Customer Reviews

The Best of the 80's: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While it is true that this album only has 12 songs, and many of these songs are found on other compilations, the other reviewers missed a key point with this CD. Unlike most other compilations, which usually have the short radio versions of the songs, the versions of the songs on this particular CDs are the full length album versions (with the exception of Blondie's 'Call Me', which is the short version found on her own Greatest Hits album as opposed to the long version on the American Gigolo soundtrack). In some cases this makes no difference, but for a few of the songs, it certainly does (like the violin intro to Come On Eileen, for example, which is missing from any other compilation I own with that song on it). Most impressively, the version of Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go is the full length 12" club version from 1981, which is actually fairly hard to find on CD.

A true 80's compilation! Where I come from, we were exposed to chart music from both sides of the Atlantic, i.e. US and UK music, and I can tell the uninitiated that this CD has 9 No.1's and 3 other Top 10 singles :

Video Killed (US#40, UK#1) Call Me (US#1, UK#1) Tempted (US Top 50, UK#6) Tainted Love (US#8, UK#1) Our House (US Top 10, UK Top 10) Sweet Dreams (US#1, UK Top 3) One Thing Leads (US Top 5) Relax (US#10, UK#1) Everybody Wants (US#1, UK Top 3) Come On Eileen (US#1, UK#1)

Addicted To Love (US#1, UK Top 10) Higher Love (US#1, UK Top 20)

Absolutely value for money. A CD that the 80's music buff could just put on his CD player and play over and over again. Memories are made of these!

My two complaints about this CD are that there are only 12 tracks on this CD, and that the tracks included on this CD are commonly available on 80's compilation.

THE BEST OF THE EIGHTIES MILLENNIUM COLLECTION is an album of twelve songs that represent some of the best songs from the early 1980s. I originally purchased this album for The Buggles classic "Video Killed the Radio Star." There are several other tunes that I enjoyed listening to and that reminded me of my early childhood. The songs are song by the original artists. Unlike many "best of" compilations the liner notes for this album includes a short paragraph about each one of the songs and not just the title of the song and the musicians. Also, all of the songs except "Call Me" are the full length versions of the original songs. Besides "Video Killed the Radio Star" the other songs I enjoy listening to on the album include:

"Call Me"--Blondie

"Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go"--Soft Cell

"Come on Eileen"--Dexys Midnight Runner

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"--Eurythmics

"One Thing Leads to Another"--The Fixx

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"--Tears for Fears

"Addicted to Love"--Robert Palmer

This is an album that serious fans of 80s music might find unnecessary. However, it's a good album for someone who has a casual interest in the genre or as a way to introduce someone to the music of the period.

20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of the 80's is a very reasonably priced CD which is good for people on a budget. However, I came away aggravated with this record label; they could have and should have added at least one or two songs to make this a bit more complete. The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork is good even though it is somewhat standard for this CD series.

The album begins with The Buggles doing their smash hit, "Video Killed The Radio Star." "Video Killed The Radio Star" uses some great effects to make the singer's voice seem remote at time; and those backup singers harmonize to perfection! The Buggles also use a rather smart musical arrangement to enhance the number even more--impressive! In addition, there's a major 80's hit when Blondie sings her awesome "Call Me." "Call Me" is a number I could never hear enough of back in the day; "Call Me" is full of positive energy and Blondie never skips a beat. Blondie truly did this so very well and that's grand. Squeeze also weighs in with another tune I always loved, "Tempted." "Tempted" has excellent percussion and drums to mark the beat and "Tempted" was easily one of Squeeze's biggest hits. It is also a major highlight of this album.

Soft Cell uses some great musical effects on their "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go" medley tune; Soft Cell performs this with panache and I always liked this. Then there's another huge highlight of this album, "Come On Eileen." Come On Eileen" was another song I couldn't get enough of; Dexys Midnight Runners do this faultlessly and the strings are well used in the arrangement.

"Our House" always reminds me of my childhood home; and there's also a real treat when The Eurythmics bat "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" straight out of the ballpark! The Eurythmics always made their fans happy; and just one listen to this tune will tell you why they enjoyed so much success with "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." "One Thing Leads To Another" by The Fixx rocks pretty hard and it doesn't let you down-this is an excellent number.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood does "Relax" without a single superfluous note; this also rocks pretty hard. Tears For Fears also chips in a great number with their hit entitled "Everybody Wants To Rule The World." "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" just plain sounds good and it got a lot of airplay. In addition, Robert Palmer makes good on his mega hit, "Addicted To Love." "Addicted To Love" was always one of my very favorite tunes from the 1980s; and the CD ends so very well with Steve Winwood performed "Higher Love." "Higher Love" has a stunning arrangement that uses the percussion brilliantly and it still sounds wonderful today!

20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of the 80's certainly offers great quality 80's music; but there should have been at least one more track on this album. This will be a four star review for that reason; but don't let that deter you from getting this CD if you want an introduction to great music from the 80's. Of course, the diehard fan will have these hits already and so they should seek out more comprehensive CDs or box sets on this website.

Even though I was born in the 90's these songs where played in the house. I love these songs from TV KILLED THE RADIO STAR to RELAX. This is a great cd I can listen t it over and over again and not get bored

Threw an 80s themed party a few months ago and my iPod crashed. Needed something in a pinch and this was one of the albums I got. Saved me the time of looking up every thing individually, which was nice.

As has already been mentioned, these are the longer versions of the radio hits you know and love. They are not the EXTENDED versions you may remember from the club though, so if you're looking for those, you should go elsewhere.

A good CD. You know exactly what you're getting. Who hasn't heard these songs a million times?

this is a great cd. it is fun and enjoyable to listen to. the best songs on this cd are all of them

I'm not old enough to remember a good portion of the 80's, but when nostalgia strikes, I pull out my John Hughes videotapes and a copy of this CD. It's full of songs that everyone knows and loves, such as Sweet Dreams and Higher Love. A previous reviewer stated that a lot of these songs are on other 80's compilations, but if you are new to the 80's, go for this compilation: the songs are great, and the CD is relatively cheap.

Don't get me wrong this is a great collection of songs brought to you by the "Gold" album (not MFSL) folks at Hip-o records. How could anyone not like "Video Killed The Radio Star" by the Buggles, "Call me" by Blondie or "Addicted To Love" by Robert Palmer? The catch (and warning) is that the songs are so good that they're duplicated on a million other 80's collections out there. If you are just starting an 80's collection, this album is a perfect choice. If your existing 80's collection already contains 10-20 CD's look out. You might want to pass. The recording quality is excellent which is typical of Hip-o Records. Thanks for reading.