Customer Reviews

Classic Alternatives 4: 80's Retro Hits (12" Extended Rare Mixes)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While the first 3 volumes were all single discs, this boxed set, for only 15 bux, is like getting volumes 4, 5 AND 6!!! So many 80s 12" mixes on CD at last!!!! Only real downside is one of those horrible re-recorded remixes of Modern English "I Melt With You" from 1990. Track times:

Disc: 1
1. She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult (6:56)
2. I Love You - Yello (7:04)
3. Go! - Tones on Tail (4:28)
4. Tower of Strength - The Mission UK (8:41)
5. Living in Oblivion - Anything Box (5:53)
6. I Got You - Split Enz (3:30)
7. Change - Tears for Fears (6:00)
8. Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly) - Icicle Works (5:17)
9. Beat Box (Diversion One) - The Art of Noise (8:19)
10. Bottom Line - Big Audio Dynamite (7:24)
Disc: 2
1. Everyday Is Halloween - Ministry (6:22)
2. P-Machinery - Propaganda (9:22)
3. First, Last for Everything (Disconet Edit) - Endgames (8:01)
4. Kiss Me - Stephen Duffy (7:28)
5. I Go Crazy - Flesh for Lulu (6:33)
6. Saturdays in Silesia - Rational Youth (7:15)
7. Lose Him - I Start Counting (7:15)
8. Love Song - Simple Minds (5:04)
9. I Melt With You - Modern English (5:30)
10. Nemesis - Shriekback (5:52)
Disc: 3
1. Moments in Love - The Art of Noise (10:17)
2. Situation - Yaz (5:44)
3. Relax - Frankie Goes to Hollywood (7:24)
4. Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go - Soft Cell (8:57)
5. If You Leave - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (5:56)
6. April Fool (April First) - Chalk Circle (5:31)
7. Cars - Gary Numan (3:46)
8. Send Me Angel'88 (6:14)
9. Safety Dance - Men Without Hats (4:32)
10. West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys (7:48)

I came across this CD compilation while shopping a few weeks ago, and as the price seemed reasonable I decided to buy. I don't know why, I didn't recognize half of the songs and several of the artists; but the 80's were "my" decade, so I took a chance.

I wasn't disappointed...the remixes here are classic 80's style. I didn't noticed any degradation of quality, but perhaps I am just used to things sounding like they did 20 years ago. This set took me back, the music and lyrics are fundamentally 80's and will take you back it that was "your" decade as well. I enjoyed this set (3 CDs, by the way, not 4 as someone said earlier) so much that I went out and bought the three that proceeded it.

For [a low price] you are getting a blast from the past. As I rapidly approach middle age (I turn 40 in a few weeks), it is nice to be reminded of my exciting youth. This set did that. It also reminded me that there was a standard of music and talent in the 80's that we don't see nowadays (sorry, Eminem, but you suck!). Forget about today's talentless drivel, buy this set and hear what good music is all about!

It is always interesting, when listening to a compilation like this, to try to "spot the vinyl". Sometimes it's rather obvious but other times you need a good pair of headphones to tell the mastered-from-vinyl pieces from the rest. Out of the 30 tracks, I can so far confirm 7 that are from vinyl and of sub-CD quality :

Yello - I Love You : this rather spoils the whole package as it is one of the most sought after remixes that has still never been on CD

Endgames - First Last For Everything : never been on cd

I Start Counting - Lose Him : available on the CD "Fused" in clean digital

Shriekback - Nemesis : available on a few best-of compilations such as "The Dancing Years" and "Priests and Kanibals"

OMD - If You Leave : not sure about the availability of this one

Chalk Circle : no idea who they are

Real Life - Send Me An Angel 88 : or is it 89? they have a "Best of" CD out

There are also a few fillers which have appeared on far too many 80's compilations (even the 12" versions) : "Relax" "Tainted Love" "Beat Box" "Moments In Love" "Cars" (!!) "Safety Dance" "West End Girls" "Situation" etc. although arguably they *are* "classics".

A 4th bonus disc by somebody called "Images In Vogue" is also included, and is a pleasant surprise as far as quality goes. Danceable synth pop in the vein of Hubert Kah or Peter Godwin or Thomas Leer.

All in all a good bargain at the price. Skip the poorly mastered tracks and you've still got a rather enjoyable listen, if you're into 80's pop..

I don't understand. I own all the others CD's from this sery "Classic Alternatives" , they are all great but the track listing of this one is particularly awesum !

The big big problem is with the sound quality. Have they taken a listen to it before mastering the CD's?

Some tracks are very, very hissy (has they were coming from an old tape) , the sound on some others is compressed as it was coming from a commercial FM radio station. It's sad, very very sad because this is really one of the best 80's compilation available around.

So you are warned. If you were planing to get on CD some stuff you have on vinyl to get a cleaner sound, then try to find some others 80's compilations. If you only want this compilation to have some great tracks to dance or similar, it's ok.

These discs are an excellent source for hard-to-find 12" singles. I do agree that some of the recordings are lacking in quality but are still good. Real Life's "Send Me Angel" is an obvious record transfer because of the pops and clicks but sounds good nonetheless. I picked up this collection because of the 12" version of "The Safety Dance" because I only had the 45 RPM (remember those?) version. I thought that The Mission's version of "Tower Of Strength" was interesting because it's obviously a demo or BBC session perhaps?

This collection is also worth getting a 4th disc of songs by synthpop pioneers Images In Vogue which featured cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy and Don Gordon of Numb.

This CD set is a great buy for all the terrific songs that are on it. So many memories are stirred up listening to the tracks. If you are into hard to find remixes and no longer have vinyl capabilities you cannot go wrong with this set!

That's exactly what I did on the second hour of my radio show. I featured almost all the songs on this collection, special mixes that I never knew existed, or were out of print long since 12" club mixes were mothballed. Incredible! I had the studio monitor cranked all the way up as I played these great remixes to grateful listeners, turning back the clock to the glorious 80's, if just for a little while. It's a treasure chest, a purchase you will never regret. Anyone who has lived the eighties alternative scene will be awestruck. Where else could you find Icicle Works "Whisper to a Scream" on ANY compilation, anywhere? Forget the so called "edited" versions of these great songs that radio station have played ad-nausium. Buy it.

I could not have hand-picked a better group of songs for this genre of music. The sound quality is top-notch to me, I don't understand the complaints about that. I would pay 4 times the amount of money for this package. A gem, indeed.

This compilation was borne out of a desire for some hard-to-find 12" vinyl records, on the part of people living in the Toronto area, who listened to CFNY, which was the coolest station in Toronto until about 1988. CFNY would play virtually only 12" versions of songs and in southern Ontario, the record stores would only get limited quantities of these (mostly) UK imports. If you happened to not be in the record store on the day they got their shipment in, you would be SOL on a lot of these 12 inches because they would sell out quickly and rarely get more copies. So you had CFNY to listen to when and if they ever played some of the records on this compilation. The twelve inches on this CD, and other compilations put out by this company are an attempt to provide listeners with a CD copy of them a lot of these hard to find extended mixes. The song selection on this compilation is everything that was popular in Toronto in the 80's, which his why an obscure Canadian band like Chalk Circle is on this compilation. So popular, that even if you managed to find these 12 Inches in used record stores, they were charging premium prices for them (sometimes $100).

Over the years a lot of this has been released in other places, and in better quality than what you'll get on this package. West End Girls for example has the ending of Room at the Top tacked on to the start of it because it was ripped from another CD called Hit That Perfect Beat Vol. 2, which was a mixed CD. There's a couple of other places to buy that song that are better than this compilation because it's unmixed. But there's still a couple of rare items, like Endgames...and if you're from Toronto, you'll know how huge this particular song by Endgames was in that city bank in the 80's!

I host a radio show during the summer months. This CD was heavily featured during my last hour, non-stop music session. The songs here are absolutely the best collection I have heard. I have been unaware of these mixes until this box set. A must have for all fans of alternative.