Best of Miami Vice [Import, Original recording remastered, Soundtrack]

Jan Hammer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 14, 2004)
• Original Release Date: September 28, 1984
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered, Soundtrack
• Label: River
• ASIN: B0002AYGDA
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #444,526 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Miami Vice Theme

2. Crockett's Theme

3. Voodoo Dance

4. South Beach

5. Lombard Trial

6. Boat Party

7. Candy

8. Angelina Flashback

9. Rain

10. Clues

11. The Talk

12. Gina

13. Airport Swap

14. Runaround

15. El Viejo Mix

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New, not improved?, August 9, 2006

By 

Firebrand - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best of Miami Vice (Audio CD)

This is a 15-track compilation of "Miami Vice" soundtrack instrumentals. Most of the tracks can be found on the definitive and complete "Miami Vice" soundtrack album, the two-CD/22-track "Miami Vice: The Complete Collection". There are three "new" tracks on this collection, recorded in 2004, and they are as follows:

1. Miami Vice Theme. Re-recorded in 2004, and extended with a some extra riffs and layers. Although not appreciably different, the new licks by Hammer are nice.

2. Crockett's Theme. Liner notes: "Seizing the opportunity to give Crockett's Theme a 2004 treatment, Jan re-recorded the track exclusively for this release". The end result: a somewhat brightened up tone, fattened up with some new riffs and layers. While almost identical to the original, the brighter and bigger (less haunting, less floating) sound is not an improvement, and strangely makes it sound more dated, and not more "modern". Hammer puts an annoying whistle behind the opening, which ruins the tension of the original. If you're looking for something like a Massive Attack kind of treatment, you won't find it here. Hammer's riffs are "fatter", behind the beat at times, which is also not better. The pulse of the original was what made it.

3. "South Beach". A track Hammer originally intended to use for "Vice", but never did it. This is something of a minor throwaway number. There are many post-"Vice" Hammer originals (found on his album "Drive", for example)that have a much stronger "Vice" sound.

Except for the curiosity of hearing these three tracks, hard core "Vice" fans are better off with "Miami Vice: The Complete Collection".








It is arguable if these are the "best of", and

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some Classic Sounds, October 15, 2008

By 

A. Shapter (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best of Miami Vice (Audio CD)

This album will take you back to the pink neon, the white suits, big hair and endless pastels. Hammer revisits some iconic Vice tunes that are hard to come by, including 'Airport Swap' and 'Gina'. It's all pretty easy to listen too and won't be a bad addition to any beach party for the over 30's who remember the show from the 80's. The only gripe for Vice purists is that the Main Theme and 'Crockett's Theme" have been extended and 'updated' (in the mid 90's) and so may not be as enjoyable as the originals.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars That was just awful, November 4, 2006

By 

S. Shipman (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Best of Miami Vice (Audio CD)

Jan Hammer's 2004 re-recordings of several of Miami Vice's indelible themes succeeds only in sanding off all of the crispness and sharp edges that were in the originals. The Hammer tracks from the original soundtrack release were edgy and sometimes brash, not to mention *clean*. The revisions are indeed lush, but if you're looking to be taken back to the sound that was Miami Vice, you won't find it here. Alas, what you will find is something akin to elevator music -- slowed down, "easy listening" pieces that leave you itching to hear the real thing.