Customer Reviews

The Best Of The Thompson Twins: Greatest Mixes

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4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This album, released back in 1988, is labelled as a "Best Of" compilation, but I''ve always felt that it had never done the Thompson Twins any justice. Apart from "In The Name Of Love '88" (Remixed by Shep Pettibone), all the other tracks are original mixes from the time that they were originally released BUT six out of the ten tracks were, rather illogically, SHORTENDED from their original form, and it was done rather badly if you ask me (thanks to an engineer named Tuta Aquino). The only gems that are worth listening to are the (formerly) very rare U.S. remix of "You Take Me Up", remixed by François Kervorkian back in 1984 (who isn't credited in the CD). It origianlly had the subtitle "High Plains Mixer" when it first appeared as a 12" single in a plain white sleeve with the Twins logo and the words "Scrictly Limited Editon" on it. This mix is not so rare now, and it''s brilliant. Eaqually rare is the remixed version of "The Gap", a mix that I had never heard before until I bought the CD back in '88, and it has not been edited either. Lastly, there's a previously unreleased version of "King For A Day" which in this form (and did not include electric guitars as on the version that appears on the "Here's To Future Days" (1985) album), is actually a remix of a track that origianally appeared on the B-Side of a single slated for release in Spring of '85 (called "Roll Over"), and was originally called "Fools In Paradise". Note that the lyrics are slightly different before the chorus is sung. There had been other Thompson Twins compilations released over the years, and all of them seem to include something that had never been heard before, but to this day, none of them had done justice to this band. "Greatest Mixes", however, is still the one that's readilly available.

This CD is a letdown. Thank goodness I collected the 12" remixes on vinyl, as this compilation is more of a consumer-friendly release, shortening most of the original extended versions for those that can't handle songs over 7 minutes in length.

LIES is over 1 minute shorter, LOVE ON YOUR SIDE is 2 minutes shorter, HOLD ME NOW is 3 minutes shorter, and DOCTOR! DOCTOR! is 2 minutes shorter. Considering this CD is a running total of 62:37, there's still enough room to have given us the original remix lengths.

KING FOR A DAY resembles neither of the orignal two 12" releases, so this was a pleasant surprise, and since I never had been able to get my hands on the vinyl 12" of the "High Plains Mixer" version of YOU TAKE ME UP (which this CD's track is apparently), I am at least happy to have another version besides the "Machines Take Me Over/Down Tools" release that I have on 12", which runs over 11 and a half minutes!

THE GAP was originally released as a promotional 12" here in the U.S. and thankfully Arista chose to include it here in the entire extended form.

Unfortunately, for the purposes of promoting the newer version of IN THE NAME OF LOVE, we are given the '88 remix, and the ruined 1985 version of LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME, instead of one of the two import 12" versions that were released (sans the horrid guitars and booming chorus). I have both of those, and thankfully you can get the first of the two '84 12" versions on another CD called "The Greatest Hits," which is highly recommended for alternate versions of their songs.

This CD is worth having for some of the fuller tracks, but to shorten already great remixes is a true crime. Shame on Arista for agreeing to this. Buyer beware, you're not getting the "greatest" with this compilation...

This album opens with the dance-floor classic "In the Name of Love," re-mixed from its 1982 form for 1988 audiences, and the rest of the album isn't much of a step down.

The re-mixing doesn't do anything to affect the effect of the songs. "The Gap" is a tad too long, and "You Take Me Up" isn't a very good song, but all the others contain bone-crushing hooks and steady dance rhythms. "Hold Me Now" is an effective ballad, and other standout tracks are "Love on Your Side," "Lay Your Hands on Me," and "Get That Love."

Worth the money, and simpler than shelling out for the individual albums, the best of which was probably 1984s "Into the Gap."

I'll never forget how excited I was when I learned that Arista was releasing a Thompson Twins remix album that compiled all their best twelve-inch singles. I'd been collecting all the vinyl for years, and now we'd have a bunch of the remixes in high-quality DIGITAL sound! Well, now we know that wasn't exactly the case.

"Greatest Mixes" had me worried from the get-go when I saw the ugly metallic cover the record company slapped on it. I noticed the odd-looking track lengths right away while listening to "In the Name of Love 88". I was already coming to terms with the fact that "ITNOL" had been remixed by none other than Shep Pettibone, of whose work I was not the biggest fan. None of the tracks seemed long enough to be the full versions. My fears were confirmed when I heard the butchered edits of my favorite twelve-inch mixes, courtesy of the late Tuta Aquino, Mr. Pettibone's former engineer. I'm not sure, but Tuta might have fallen asleep on the job with this one. Notice during "Doctor! Doctor!" when that spine-tingling three-chord progression that punctuates the song comes in on the wrong bar, crashing into you like a bike messenger who wasn't looking where he was going. "Love On Your Side" is similarly mauled, and we're left to wonder why. The runtime of the finished product was short enough that they could fit TWO bonus tracks on the CD. So why edit the twelve inch mixes in the first place? The whole purpose of the remixes in the first place is to expand the tracks to allow for extended builds and ebbs, so the intentions of Arista Records in editing these back down here remain a mystery to me.

Fortunately for whiny purists like myself, the CD bonus tracks are the unedited remixes for "The Gap" and "You Take Me Up", plus there's an otherwise unreleased 12" mix of "King For A Day" on here. That fact alone makes "Greatest Mixes" essential for collectors, although I don't know why the compilations and "remastered deluxe editions" of Thompson Twins albums that keep coming out seem to be helmed by people who have no intentions of doing right by the fan base. It's like the Human League's revenge or something.

First of all, the sound quality of this disc is quite poor and given what sound engineering technology that is available out there today, I'd recommend waiting until Arista gets around to doing better remastering jobs of their albums.

Secondly, there are only 10 tracks here and as the other reviewers have stated, these are not the best remixes of the tracks and so you are not getting value for money.

Thirdly, and most importantly, although the 10 tracks here quite fairly represent the band's best works, this album also quite clearly shows that TT were really more than just a singles band.

You really had to listen to the entire albums to truly appreciate their brilliance. I'm speaking about their earlier albums more so than their later efforts ie. everything up to and including "Here's To Future Days".

However, if you had to sum up the band on one album, their best work is by far "Into the Gap" which has some brilliant tracks that never made it to single status and yet represent some of their best work. "No Peace for the Wicked" is my favourite track of theirs and is quite possibly their best track after "Hold Me Now".

I'd recommending waiting for an mlps digitally remastered version of "Into The Gap" to be released if you want their best work and giving this one a miss. Let's hope it's not going to be a long wait....

This CD was basically just a filler to get the Twins out of their Arista contract... and it shows. Aside from the 1988 remix of "In the Name of Love", and a previously unavailable mix of "King For a Day"... there is nothing else on this CD that a die-hard Twins fan has not already heard. In fact, most of the mixes were shortened from their original incarnations.

That being said... if you are a fan of the Twins and their ability to hypnotize you with their undeniably catchy hooks and melodies, this CD is right up your alley.

Enjoyable popular T.T. remixes. Not very unusual and keeping in line with standard releases. If you enjoy the Thompson Twins you probably will find these mixes alot of fun and these discs are not expensive on Amazon.com.

"In The Name Of Love"('88)is the bomb on this disc- it was remixed back in 1988 and sounds MUCH better than it was originaly recorded! It's my favorite on this "best Of" CD.

This is a good general collection of the T-Twins 12 inch mixes. For some reason, they are edited from their original form, which is annoying to those of us familiar with the longer versions. Standout tracks are "Lies", "The Gap", "Hold Me Now", "Love on Your Side" and "In the Name of Love '88". It would have been nice to see the superior remixes of "We Are Detective", "Watching" and "Sister of Mercy" on here instead of the bland mixes of "You Take Me Up", "King for A Day" and "Get That Love". But those songs were bigger hits in the US.

Buy this CD if you ever loved the TT's songs played on the radio but didn't want to buy their individual albums throughout the 1980's. All their best tunes are right here in one easy to play and listen to CD! Their anthem-like lyrics are memorable and will take you on a little journey down Music Memory Lane as you find yourself singing along. You will enjoy it.