it often feels like they are stumbling along and accidentally coming across certain moments of inspiration whereas "Is This It" seemed very cohesive. But hey, that's just the way it is. Unlike Nirvana, they have a future, and by their album "First Impressions of Earth" it would seem that that future is very good. Pick this one up if you are a big fan, but for someone who wants a real taste of the strokes, "Is This It?" or even "First Impressions" is probably a better bet.

5 comments about Violator.

1. This album has aged extremely well.It sounds as fresh as the first time I heard it 1989. Every track is excellent and and there is no filler. I usually don't listen to whole albums, but this was the exception.I strongly recommend it.It is by far the best Depeche Mode album.



2. Im not an expert on this genre or this band, but this is a great album. classic.



3. Probably my second favorite dm album, behind black celebration. Production is phenominal. Each song has a great synth hook.



4. This is the must have album for Depeche Mode. What more can I really say. Several hit songs, very good. I'm not a die hard fan but for the average fan, this ranks very high up there.



5. Let me begin by saying that I love Depeche Mode, and this is one of their best albums IMHO. Unfortunately, this remaster is like so many others from the 80s with a bloated mastering level and squashed dynamic range. Compared with the original CD it sounds thin and fatiguing. Maybe this is a conscious effort on the part of record producers to make the sound more friendly to compression to MP3 format or to listening on a portable device with really poor earbuds. However, when played on a high performance system the sound really suffers. Listeners are encouraged to check out this phenomenon [...]. Do yourself a favor and hold on dearly to the original CD. It sounds much more potent and involving. The same goes for other remastered music from the great 80s. Regard the remasters with a healthy dose of skepticism. Rock on!

5 comments about You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into.

1. Son totalmente congruentes con su portada, es asqueroso, es intrépido, es como para ir en una camioneta y arrojar huevos a la casa del que te cae mal, para tirarte un clavado sin haber medido la profundidad del agua, es volver a agarrarte a golpes por una exnovia, es reunirte con tus amigos a grabar un jackass amateur, es arruinar XV años, tomar desmedidamente y fumar como desesperado.
   
   Es su disco debut, se llama You have no idea what you're getting yourself into (Virgin Records/Almost Gold, 2008) y aquí les pongo el "track x track".
   
   Battle royale, acaba de empezar y la verdad no entiendes lo que pasa hay mucho procesador, mucho Daft Punk. En With a heavy heart se ponen groseros, sacan su cara atrevida y avanzan a We are rockstars que es el sencillo y la verdad es muy fácil de escuchar, buena elección. Dawn of the dead tiene un acercamiento al pop, es mi parte favorita del disco, y... ¿es calypso lo que se escucha en el fondo? Doomed now esta inundada de vocoders y un ritmo basado en los contras del platillo que es la fórmula ya por todos conocida que obliga a saltar. El Attack of the 60 ft lesbian octopus es mas velocidad, mas histeria y de verdad puedes casi imaginarlo. Let's make out. una historia de acariciar a tu pareja por debajo de la mesa, no les importa lo que pienses... a moverse! Being bad feels pretty good esta encaminada por el trazo de The Killers, The Bravery y hasta Modest Mouse, le bajan dos rayitas al volumen y demuestran que también pueden hacer letras que tengan sentido. Weird science es una piecita instrumental que tiene madera de sencillo (¿cómo logran ésto?), luciendo todos los dedos en el sampler. Para el final, en Epic last song esperaba que terminaran con ruido, con velocidad, con vómito, pero sacan un guantecito de algodón y con el dorso me abofetean, la explosión la guardan para la presentación en vivo.
   
   La crítica especializada los ubicó en el género del New Rave, justo atrás de los Klaxons y de la mano de Management, pero a mi estos 38.5 minutos me hicieron sentir "chavo" y me dejaron en la boca un muy buen sabor a punk.



2. I have to say, I can't stop listening to "Dawn of the Dead"...just utterly catchy and puts you in a great mood. They sound like Killers plus Daft Punk. Buy this album just for this song alone.



3. If you didn't know better, "Does It Offend You, Yeah" would be incredibly impressive. As it stands, they're fundamentally derivative copying a range of what passes as "indie" these days. Oh yeah, and it's also insanely catchy and fun. I can forgive them their unoriginality because they do it so well. The perfect example is "With A Heavy Heart" - a tune that is so rocking it nearly makes your head explode. It starts with a bang, builds to a frenzy, and keeps things crazy.
   
   A couple tracks sound a little like Justice, while a couple others borrow more than a little from M83. The thing is, there's a difference between reflecting the state of popular music as you see it, and borrowing to compensate for not really having a sound of your own. Since this is their first CD, I won't be too hard on "DIOYY". From this CD, I'm not yet convinced that they have a sound of their own. When they put out a second CD, then we'll see if there are any stylistic consistencies.
   
   In the end, none of this matters all that much because the music is just so fun. If you like rock mixed with electro and a sort of indie vibe, you'll find this fun, even if it's not the most ground-breaking CD out there.
   
   Originality - **1/2 (2.5 stars)
   Fun factor - ***** (5 stars)
   Overall - ***3/4 (3.75 stars)



4. does it offend you yeah? got their name from tv show the office randomly and formed to create a new and unique electronica band that puts on amazing live show complete with flying broken guitars and other such instruments. but their debut album gives the consumer a more rocked out version of daft punk with great songs like we are rockstars , weird science and dawn of the dead. I give this album 5 stars



5. It's that time once again, faithful readers. Time to stop attacking the wretched dross available on this site and embrace the very best things that makes The Curmudgeon NOT wish hot, burning death on everyone on the planet. In short - its a time of celebration. And hey - YOU'RE invited.
   
   Now, usually I review all-time classic things, of which have either changed The Curmudgeon's world or inspired him or pretty much changed the face of their respective genre's. In the past there's been Bowie, Prince, the Marvel Universe, the Simpson's.. pretty much untouchable stuff.
   
   Well, I'm going down a different route for this one, the second in a limited run of "Positive" reviews. I'm giving a five star rating to something that was only out a few months ago, because unless something amazing comes along, its going to be The Curmudgeon's album of 2008.
   
   "You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into" by electro-rock noise makers Does It Offend You, Yeah? (Man, good job there's no real word limit on these reviews - the album and band would take up about half of it).
   
   If anything, this serves as an example of why free (LEGAL) downloads can be a good thing, and the new power the internet has in discovering new music. Everyone seems to be calling free downloads the death of the industry, with heavy hitters like Coldplay and Prince giving stuff away, to the sounds of death cries by the major labels. But check this out; I had never heard of DIOYY until I got a free download of Let's Make Out. I listened to it. I liked it. I listened to it again. I loved it.
   
   On the strength of that ONE download I invested some time into reading up on the band. Through the net I discovered they were playing live in my town. So I bought tickets, went to the show and they blew me away. Yeah, I only new one song but that didn't matter - they were superb (and friendly guys afterwards, too). So then I bought this album. There you have it, major labels - a dedicated fan, buying tickets and records - all because of one free download. Something to think about.
   
   Anyway, I digress. Looking at the track listing, with "zany" titles like "Dawn of the Dead", "Epic Last Song" and, ahem, "Attack of the 60ft Lesbian Octopus" you could imagine a bunch of chancers with one good song and 9 other filler tracks of pointless noise. How wrong you would be.
   
   No song lasts more than four minutes, so there's no 10 minute instrumental acid funk snore-fest to skip. In fact, there's very little pretentious indulgence; every track is tight, catchy, addictive dance music. In fact, "Dawn of the Dead" and "Epic Last Song" in particular are great (whisper it) pop songs.
   
   In todays age, albums are in danger of being ignored, with people downloading a few select tracks from I-Tunes and throwing them on an MP3 player. With traditional tracklists fast becoming a thing of the past, its nice to see a band so in touch with the modern age create an album that sounds so seamlessly put together, that really DOES need to be experienced "the old fashioned way." Every track sounds just right after the other, in such a way that you couldn't imagine it any other order.
   
   It really is a great album; packed with songs that make you want to dance, make you want to sing with a hairbrush into the mirror and with songs that make you want to smash a chair over someone's head, WWE style.
   Really, what more could you ask for?
   
   Album of the year, then? Try band of the year too.
   
   And that, good reader, is Part Two in my list of the great and the good. But what could possibly be up next? Only one way to find out..

5 comments about The Psychedelic Furs - Greatest Hits.

1. During the earlier days of the new wave 80's, while most bands were making dance music and dressing outlandishly (think Duran Duran or A Flock of Seagulls), Richard Butler and his mates in the Psychedelic Furs took on a whole opposite tack. The first Psychedelic Furs album was a sublime mix of Velvet Underground drone and David Bowie's Low Berlin phase. Grinding with the commitment of fresh amateurism, "Sister Europe" caught the imagination of listeners in the UK and a cult following in the US.
   
   The Furs got better fast and cut a classic on the second try with Talk Talk Talk. Containing what is likely their best known song, "Pretty In Pink," it found the Furs upping the tempo and Butler's voice starting to come into its own. The version of PiP here is the original album version, much darker than the re-recording made for the John Hughes film, and "Mr. Jones" is a cleaner single mix. The next album has Todd Rundgren stepping up to the production booth, and he streamlined the band to the point where "Love My Way's" xylophone riff teased the top 40. Forever Now also saw the band start toying with politics on the Reagan bashing "President Gas."
   
   That tightness followed with Mirror Moves and more flirtations with top 40 radio. "Heartbeat" became a dance club hit and "The Ghost In You" really mirrored the Bowie fixation. The Reagan/Thatcher Axis took another poke with "Here Come Cowboys." The wait for success, however, came when Pretty in Pink hit theaters and Midnight to Midnight dropped "Heartbreak Beat," The Furs' highest charting single. But the band hated the album and tried for a more "return to the roots" on Book of Days...which was so under-rated that no songs from it appear here.
   
   The band hit transition for All That Money Wants, a new track on a best of. The Furs' lineup changed, they moved to New York and they released a great comeback, World Outside, but to little notice. Listen to the songs "There's a World Outside" and "Until She Comes," and you'll realize the album was better than its reception. While The Psychedelic Furs progressed from amateur Bowie acolytes to an influential force all their own, it is this Best Of that captures their devolvement on a single CD.



2. I am very pleased with the speed this order arrived. I would highly recommend further purchases with company.



3. Yes this is another great listen.....Love It ... Get It Now.....



4. I feel that a CD is well worth it if it has a least 3 good songs on it. This has at least 4 and is very nostalgic. It has remained in my car CD player since I got it



5. This is a all your really need of the Furs/Butler. The albums are padded with strained filler, but Butler was too vain to ever admit he was really a pop single scribe (he should have taken a page from Nike Lowe's book, look who is rich now?).
   
   Best tunes are: Pretty in Pink, Love My Way, The Ghost in You, Until She Comes.
   
   A great value.

3 comments about Dark Shades of Blue.

1. Compared to Xavier Rudd's larger body of work, "Dark Shades of Blue" languishes in a slump. I first want to establish that I adore Xavier Rudd; I enjoy his live show and I was enthralled by many of his earlier albums like "White Moth" and "Solace." What is the issue? It's hard to say. This pleasant album features all of the typical elements of a good Xavier Rudd release. It features Rudd's killer slide guitar, a good overall sound, the infusion of aboriginal sounds and his environmental consciousness. In this respect, "Dark Shades of Blue" seems a bit redundant. It is more of the same without taking things to the next level. What's ultimately missing is compelling song writing. 'Blackwater' is an amazing, jamband friendly instrumental piece that rocks hard. The rest of the selections are song oriented and the tunes just aren't that good. Hey you win some and you lose some. Before this effort, his albums made a straight flush. Let's hope that after the current tour, Xavier Rudd recharges his batteries and returns with anther exciting album.



2. I should preface this review by stating I'm a loyal fan who has attended several live performances and regard Xavier Rudd as one of my most followed artists. However, this album is very different from previous releases. It is dark, loud, and in my opinion cluttered.
   Xavier Rudd commented recently: "We captured what we do live, the thickness of it, the tone. I think we finally achieved what I've always wanted to hear on my recordings." One must respect the artist's thoughts regarding his own work, and to some point, it's quite interesting to know that he regards this as his live sound captured in a studio album. I've been to several live shows and Xavier Rudd is often alone, playing Didgeridoo, Lapsteel, Harmonica, Tongue drum, and guitar. On the Food in your Belly Tour he also added a drummer. His sound is simple but complicated as he predominantly plays all of the music himself simultaneously. This new album features bass guitar, electric, keyboards, and several ambient sounds that are unconventional to his sound. This provided a heavy, loud, and aggressive sound that often times sounded busy or cluttered to me. Some may have been waiting for an album like this, but I myself prefer his traditional sound.
   In conclusion, if you are starting to listen to Xavier Rudd and don't have the ability to get to a live show, then Good Spirit is a great live album to start with. As for studio releases, it doesn't get much better than Food in the Belly or White Moth. All three of these titles are excellent and clearly merit five star rating in this format. Bottom line, get to a live show. Xavier is very accessible as most shows are general admission.



3. This album is moody, heavy and emotional. I thought it was about time he tried something different and it works great.

5 comments about The Best of INXS.

1. This compilation pulls together all of INXS's best songs and is a very good one-disc collection. The sound is great and it brings back so many memories, for me. if you like 80's new wave, post punk and sleek, funky pop/rock you should love this. All fans of 80's pop need this in their collection.



2. This is a great compilation of INXS's music. All of the songs are enjoyable. There is no temptation to hit the skip button, unless maybe it's to get to an even better song. Otherwise, just put the disc in the player and let it go. Hutence's vocals are great. It's too bad he died young. Well, the listener can still have this CD. Get it if you're any kind of 80s pop fan.



3. I'm going to rate this CD based on a $1 per song cost to total cost for the entire CD (Apple and Rhapsody charge $1 per song).
   I never owned a thing by INXS my entire life. But I know 14 great songs on this CD just from my exposure to radio and MTV (when they played music videos). The total cost of the CD on Amazon is $11 making it a truly worthwhile purchase. Songs: Need you tonight, What you need, New sensation, One thing, Disappear, Never tear us, Mystify, This time, Suicide Blonde, Beautiful girl, Devil Inside, Bitter tears, Not enough time, Tight.
   It's ashame Micheal Hutchence is gone. Like Lennon, Hendrix and Morrison before him, who knows what music would be like today if they were still alive.
   Hope this helps.
   Darium June 2007



4. upon hearing them on the radio a few times recently, I decided to give this greatest hits a try. What a unique sound! Compared to today's music, INXS is lively, catchy, and carefree. There are a few filler songs on the album, but only 3 or 4 of the 20 or so songs. I'm still trying to figure out how they came up with the sound and beat for "What you need." I doesn't seem natural, which makes it all the more respectable. People don't experiment like this enough these days.



5. Put this CD in and rocked while doing housework. Had to stop a couple of times and reflect on the old times. Definitely worth getting.

5 comments about Jesus of Cool.

1. 
   Nick Lowe's JESUS OF COOL is one of the great albums of the 70's and one of the best examples of the "pub rock" sound that developed in England as A cousin to punk. Pub rock was more of a throwback to superior musicianship and lyrics that focused more on being clever than confrontational and Lowe captures the joys of the sound perfectly on this recording. Kicking off with the fierce drone of "Music for Money" every song here is a keeper, from "I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass," with it's pretty piano flourishes camouflaging the anarchy in the lyrics to the comic horror of "Marie Provost" and the silent star's final scene.(which involved "her hungry little dachshunds") I usually don't comment on the extras as they are often sheer padding, but if you bought Nick Lowe's American release known as PURE POP FOR NOW PEOPLE you'll be glad to know "Roller Show" with its hilarious sing-along chorus is here as is "They called it Rock" Dave Edmonds's preferred version of "Shake and Pop."(I have to agree with Dave on this one) Other highlights include the original "Cruel to be Kind" and the sarcastic "I Love My Label" which could probably be covered by any one in the industry with their tongues firmly planted in cheeks. The packaging is excellent as well, a true rarity for CD's, with good liner notes by Will Birch and many great pictures. It's nice to see someone get a reissue right, and JESUS OF COOL is deserving of special treatment.



2. This album rocks from cover to cover. I think it is Nick's best release. I was disappointed to find out that Norman Watt Roy of the Blockheads did most of the bass work, but I love him too. Nick grabs every hook in the book, and puts his own signature on them. It took me awhile to realize it, but "36 Inches High", with its quircky organ riff is priceless. This release includes a lot of nuggets that were only available on other releases previously, so I would recommend it over the US release, called "Pure Pop for Now People". Cool cover with a montage of Nick as various different rockers as well.



3. When I first heard So it Goes on the Bay Area's KSAN, I was hooked. I had my sister visiting London, get me the single and the LP. Nick Lowe rules.



4. I bought this to replace a cassette that I had made from the original vinyl LP and from vinyl 45s. Often collections of this type have a lot of filler that would best be left off. Not so here. If anything, I wish they had added one or two more B-sides from that period. This is great album packaged up to make a great collection. The result is a very enjoyable listen.



5. This is the original UK version, released in US as "Pure Pop for Now People," with a few differences in songs. It also has quite a bit in bonus recordings. The old title is appropriate, due to Lowe's influence on the punk scene-this recording feels light and happy even when dealing with the worst humans can offer. I much prefer its feel to the sad, always-down music that followed the punk era. We need more Rock messiahs like Nick Lowe.

5 comments about Orphans [Fold-out Digipak with 24-page booklet].

1. This was my 1st time using another seller for a used item (CD box set) and even if one of the cd is showing finger prints they are playing ok. Shipping was not as fast as an Amazon purchase.



2. The old version of Tom Waits, with the jazzy backdrop, lush orchestrations and tales of down-and-out losers and hookers in the dark bowels of the barroom night, seems assuredly gone forever at this point. One can relive those days vicariously through the artist's catalogue for Elektra/Asylum (plus the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola's ONE FROM THE HEART), but Waits has rigorously steered away from that previous incarnation since then, recording some of the most willfully idiosynchratic music since Captain Beefheart hung up his skates, as well as some of the most heartfelt songs--you know, with verses and choruses--anyone's ever written. ORPHANS has a lot of both, being a compilation of songs leftover from the sessions for his albums, contributions to tribute albums and soundtracks, fully-realized Waits versions of songs he's written for other artists, and a bunch of brand-new music in the bargain as well. Waits has helpfully sequenced this collection into a CD of loud 'n raucous stuff ("Brawlers"), a CD of ballads ("Bawlers") and a CD of completely unclassifiable material("B**tards), and a lot of it is great. The things that aren't you can skip over effortlessly, because there are enough gems to choose from on each disc, and, in a strange way, the collection serves as a good distillation of how Waits has morphed as an artist from 1983's SWORDFISHTROMBONES onwards. Even if you can't listen to the whole thing in one sitting (at least I can't), ORPHANS is as rewarding as any of Tom Waits' regular-issue albums, postcards from somewhere over the edge....or maybe just around the block. Real good.



3. Tom Waits has had a great last decade gaining a wide audience of people from all walks of music (this guy is insanely popular with people into death metal as well as people into blues but not the other etc) and ages. Grizzled sea shanties, blues rockers, jungle warbles, garbles of chewed up tape, gourds as xylophones. This is pretty much what you would expect from the Tom Waits as of recently, only instead of a concentrated choice of cuts it appears everything recorded was released as a whole. It seems incomplete ideas and filler get left in, but thats not a bad thing at all . I must say for a guy that has spent the best half of his career mimicking Captain Beefheart (who was mimicking Howlin Wolf) he is making steady progression in sound while still being the same dirty old hat.



4. ...not so much because the music reflects every single phase of Tom Waits' distinguished history (it doesn't really have anything that sounds like his first few albums), but because it's very hard to believe that such a massive and diverse collection of songs could simply be Waits' latest release. Sure, some of these tracks are reissued from the last ten years (soundtracks and other compilations), but for the most part this three-disc collection shows that Tom Waits has apparently got an inexhaustable muse.
   
   "Orphans" is an ideal purchase for both the long-term, diehard Waits fan AND the curious newcomer looking to find out about him. There are so many great songs it's pointless to discuss them all, but I think "Tell It To Me" might be the prettiest tune Waits has ever written. Meanwhile, "Lie To Me," "2:19" and his cover of "The Return of Jackie and Judy" (one of two Ramones covers here) rock as hard as anything he ever did. And for your more wigged-out moods, try "First Kiss" or "The Pontiac" on for size. There's something for everyone!
   
   Special mention goes to "Sea of Love" - Waits turns the original (a fairly formulaic love song fit for high-school dances c. 1962) into a spooky, bluesy moaner, with a brilliant lyrical twist in the chorus.
   
   For an artist to come up with this much new and worthwhile music 35 years into his career is an absolute inspiration.



5. tom waits is one of the best and this album is further proof of his excellentness.

5 comments about The Best of Howard Jones.

1. Great cd. It captures the 80s generation totally! "I'd like to get to know you well" is one of my favorite songs and can be found in "Better Off Dead". It's playing in the background as he's fixing his car. LOVE JOHN CUSACK!



2. EXCELLENT!! BROUGHT BACK MEMORIES!! WOULD BUY FROM AMAZON AND THIS SELLER AGAIN, PRICE EXCELLENT AND THE SPEEDY DELIVERY WONDERFUL TOO. THE COMPILATION OF THIS ALBUM WAS SOOO GOOD, SONG AFTER SONG...MADE YOU JUST SING ALONG
   
   GREAT BUY



3. To be honest, I was only familiar with a couple of Howard's songs, but I thoroughly enjoyed this album, including his version of Steely Dan's "What a Beautiful World." Yay, Howard!



4. Bought this for my husband, great CD, lots of great songs from the 80's. It is the best of HO JO!



5. Good Synth-Pop from England in the guise of Howard Jones. My favorites on this collection: "What is Love," "Things can only get better," and "City Song." Five stars for this collection!