Artist: Depeche Mode

The question we have to ask is "Why?" Depeche Mode released The Singles, 86-98 because there was no comprehensive singles collection representing 1986 through 1998. But why release a singles compilation covering 1981 through 1985 when Catching Up with Depeche Mode already covers this turf? For one thing, the singles "Leave in Silence," "Everything Counts," and "People Are People," which were absent from Catching Up, are included here. All the songs are digitally remastered, but how much does digital enhancement really do to improve the sound of early-'80s synth-pop, which is so dated? Not much. However, it's natural to release a comprehensive singles collection that nicely coincides with 86-98. Both compilations are great for first-timers. And the two remixes on 81-85 ("Photographic [Some Bizarre Version]" and "Just Can't Get Enough [Schizo Mix]") will snag collectors. But maybe the answer has nothing to do with marketable packaging. DM have always fancied themselves as notorious. The liner notes for 81-85 include one negative review and one positive for each song. Perhaps as an attempt to fend off the specter of "where are they now?" Depec...
Depeche Mode - where it all started, and what a great start at that!, 2008-02-26
Barcode: 5016025682201

Depeche Mode are one of my favourite bands and although i think many would argue that their finest material would be to come after this compilation, however true that is, their early material stills holds a certain charm for me.

New Life is the perfect 80s anthem, insanely catchy and with an impeccable synth-melody as the outro kicks in you just fall back into a tune that is just as fun now as it was back then. Just Can't Get Enough is an equally classic tune and it's popularity is still evident in the fact the band still play it live.

Everything Counts is yet another highlight, illustrating the band's move toward a more industrial, darker sound - the layers of sound become more intricate, Martin's lyrics holding so much emotion and feeling in them delivered perfectly by Dave who i seriously believe ranks among the greatest male singers of all time.

Master and Servant and People Are People mark the height of their industrial sound and although they sound spectacularly dated, i love them - the way that whip sound is sampled in the former is just genius - the lyrics full of black humour also evident in the brilliant Blasphemous Rumours.

So, in conclusion, this serves as a perfect compilation of Depeche Mode's early years. Newcomers wishing for an introduction to the band are probably best getting 'The Best Of Depeche Mode, Volume 1' but for those wishing to see their beginnings as a brilliantly talented early 80s synth-pop band will find all their answers in this excellent compilation.

Artist: The Pussycat Dolls

Roll your eyes or--worse--invoke the Spice Girls all you want: Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like any one of the members of this revolving collective? Dissing the Pussycat Dolls is like denying you want a peek at the Victoria's Secret runway show--a foolhardy stance nobody's going to believe anyway. Never mind, for a moment, the semi-lewd pleasures of the disc's visuals (midriffs galore!): the pop on parade by this gang of writhers and eyelash-batters isn't bad. Nicole Scherzinger, a former member of the failed prefab teen pop act Eden's Crush, brings it with determination and carefully distributed shots of sweetness. More important, she gets high-wattage help. Busta Rhymes, Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am, and Timbaland all step in to dress up the Dolls' sound, and the songwriters' and producers behind PCD clearly know how to sexify a disc without sinking it into the gutter. What's best about the Dolls' debut, though, is its shamelessness. This is manufactured friskiness that doesn't take itself seriously; these girls don't want a Grammy, they only want to pounce. --Tammy La Gorce
Lots Of Great Girly Tracks, 2009-08-10
Love this album, the best songs are Beep, Don't Cha, Buttons, I Don't Need A Man & my favourite of the album Stick With You. Teenagers & girly girls/women etc will love it. 5 stars!

Artist: Various Artists

EMI/Virgin, cdnow50, Jewel Case 44 Track 2001
A nice mixture of recent chart hits., 2002-01-23
There are some very good pop songs but why wait till now to put a song by Five on a NOW album and Westlife, Uptown Girl was out in March time. The best songs on this album for me was Take Me Home (Sophie Ellis Bextor), Sing (Travis),Chain Reaction (Steps),Thinking It Over (Liberty-or was?), plus most of the pop songs. Some dance songs were good. The 2 songs I do not like are Because I Got High (Afroman) and 21 Seconds (So Solid Crew).

Artist: Pink Floyd

Fantastic Floyd!, 2010-04-03
This seems to have been a difficult title to obtain, having being avaialble in several rather expensive guises. However, the quality and sheer majesty of hearing The Wall live would have been worth it. At this price it is simply a must buy.

Artist: Robyn

A Must Buy!, 2009-05-28
Old skool rapping and each track different, extremely good CD. I bought it for my husband as it's his kind of thing but I love it, can't stop playing it! 'Jack you off' is hilarious but don't have it playing in the car when your mother-in-law gets in. A must have CD!

Artist: Kylie Minogue

Between her late 1980s reign as the "I Should Be So Lucky" Aussi soap star turned pop princess and her iconic re-emergence heralded by No.1 "Spinning Around" and Robbie Williams Duet "Kids", Kylie Minogue had an altogether different kind of pop career. In the mid-1990s the miniature star released two, very grown-up and exquisitely sophisticated albums, both simply titled Kylie Minogue, for the now defunct dance label Deconstruction. It is the best tracks from that period, plus a handful of previously unreleased songs and remixes that fill Hits. Although the title's somewhat misleading, given that the albums from which the tracks come were deemed commercial flops, it's not overstating things to say that in "Breathe", "Did It Again" and "Automatic Love", this collection contains some of the most stylishly executed pop the UK has ever heard. But it's haunting singles "Confide In Me", "Put Yourself In My Place" and Nick Cave duet "Where The Wild Roses Grow", graced by the sumptuously breathy vocals that transformed cute-bubblegum-pop-Kylie into a pop seductress and institution, that are the jewels of this retrospective and her career, and prime examples of just how exhilarating ...
Honest, 2006-10-17
Hits+ is my favourite Kylie album, it's the only one I own. I've spent some time trying put my finger on why I like it so much and I think I know now. Hits+ is honest.
Here Kylie sounds like every woman I've ever know. It was made when her persona caught was somewhere between by neighbours and the sex goddess/ showgirl/ gay icon she is now.
I've encountered the jealously expressed in "Put yourself in my place", I've met women who were struggling with messy emotions like the one in "Did it again." "Breathe" is about being emotionally needy and half crazy because of it and "Confide in Me" is about secrets, and is probably one of the sexiest, deeply feminine songs I've ever heard. Though the album is occasionally poppy, it is a million miles from plastic pop of Fever and has an enormous range.
And like I said, it is honest.

Artist: 2 Unlimited

The 90s in a Cracking Nutshell, 2010-03-11
Remember Eurodance? That genre that overflowed with energy and fun first and foremost? The most 90s of genres? Dutch duet 2 Unlimited were at the forefront of it and, with this compilation, remind everyone just why they became so big.

This music is infectious, brilliantly catchy and sometimes even quite thoughtful. The duo were as loved as they were hated, but they achieved just what they set out to do - to create catchy and instantly recognisable music that brought life to wherever it was played.

This compilation features 16 tracks - their 13 big hits along with 3 new tracks, one of which, "Jump for Joy", gained fame as a favourite in aerobic programs. Certainly it's the big bang of a newcomer from the album. "Spread Your Love" is wonderful as well but in a very different way. "Do What's Good for Me"... just doesn't cut it, but I hope it didn't have a hand in the duo's downfall (as they disbanded after all these tracks were released as singles without success).

Remember "No Limit"? Are you able to resist it any more now than you could back in the 90s? Of course not. How about "Ready for This", revived when it was featured in animated feature Space Jam? Or if you want more thoughtful, sensual stuff, you have "No One" and "Nothing Like the Rain" (beautiful, beautiful songs both of them). Perhaps the eerie but catchy "Faces"? In my opinion, only "Maximum Overdrive" sounds weak, as well as "Twilight Zone". The rest, however, will get your blood flowing if you remember these guys. If you're getting acquainted with them now, well, you're in for a lot of music that can still set a room on fire - whether it's just you or other people in it.

The cover doesn't do this music justice whatsoever. This is dance music first and foremost and it really should have reflected that better. Doesn't change the music, as uplifting and full of life as ever it was.

Artist: Demi Lovato

No1mum, 2009-12-15
My daughter wanted this for her birthday as she is a big HSM and Camp Rock fan, and has been listening to it ever since!

Artist: Bananarama

Classic, 2009-09-05
Madonna confessed she used to dance to this in her Ballet class, as an aspiring dancer she would put on Bananarama and funk it up, later requesting them in the clubs where she socialised in downtown New York. This album is a timeless listen and one of there best efforts.

Artist: Thompson Twins

...a charming friend..., 2009-04-21
For me, this is the 80's benchmark. It's one of the first albums I bought.

The new Edsel release contains a disc of remixes approximating the bonus mixes you got with the cassette release in '84. Much has been made of the lack of quality of the remastering on the Edsel re-release. That is all worth pointing out, but I'm not here to split hairs.

'Into The Gap', for me, is timeless. Every track is a standout... but, even after 25 years of living with this album, it gets played in its entirety quite regularly, moreso as the years go on...

The album's packaging, back in the day, was overwhelmingly blue... and that's how I still see it. A deep blue Bahamas day. It was recorded at the legendary Compass Point studios in Nassau, and I think you can hear the surrounding natural beauty coming through, translated, via the synths of Tom, Alannah and Joe. In that regard, I think it's true art.

Standout track for me (and we really are splitting hairs now) is 'Storm On The Sea'; I have grown to love this song over the years. The singles are all amazing. An over-used word in my reviews is 'sublime', but it applies here in spades.

It's all wonderful.