Customer Reviews

The Fixx - One Thing Leads to Another: Greatest Hits

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Warning shot....the versions of "Stand Or Fall" and "Red Skies" are inferior live versions. This collection also does not include any tracks from albums after "Walkabout."

The "Ultimate Collection" has the studio versions from "Shuttered Room" and songs from 3 more albums, and is the better buy.

THIS IS A VERY SOLID OVERVIEW OF THE FIXX'S CAREER, BUT IT IS NOT COMPLETE. "RED SKIES" IS A RE-RECORDING, AND "STAND OR FALL" IS LIVE. FOR THE ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF BOTH THOSE SONGS, YOU'LL HAVE TO GET "SHUTTERED ROOM" OTHERWISE, I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS DISC. IS NOT "SAVED BY ZERO" ONE OF THE BEST SINGLES OF THE 80s?

The Fixx stood just left of centre in the techno-funky-electro-new-romantic sloppy-bob songs of the 80's. There was enough adherence to the melodies and structure expected at the time to have it played in the mainstream, yet enough creativity to give them a quirky edge and make them "hip" in an acceptably under-rated sense. Every album from Shuttered Room, Reach the Beach, Phantoms to their efforts in the 90's such as Elemental showed that they matured just hat bit more, still leaving them with their own eccentricity. Nice work guys.

Synth-rock new wavers The Fixx hit their stride on about four or five decent singles. Like many such groups from the early 1980s, their albums were loaded with fairly bland filler material between the obvious hits. That said, this Greatest Hits package collects the most obvious highlights, including the catchy "One Thing Leads to Another," the U2-like "Red Skies," the almost funky "Saved By Zero" and "Are We Ourselves," that were staples of rock radio (and MTV) circa 1982-1984. The one glaring error in this collection is the inclusion of a live version of "Stand or Fall" rather than the original studio recorded single. The live recording is unfortunately inferior, and since it is one of the few vital Fixx songs, this mistake weakens the collection. The rest of the material included sounds dated today and serves as a reminder why this band came and went so quickly.

Overall, "One Thing Leads to Another" contains all of The Fixx most fans will ever need with that one glaring exception.

Just to correct those that have said that "Red Skies" is live on this collection -- it's not. It is different from the original found on Shuttered Room; this one is a remix -- produced by Genesis and The Police collaborater Hugh Padgham. If you're like me, and only began to appreciate The Fixx after their heydays, you might actually like the newer version of "Red Skies" better than the album original. It's a bit tighter, more up tempo.

Purists will hate it, along with the live version of "Stand or Fall". Those longing for the true sound of The Fixx, the way they heard them back in the early 80's, I'd recommend the more recent "Ultimate" release.

The Fixx are one of those bands that I never went out and bought any of their studio albums, but I always liked what I heard from them. I saw them open for The Moody Blues once and thought they put on a very good live show. This compilation is a decent overview of their career. It gets some criticism for including a live version of "Stand Or Fall" instead of the studio version and an alternate version of "Red Skies At Night". Personally I like both of the versions included here, but it is probably a disappointment for people who are looking for a true studio compilation. Slightly different versions of "Deeper And Deeper" as well as "Built For The Future" are also included here. The Fixx were kings of top 40 radio for about four years and then were dropped like a hot potato. I always thought they were a step above the average new wave bands of the day and this collection shows that they were a capable band who wrote catchy stuff. I always found it interesting that although they were a top 40 singles band, most of their lyrics were not your typical radio friendly stuff. You won't find any relationship related songs here, but more topical material dealing with world events and issues. That is one thing I always liked about The Fixx is because of this they did not really fit any mold. If you are looking for a decent overview of the band, this one is worth picking up. The Fixx still tour from time to time and have released several albums since their hey day.

I bought this album mostly because of 'Red Skies' and 'Deeper' but I was VERY pleasantly surprised when I heard and then remembered a few of their classic hits as well, such as 'Saved By Zero', 'Sign of Fire', 'Are We Ourselves' and 'Secret Separation'. EVERYTHING that made The Fixx one of the first alternative bands to make the big time are here. Trust me, it has just about everything you could want in the best of The Fixx. Clearly a great CD.

The CD is excellent it sounds great all the songs are excellent,great for fans of the band to have in there collection of music.

...and being strong in the face of adversity. With a bleak future, the world seems cold and violent, like superpowers embraced in an evil dance of death and destruction. The only solution to the feuding seems to be annihilation by nuclear means, going to bed knowing you might not wake up tomorrow.

That's pretty much what I get from many of the Fixx's songs, they are presented in a somewhat alternative pop/new wavish exhuberance....but tend to lean towards a dark calm that is felt throughout the landscape and makes you band together for survival technique and find comfort in the joy of song. Granted not all their songs are that way, they can be quirky, thought provoking and downright "what the..." to me they just had a way of comminicating that really didn't have to be explained, it was catchy as anything, sorta poppy new wave with a dash of alternative lyricsism (?) thrown in. Something to be proud of to get you motivated to face a new challenging day.

That being said, this is a nice collection of their better known songs over the years, love the longer version of "Deeper and Deeper" and the long version of "Built For The Future" which to me can mean anything from a bridge for an expected expanding population to beginning a relationship with someone slowly so it will last, gaining trust early on to establish a sorta credit that gives you rights to be there later on perhaps. A 'future' in the Fixx's world doesn't seem all that bright though, so perhaps they were being cautiously optimistic in penning such a song, or expanding their indentities, to me it just means survival by any means possible, you are teaching yourself to live and learn and adapt to your surroundings.

"Letter To Both Sides" I believe was from the movie Fletch..or one of 'em and it's a nice inclusion and I always loved the chugging song "Secret Separation" which is quite the interesting song with the lyrics of 'passengers in time' and 'leave you lonely in another life' is thought provoking lyrics, this album to me and the Fixx in general had a very soothing way of making you feel better about anything that might be bothering you, whether it be a bad day at work, a relationship gone wrong, or perhaps the thread of the world coming to an end, it provides an escape from reality, or a glimpse of the future, perhaps the soundtrack for a bit of time travel ...with a CD like this it's all good. Let it happen, we can only do so much until we are worn out from the fight, time to enjoy some songs that recharge our batteries so we can face a new day. The Fixx were from a time when the outlook was bleak, and hearing this stuff even today reminds us why they were so important, we indeed may need the Fixx now more than ever.

The Fixx had a handful of hit singles in the US during the mid 1980's. A few had the occasional hummable melody, but by and large they were nothing special, and hardly consequential enough to discussed with any seriousness today. Tellingly, The Fixx's US success was not matched in their native England where the band was, for all practical purposes, ignored.