Customer Reviews

The Best of the Call - The Millennium Collection

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The Call are quite possibly THE most underrated band in all of rock. Led by phenomenal singer/songwriter/bassist Michael Been, The Call have created some of the most intelligent, passionate rock music ever recorded. The music critics have always loved them, and Peter Gabriel and Bono of U2 count themselves as huge fans. But despite all of their acclaim (and a couple of moderate 80's radio hits, "The Walls Came Down" and "Let The Day Begin"), The Call have never gotten the mainstream success that they so rightfully deserve. Not being pin-up boys, and crafting music that may have been considered TOO sophisticated for Top 40 radio, their various record labels never quite knew how to market them, and their albums, however brilliant, never racked up the big sales that they should have. Sadly, six of The Call's eight studio albums are currently out-of-print, leaving just "Reconciled" and "Into The Woods," plus some Best Of compilations like this one, "The Millennium Collection." But this new Call compilation CD will definitely give you a clear picture of what this wonderful band are all about. Many Call classics are found here---the aforementioned hits "The Walls Came Down" and "Let The Day Begin," "Modern Romans," "Scene Beyond Dreams," "Everywhere I Go" (featuring Peter Gabriel on backing vocals), "I Don't Wanna," "What's Happened To You" (featuring Bono on backing vocals), plus a great live version of one of The Call's great signature tunes, "I Still Believe." The band's musicianship is tremendous, and Michael Been's emotionally-charged voice & lyrics will go straight to your heart. I sincerely hope that SOME smart record label out there will pick up The Call's outstanding catalog of albums, and re-release them to the world. The Call are a great band, a significant band. With so much commercial success these days being bestowed upon acclaimed groups like Coldplay, Radiohead, and veteran acts like U2, it is a terrible shame that The Call have been unfairly overlooked. "The Best Of The Call: The Millennium Collection" is proof positive that this is a band that can easily give Bono, Chris Martin, Thom Yorke & company a run for their money. You want to hear *important* rock music? Listen to The Call.

There's a reason Al Gore chose Let the Day Begin as his campaign theme song; it's because LTDB by The Call is a blistering, foot-stomping, guitar-crunching, all-out full throttle attack rock anthem. This song features the signature literate lyrics and vocals of Michael Been and the uplifting keyboards of Jim Goodwin that were The Call's trademark in the mid to late 80s. This compilation, the 2nd Call best of in the last 3 years, is a welcome retrospective of the most underrated American alternative rock band of the 80s.

The Millennium Collection includes the band's first hit, The Walls Came Down, as well as "War Weary World", the quirky lead track off of the band's eponymously-titled debut album. This is followed by the scathing "Turn a Blind Eye", also from the first disc, and Modern Roman, the surf-punk guitar title track from the group's second album. Next up is the dreamy "Scene Beyond Dreams" from the album of the same name. Also included are the obligatory, mesmerizing "Everywhere I Go", featuring Peter Gabriel on backing vocals, and "I Don't Wanna." "You Run" and "Surrender" were overshadowed on the LTDB album due to the strength of the title track but are truly great songs in their own right. "What's Happened to You" features U2's Bono singing backup. The compilation is rounded out by a live version of one of The Call's biggest hits, I Still Believe.

NB: The Amazon track listing is wrong. "I Don't Wanna" appears instead of "Soaring Bird." (unfortunately!) All in all, this is a very solid compilation of The Call from 1982-1990, featuring a generous helping of early work and underappreciated gems in addition to the obvious choices.

The music in the early '80s, attempted to fuse the new post-punk political awareness and social idealism in music with the crackling guitars and minimalist song structure of New Wave...and "The Call" was in the lead, and right on!

Right from the opening track - "LET THE DAY BEGIN", brilliant singer/songwriter Michael Been, recorded in 1989, is still as fresh today as then. Looks like Al Gore thought so, used it as reveille for his presidential campaign - no matter what your political choices are, you have to admit...Al can pick a winner of a song.

So music fans of the '80s, go back as you listen to the lyrics of "The Call", find out what all the hulla-baloo was about...clearly it's all here...as this was the time to get involved!

Total Time: 52:11 on 12 Tracks... ... ...(2000)

"Let the Day Begin" by The Call is one of the most underrated, hardest rocking, pulse pounding, rock songs I never knew of until I stumbled upon it on the radio one day. WHY IS THIS BAND SO UNKNOWN??? That song kicks major ass! The rest of the selection on this best of collection is not quite up to what that song is, but it's not bad either. "Walls come down" is a pretty neat song as well, and everything else is decent enough for a listen or two. Pick this up for "Let the Day Begin", and enjoy that song.

Leader/vocalist/guitarist of The Call, father of Robert Been (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) as well as the sound engineer for BRMC, Michael Been has passed away at the age of 60. No official cause of death has been announced and all the information we've gotten thus far has been from foreign news sites translated. Here's what we know about this very sad event:

Michael Been, sound engineer and father of bassist Robert Been of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, was unwell Thursday in the backstage area of Pukkelpop. "The first aid was immediately administered by the workers of the Flemish Cross and the doctors present backstage." says festival organizer Chokri Mahassine. "The Medical Emergency Team was immediately on the spot." He was rushed to the Salvator Hasselt hospital where he later died.

Our hearts go out to our close friend Robert, his family & the band.

RIP Michael Been.

This is a great album featuring many of the bands strongest material. If you have never bought a Call album this is the one to buy. The musicianship, lyrics, and the strength of Michael Been's voice has always made this a special band. It is a shame that this band languishes with low record sales compared to what produces multiple platinum albums today. Give this a listen and you will see my point.

This is the first disc that I purchased from the call. I liked it because it was all hits. I highly recommend this disc.

I remember the first time and only time I ever heard a song from The Call other than The Walls Came Down on radio. I want to say it was 1989, but I'm not sure. It was late at night and the disc jockey said something to the effect, "call in and tell me what you think about this song". The song he played was I Don't Wanna and that song affected me like no other song ever has. The movement of the song both lyrically and musically crescendos to a peak that is emotionally undeniable - funny that it ends with the words, "I just know it". I could never understand why this band fell through the cracks - I find their music completely accessible, despite the somewhat sophisticated lyrics that I am sure were too "mature" for the teen audience of the time. The songs on Millenium Collection still play well and always spark a melancholic sense of life and pursuit of love.

I'd almost forgotten how great these guys sound. I'm quite happy I bought this and look forward to keeping them on my play list for a very long time.

Truly one of the most under-rated bands of our times. The Call had balls when others didn't.