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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More "Odds & Ends" than "Greatest Hits": For Longtime Fans,
By
This review is from: Best of Sixpence None the Richer (Audio CD)
As a longtime fan of Sixpence, I have been looking forward to this compilation, and was not disappointed. "The Best of Sixpence None the Richer" (18 tracks, 73 min.) features of course the handful of the band's truly "greatest hits" such as "Kiss Me", "There She Goes", "Breathe Your Name", etc. After that, this CD attempts to collect the many songs that Sixpence has released over the years on various soundtracks and compilations, and in fact does a great job at it. While I had a couple songs already, most of them I didn't. Outstanding is "I Need Love" (from the "Here on Earth" soundtrack), as well as "Brighten My Heart" (from the "Exodus" compilation). Less stellar is the Abba-cover "Dancing Queen" (from the the "Dick" soundtrack). The Japanese version of "Kiss Me" is also not really needed.
Some key album tracks are unfortunately missing, including the 1-2 punch of "Field of Flowers" and "Spotlight" (from "The Fatherless and the Widow"), possibly the best Sixpence songs ever, but also missing is "Tonight" from "Divine Miscontent", as well as "I Can't Catch You" and "Love" from the self-titled album, also among the best Sixpence songs ever. This makes the so-called "Best of" not the best possible overview of Sixpence's career for the casual fan, regretfully. I am totally convinced that Sixpence's career was tanked by the inexcusable 6 year hiatus between their break-out self-titled album (in 1997) and "Divine Miscontent" (in 2003) due to a label implosion and subsequent never-ending legal tangling over Sixpence's musical rights. I remember seeing the band in concert in December 2000, with Leigh Nash sighing to the audience "we hope to have a new album out soon". It would be another 3 years, and by then the window of opportunity had come and gone, unfortunately. Sixpence was one of my very favorite bands ever, and I wish Matt and Leigh nothing but the best. (For longtime Sixpence fans: Matt has been touring with Over the Rhine in the last year. Check out Over the Rhine, they are awesome as well.)
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Trying to be all things to all people...,
By
This review is from: Best of Sixpence None the Richer (Audio CD)
First, if you are a Sixpence fan, buying this CD is a no-brainer. You get three songs left over from the first Divine Discontent sessions, "Loser Like Me," "Us," and "Too Far Gone." That, in and of itself, is worth the price tag, especially when you skip ahead and hear "Too Far Gone," possible one of the best songs the band recorded.
The problem we encounter with this "Best Of" though is that it does not represent the best of Sixpence. This release tries to be 2 things and fails at both. It tries to be a "Best Of" but leaves off essential tracks by the band, and it tries to be a rarities album but leaves off essential rarities. True, "Best Of" includes the radio hits "Kiss Me," "There She Goes," "Don't Dream It's Over," and "Breathe Your Name," but it leaves off essential album tracks such as "Love," "The Lines Of My Earth," "Meaningless," "Field Of Flowers," "Puedo Escribir" "A Million Parachutes," and "Love, Salvation, The Fear Of Death." As a rarities album, this release actually works better, but it is still lacking. We get three previously unreleased songs from the Divine Discontent sessions, and they are not the usual filler you find on compilations such as this. Each song is a real treat to listen to. We also get several songs from movie soundtracks and other compilations, but the quality of these songs range from spectacular ("I Just Wasn't Made For These Times") to dismal ("Dancing Queen"). Missing are the far superior and out of print classic "Bouqet" and the obsucre cover "On The Run." Also, there is dance remix of "Don't Dream It's Over" by Andy Hunter which has never been released and would have been preferable to yet another appearance of the original studio version here. At best, this CD is a patchwork of songs with threads of genius running through it. It does include some of Sixpence's best work but falls short of being comprehensive as a best of. It does collect many of the more rare songs by the band but falls short of offering anything truly essential as a rarities album save for the 3 unreleased songs. It is those 3 unreleased songs, and a generous track listing, that earn this release 4 stars and my recommendation. Without those 3 songs, I would place this CD in the worthless category as I do the early collection "Collage."
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Best Of" a misnomer, but a must-have album for true fans,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Best of Sixpence None the Richer (Audio CD)
For Sixpence fans that rode the wave before and beyond the "Kiss Me" bandwagon, some glaring ommissions from this album will leave us scratching our heads, such as the absence of the brilliant "Northern Lights," one of my own personal favorites "Disconnect" from their "This Beautiful Mess" album, and "The Lines Of My Earth" from their self titled album (the latter being, to my understanding, one of Leigh Nash's favorite songs the band has recorded).
Nonetheless, the songs that ARE on this album are sure to please, especially given the convenience of having a set of rarities in one place that would be otherwise cumbersome to collect. The inclusion of three previously unreleased songs seals the deal for any fan on the fence of whether or not to buy. The arrangement of songs on the album is awkward at best, and does not follow the typical pattern of a Sixpence album that almost seems to tell a story from beginning to end. But that is somewhat to be expected for a compilation disc. The rise and eventual fall of Sixpence plays out like an ironic tragedy of sorts, peppered with folding labels and legal battles over the rights to their music, while the band seemingly just wanted to set forth music colored by a refreshingly raw honesty, highlighted by Matt Slocum's brilliant songwriting & guitar playing, and Leigh Nash's ethereal vocals. I long to see Leigh and Matt re-surface on the music scene in some capacity down the road, as I think each has a unique respective contribution to the industry not to be found elsewhere.
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