Customer Reviews

Evolution: The Hits

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This a perfect introduction to the Dead or Alive catalogue. Everything is here, from the first hit to the Japan only releases "Hit and Run Lover" and "Isn't it a Pity". Remix of "Lover Come Back" which is very high energy. The only song that is dissappointing is the remix of "Turn Around and Count to 10". This remix ,in my opinion, is very slow compared to the original. This is definitely worth the money. If you want to shell out an extra 20 bucks the 2 disc set of "Evolution" is available as an import. It has many more hits and some extended versions.

If you're a true DOA fan, there is only one option: splurge for the 2-CD UK Import set of EVOLUTION, featuring ALL of the hits plus many of the hard-to-find-on-CD original remixes (alas, no OFF YER MONG remix of IN TOO DEEP, why?!) - but why stop there when you can also spring for the UK-Import-Only DVD collection of ultra-rare VIDEOS, including the amazing, stunning, and maybe even a bit disturbing 2003 remix video of their biggest hit, YOU SPIN ME ROUND, featuring Pete Burns Circa 2003 pushing the envelope for plastic-surgery-as-art?! One look and you'll wonder if his current muse is Dave LaChapelle's AMANDA LAPORE?! He used to be a gothic/pop "freak" -now he's more like a cybo-tron drag queen robot - WOW! The sad thing is, Pete Burns CAN sing, CAN write hooks, and CAN put on a great stage show persona - too bad no major label in America will ever see fit to put out some NEW music by DOA, instead of Sony endlessly re-hashing, re-mixing, and re-releasing the same ol' batch of 80s hits over and over, ad nauseum. Pete and Co. really deserve better. Check out Pete's collaboration with PSB, "JACK & JILL PARTY," for electro-cheeky proof positive that DOA could still be a chart contender. Until then, buy this CD and the DVD - but wait, you'l need to get a Cyber-Home-300 region FREE DVD player first...but I digress.

I was a big fan of DOA between Sophisticated and Nude. They not only opened me up to a whole world of "new wave" but they were also the first concert I went to as a teenager. I collected their 12" mixes and singles and such and was quite impressed with the production...the retooling of some singles (Something in my house and Hooked on love) and the 12" mixes were quite better than some at the time. Stock, Aiken and Waterman were great producers and really knew how to hone in on a sound. They were also the producers behind Bananarama...and later Rick Astley and Cathy Dennis. The first four albums were great...top notch stuff. The latest of it..is well...gay dance music and not really good. I pretty much moved on with my musical tastes in the early 90's and didn't follow DOA that much, as what I heard was either awful, over produced, dance music or a new remixed version of You Spin Me...(I think there are at least 20 mixes of that song). I mean I'd see something new and give it a listen, but was generally disappointed. So here we are about 20 years later (a very long time considering that most bands like this one from the 80's are gone) and you have to give it to Pete for keeping DOA alive all these years...though I think there'd be no stopping him.

And then we have this offering in two versions. One being this... straight forward hits comp and the other is a double import disk, which while comes in a nice package is really more of the same with different versions and few other "hits" not included on the former. Most of the singles are here..save Nukleopatra and Baby don't say goodbye (where's son of a gun?)...which are only ok, so I am not disappointed that they are not included (they are on the import). I am very happy that this collection includes the Sophisticated tunes as this would not be definitive without them. The singles, for the most part are the versions that got released and not the album versions. I was also happy with this as well. What I wasn't pleased with was that some of my favorites got remixed beyond recognition and fit in more with the newer material, which I am not crazy about. So, the versions of Lover Come Back to Me and Turn Around and Count to Ten are really lame. Oh and there is another remix of You spin me...which obviously this world needs...right?

I know this comes off as a semi bad review...but it's not. If you like DOA and you like their songs, but don't have their albums (all of mine are on cassette or vinyl)...or don't have SOBB...get this. It is worth having. I was thinking that the songs in chronological order would have been better, but I think then I wouldn't be listening to half of it. Should you get this one or the import? If you are a big fan and still follow them, get the import. If you are like me and like the early stuff...you need to decide what songs you really like and pick the version that doesn't have the 2003 remix of it (I would have been disappointed with the 2003 mix of Something in my House...absolutely). I think a better collection would be singles on one disk (no remixes) and on the second disk include the original mixes (which were great..pretty much all of them) and retooled versions. I also think that the packaging (on this version) is so-so. Just a bunch of recent pics of Pete looking freaky like he always has...though I think he's gone a bit far. Looks more draggish than ever before...and can those lips get any bigger? Would like to have seen some older picks...like the Misty Circles cover era (he looks beautiful). Liner notes, by Pete, are also lame. No "real" history of before the band (Nightmares in Wax), no mention of Wayne Hussey (Sisters of Mercy and the Mission UK)...he was on SOBB and left before it came out (interesting side note, I blindly bought the Mission's "God's own medicine" because Wayne was a part of DOA and I thought that this was another band that would be like them...um I was really wrong. But I got introduced to a really great band). Most of the notes are a pat on the back to himself. He pushes "the fast forward button" way too much...never talks about the group. Never really mentions what happened to their producers SAW (I think one of the passed from AIDS...which was really tragic and I think the production suffered after that). And says really nothing about the new material for those that care. I would have liked a little more history and little less posing.

A bit of a mixed bag. Good points definitely outshine the bad. There is a Video Collection out there of this...and THAT would be a treat...But I live in the states and nothing will probably be released via videos. If this is one of your first forte's into this group, I recommend getting any of the first 4 albums (avoid Rip it Up...ok for it's time, but obsolete and cheesy now).

Hope this helps.

What can I say??? It's Dead or Alive, and they are quite possibly the best band, ever - even better live!!! Most people probably only know them from "You Spin Me 'Round" and the record company seems to exploit that one song, but they are so much more (although the new 2003 version is the best of the numerous remixes over the years, and the original still sends people scurrying to the dance floor whenever it is played.) I think they really came into their own when they took over the production duties of their material. "Come Home (With Me Baby)" is here, as well as "Sex Drive" from the fabulous "Nukleopatra" album - but not the title track (it's on the 2-CD version). "Hit And Run Lover" should have been a massive hit. And in addition to the updated "YSMR", the 2003 version (although it was on 2000's "Fragile") of "Lover Come Back" could be big, too. Buy the CD, or better yet, buy the 2-CD version. Either way, you will want to get up and dance. Dead or Alive is definitely alive, and this greatest hits reprospective shows how far they've come, and Pete & Steve still have more great things in the works!!! One listen to this well-deserved, long-overdue "greatest hits" package shows why DOA have been HUGE in Japan for years. Now hopefully the rest of the world will rediscover Dead or Alive.

First off, if you can get your hands on the UK 2 disc version of Evolution, you should. It is far superior to this collection. This version is for the casual DOA fan. For those of you that thought Dead or Alive began and ended with "you spin me", you are in for a shock. Pete Burns is one of the most under rated vocalists and performers of our time. He has kept DOA going for over 25 years. They have contributed alot to dance music. Over seas, every single song on this cd was a huge hit. Pete Burns vocals are gorgeous and very powefull. He can sing words out of a dictionary and I'd buy it. Most of their singles are included here, including the haunting "misty Circles". As well as one of their best songs and their last American hit, "come home with me baby". which is included here for the first time on cd format as the single version. Produced by Lewis A martinee who was resposible for the success of Expose in the late 80's early 90's. DOA jumped on that band wagon.And succeeded.
Of course their biggest hits are on here as well.."something in my house", "brand new lover" and " that's the way".

The sad truth is that right now Pete Burns is fighting for his life and his face. He has been undergoing months and months of surgeries to repair the damage done by his plastic surgery. Hopefully when he recovers, he'll return to making great music with Dead or Alive.

When you open up the case and look at Pete's lips...well, you cannot help but get the obvious sexual inference. I can't help but wonder though if it's a digital illustration, makeup, or did he really go for the Angelina Jolie Super Deluxe collagen special? You really have to see it to believe it. As far as the music, most of the selections are well chosen, but it's missing a few key tracks and some of the remixes are a bit superflous, but overall a good collection.

Evolution is a fitting description to an album that encompases the artistic evolution of Dead or Alive's Steve Coy and Pete Burns. To create a perfect selection of greatest hits for a band that has put so much quality and energy into its music is not easy. The tracks are not in chronological order but are a good selection allowing you appreciate the different range of styles evolving from a raw dance/punk sound with 'What I want' and 'Misty Circles' to the fast paced energetic 'Turn Around and Count 2 Ten' and 'Come Home With Me Baby' to the disco sound of 'Your Sweetness' back to a more modern hi-nrg sound with 'International Thing' and 'Sex Drive'. With Dead or Alive's first domestic sony release in 13 years maybe there is room once again in the pop music scene for vocalist Pete Burns to shock and entertain.

Pete Burns..."evolution" puts it mildly...you are rapidly evolving into the Jocelyn Wildenstein of popular music...but that's okay. Mr. Burns, who makes Michael Jackson look tame, crafted some of the most timeless dance hits of the 1980s, and surprisingly, the songs hold up amazingly well, and sound completely modern, which should be evident due to the fact that "You Spin Me Round" ranks as one of the 1980s' most enduring classics. The 2-CD import version of this album is miles superior to the U.S. version, but, either way, we should be thankful that this GH album saw the light of day. The sleek new mix of "You Spin Me Round" recalls Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head." However, the most attention-grabbing aspect of this CD will undoubtedly be Mr. Burns' visage, which has been severely altered to resemble God knows what. And those lips!!! Beware those of you with little children, for these photos are more nightmare-inducing than any horror flick, gansta rap posturing or Marilyn Manson video on TV.

Dead or Alive's music is pretty much what modern radio is missing right now: high energy, flamboyant disco with a backbone. In today's climate, Dead or Alive (fronted by the gender bending Pete Burns) wouldn't stand a chance of cracking the top 40 as they did in the 1980s, which is a shame because they're one of the more dependable dance groups around. "Evolution" is the first compilation that surveys the quartet's entire history. Of course, Dead or Alive are best known for their hits produced by Stock Aitken Waterman ("You Spin Me Round {Like a Record}," "Brand New Lover," and "In Too Deep"), but real diehard fans will take pleasure in knowing that this collection also includes material from the neglected debut "Sophisticated Boom Boom." Their cover of KC's "That's The Way (I Like It)" isn't as bad as you'd think, while "I'd Do Anything" gives me memories of their early 1980s MTV days. Other cool tunes include the freestyle "Come Home With Me Baby," and more recent tracks like 1995's "Sex Drive." A few edited remixes also surface; some work while others don't. For example, I really like the remix of "My Heart Goes Bang," but the Metro remix of "You Spin Me Round" is hardly an improvement over the still unmatchable original. Yet, anyone who is even remotely interested in this group will find plenty of kicks out of this well-assembled compilation.

While the selection of songs here surely can't be faulted, some diehard DOA fans might object to the extensive remixing that has been done in places -"My Heart Goes Bang", for example, is almost unrecognisable from the version on "Youthquake", although personally I think this particular remix is fantastic too. Generally the songs have been given a respectful dusting off rather than a complete overhaul (with the single exception of a wholly unnecessary remix of "You Spin Me Round", which is only emphasized by the inclusion of the original version) and the running order works very well. Pete Burns's sleeve notes make good reading, but I can't help wishing that a few of the older photos had been included in the cd booklet - nothing wrong with the 2003 version of Pete, but a few Eighties and Nineties pics in there too would have been good. But this is a pretty trivial point about what is basically a brilliant album - part of the reason I've since started buying up the DOA back catalogue is simply because I've overplayed "Evolution" so much.

Bombastic, theatrical, dramatic, and always underpinned by Pete Burns' amazing operatic howl of a voice, this is a good introduction to one of the UK's most underrated pop bands.