Customer Reviews

The Best of Divine

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
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Anyone who has tried to collect "DIVINE" on CD has found that not only do all the compliations sound terrible, but they are ALL from vinyl... EXCEPT this one...The producers of this set have actually taken the time to track down the master tapes, for everyevery single song and the results are perfection. In addition, all the mixes on this compilation are the extended versions making this worth the asking price! I highly recommend it to anyone who has been burned in the past...sets. - jw

There seem to be so many Divine collections on the market, but this one has most of the important tracks of Divine's legendary "singing" career. Actually, he only ever had one proper album ("Jungle Jezebel"), which encompassed nearly all of the famous Bobby O produced early hits, but here they are teamed with the second wave of hits that came with the Stock Aitken and Waterman productions like "You think You're A Man". It's nice to also see the lesser known songs like "Shout It Out" and the slightly slower tempo "sexy" number "T Shirts and Tight Blue Jeans". Hey, Divine can be seductive too!...hmm. The versions here are quite good mixes (you would go mad trying to list all the countless variations and remixes of this material that are out there), so this seems to be the album to go for. Just don't play it all in one sitting...! His first disco hit, "Native Love" can be a mindblowing experience when heard for the first time, as it's quite unlike anything else, but then the trademark repetitious beat that reappears on every subsequent track might give your brain an overload. Just don't mention "I Feel Love"...

Classic 80's dance traxx are what you will find here on "The Best Of Divine". The unforgettable hit, "NATIVE LOVE" really makes you shake your jungle thing. The classic, "SHOOT YOUR SHOT" has that Donna Summer rift that everyone & their brother has used. "LOVE REACTION" (the New Order ripoff). "I'M SO BEAUTIFUL (MY FAVORITE) is a classic dance trak with X-ELENT words that everyone should adhere to. "YOU THINK YOUR A MAN" has a good beat & you can dance to it (more HAIRSPRAY please). You will not be disappointed with the classic 80's NRG that DIVINE supplies on all of these traxx. Disco was never dead, it was just reborn & is still alive. These CLAS-SICK wax traxx are 4ever yours on this incrediable edible CD. Oh Mr. Eggman won't you please buy me "The Best Of Divine" ? Thanks Schroeder (DJ WACK "O")

Divine, of course, was best known as John Waters' leading "lady" in several of his films. But he also had a career as a post-disco dance music diva. Sure, he couldn't sing worth a lick, but that's besides the point. He managed to be entertaining on his records by force of his personality. These songs were recorded in the 1980s, in the "hi-NRG" style that was popular in gay dance clubs at the time. They are fairly entertaining, with Divine spouting some ridiculous lyrics, but the musical backing tracks tend to sound pretty much the same. This is probably the best Divine CD available, if you're looking for one.

Ow... What a pleasant surprise when I bought this CD. I was a Divine fan for her films (mainly in John Waters' first cult flicks - see Pink Flamingos). Also, I was a fan of 80s italo disco, or eurobeat, whatever you call it. Good for me, Divine's music is bad and nasty eurodisco. Produced by Bob Orlando and these guys who worked with Dead or Alive... You cannot live without it. Tell ya.

The year is 1981, and the legendary drag queen of the cult cinema sashays her way across the stage.Her name is DIVINE, and to the gay subculture the greatest actress to live and also the greatest singer to shout and growl his way through many '' gay disco anthems''Divine was right at home in the under ground club scene singing such classics as ''Cheap'' Im so Beautiful '' Shoot your shot'''' Tshirts and tight blue jeans'' just to name a few. To witness Divine Live on stage in a crowded Gay club, cursing and singing was and will forever be a Divine Eperience.

This is a great Hi-NRG record! Divine remarked in the album notes that he 'can't sing worth a lick', but who cares?! His voice is rough and many of his lyrics are silly, but it works! I played this CD in the car and it got me so worked up I got a speeding ticket!

Bobby O produced the lion's share of the tracks and they have the a tendency to be monotonous galloping techo beats with the same lyrical arrangements (Shout it Out and Shake it Up are almost the same song) but there are a few stand outs (Native Love, Love Reaction, Psychedlic Shack, Kick Your Butt). However, Divine shows musical progression with high quality production and more interesting disco arrangements with the S.A.W produced tracks. One can hear how Divine inspired many Euro Dance groups of the 1980s: New Order, Pet Shop Boys, and Dead or Alive, whose lead singer, Pete Burns, after listening to Divine's "You Think You're A Man", requested SAW to do Dead Or Alive's 2nd LP with Epic Records in 1984-1985, "YouthQuake" (listen to DOA's biggest international hit "You Spin Me 'Round" and notice the shocking similarity to Divine's YTYAM).

Like the previous reviewer I ordered this Divine compilation and was surprised when it arrived - the cover is completely different from the one previewed by Amazon. However, the track listing is the same, so you should be reasonably confident you're getting what you paid. This edition was released more than 15 years ago by Hot Productions, who released dozens of old disco albums and compilations through the 90s. Hot states that their releases are mastered from original sources, and where possible they use full 12" or album versions. Most of the tracks on Best of Divine are full length or extended club mixes with the exception of a couple of tracks, and the sound quality is fine. This release looks like the best value and quality of the many Divine compilations available. If you're at all familiar with the work of producer Bobby O, you will know what to expect with this material; the included, later SAW productions are, for me, Divine's best material and the icing on the dog turd.

i love love love divine & was so excited to get this cd in the mail BUT to my dismay, the track listing in the description on this site is wrong. this cd DOES NOT have 'you think you're a man', 'i'm so beautiful' & 'jezabel', which is unfortunate & frustrating because these are the very tracks i bought the cd for.

If you were a fan of Divine and him/her movies, you will like this CD, the best of Divine.