Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Overview, since updated, September 16, 2005
While this made a pretty good retrospective when it was first released, the 2002 compilation, "Look of Love," eliminates the superfluous remixes, adds four more songs and is a better remaster. Skip this one and jump up to "Look."
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Greatest Hits Collection Hampered by Poor Remixes, May 17, 2000
With ABC's excellent Alphabet City album sadly out of print on CD, this best-of collection will have to serve as the first choice for an initiation into ABC's classic 80's electro-pop. And it is a fine testament to the efforts of Martin Fry and Mark White, as writers, performers, and producers. However, the excellence of the singles that make up the first two-thirds of this album is hampered, unfortunately, by the four remixed versions that follow. Most casual listeners of eighties pop radio will instantly recognize the heavy charters such as "Poison Arrow, "The Look Of Love," "Be Near Me," and "When Smokey Sings." The collection also benefits greatly from the inclusion of noncharting singles from 1987's aforementioned Alphabet City, "The Night You Murdered Love," and "King Without A Crown." These tracks rank right up with the Pet Shop Boys' releases of the same era for pure electronic dance pop. Unnecessarily, disappointment and, indeed, tedium sets in during the last four tracks of the collection which span more than twenty minutes. In fact, their inclusion here is inexplicable. The album is more than complete without them, and the thirteen preceding tracks certainly give you your money's worth. Furthermore, the remixed versions are poorly done and, instead of adding energy and danceability (which is what most good dance mixes accomplish), the beats and tempos are disjointed and clumsily segued, making them more difficult to listen or dance to than the original versions. If you were ever a fan of ABC and their radio singles, I can definitely recommend the purchase of this album. However, I also recommend utilizing the program function on your CD player to play the first thirteen tracks and ignore the four remixes at the end.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
EXCELLENT 80s BAND, March 30, 2000
With that perfectly fabulous Euro-pop synthesized sound that defines the excesses of the 80s, this collection is a revelation of ABC's superb production, smooth and exciting vocals, and hook-filled hit singles. Easy to listen to over and over, the best cuts for my money are the wildly overblown That Was Then This Is Now, the sublime and dramatically gorgeous Be Near Me and the perfect tribute to Smokey Robinson and the Motown sound, When Smokey Sings. Let this album take you back...
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