Customer Reviews

Get the Message: The Best of Electronic

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Consisting of integral members of three of Great Britain's greatest bands, Bernard Sumner (Joy Division and New Order) and Johnny Marr (The Smiths), Electronic burst onto the scene in 1989. Their debut single, "Getting Away With It" (with Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant) was a smash in the UK and a respectable hit in the US. "Get the Message" collects all of Electronic's greatest singles from their three albums, "Electronic," "Raise the Pressure," and "Twisted Tenderness." All of the tracks are remastered. Single versions of "Get the Message,""Vivid, and "Late at Night" are included, as is the track "Disappointed" (also with Neil Tennant) which was previously available on the "Cool World" soundtrack, and "Imitation of Life," the B-side of "Forbidden City." Standout tracks include "Vivid," "Second Nature," "Forbidden City," and "Twisted Tenderness. Sadly missing are "Patience of a Saint" and "Dark Angel."

A must own for New Order and Pet Shop Boys fans.

Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr were getting frustrated. Summer had ideas he couldn't use in New Order, and Marr, recently over The Smiths and working as a gun-for-hire, was feeling the same. After a few collaborations, they decided to go all the way and make an album. Neil Tennant of The Pet Shop Boys expressed and interest, and before you could say "supergroup," Electronic was born. The single "Getting Away With It" became a world-wide smash and the album was a near perfect mix of styles. Tennent sang on two other songs for Marr and Sumner, "Disappointed" and (while not included here) "Patience Of A Saint."

While the duo never matched the giddy height of "Electronic ," this best of distills the debut and the two follow-up albums to a decent single CD. You also get a song from the Cool World soundtrack and two unreleased singles. Some of these, like "For You" (from "Raise the Pressure"), make you wonder why there wasn't a greater push to make them chart hits. Some of these songs better the works of Marr and Sumner's home groups.

To that extent, while I find it hard to recommend either "Raise The Pressure" or "Twisted Tenderness" (despite the cool Rasputin cover), I an happy to recommend "Feel Every Beat." Each album gets a fair shake, and some of the radio edits improve their originals ("Late at Night" in particular). If you're disappointed that only three songs from the debut are included, go back for it. You won't be let down.

I must admit that a supergroup consisting of neil tennant of pet shop boys,johnny marr of the smiths and bernard sumner intrigued me when it was first announced in the summer of 1990.The subsequent album and tour were heralded as a great success,as was there 1992 single(from cool world)"dissapointed".After that,the collective started to lose it's momentum and it's second record is a mess.The inclusion of some of these tracks only serves to weaken this compilation.Luckily this cd has wisely resurrected the single only,"all that i need".Still, the high point of this cd are the tunes from their swan song"Twisted Tenderness".Stacked against there earlier material,on this best of,it is plain to see that they never stopped growing creatively.All and all,this is a well thought out compilation that even with some bum tracks,is a worthy addition to your music collection.

I have followed Electronic from the beginning, and there is not much I don't know about them. I am originally from London, England and remember those summers of the late 80s early ninties spent listening to 'Getting away with it','Get the message' and 'Tighten up.' These tunes were a great part of the Baggy / Dance scene, which was also subscribed to / formulated by bands like 'The Stone Roses', and 'The Happy Mondays.' NME and Melody Maker I remember were just raving about the fusion of the frontman from 'New Order' and jangly pop guitarist from 'The Smiths.' One even stated "New Order can split up now.."

I actually prefered 'Get the message' to 'Getting away with it' and I still rate the former as one of coolest songs of all time. Sumners whisper of 'Napalm' coupled with the video of this track really cements how cool Electronic really are. Not only do they look the part, but they can play too!

For me however this 'Best of' for me is not the 'Best of' I hoped for from my two heroes in music, and heres why;

We are missing some phenomenal B-Sides like the triumphant instrumental 'Radiation', as well as 'Second to none', ' feel alright', 'A new Religion', 'Warning sign', and 'King for a Day'. I also believe 'Tighten up' is missing from this collection too.

That said the videos are here and we do have some great other singles and songs.

I still rate this as a great collection, and if you already have the songs like me, then buy it for the videos!

...so I'm obviously not going to bother buying this for one b-side I don't have. However, I'm giving this 5-stars because every track here is fantastic. I can't think of a song Electronic has done that I don't like. For the casual New Order fan, this is a must-buy. For the dedicated New Order fan that has ignored Electronic, pass this up and buy all three. All right "Pressure" isn't quite as good as the other two, but still as good as your average New Order disc.

This along with New Order is the kind of music that our kids will regard as ".. aw damn that's what Mom and Dad listens ALL the time..."... timeless pieces for our future aging hearts.

I've been a Electronic fan for a long time. This album was good, I was hoping for a new album. There are definitely some songs I would have included had I compiled it and I would have put the tracks in chronological order. A good addition to this would have been a bonus CD with outtakes and remixes.

I found the group strongest and most fun when Neal Tennant was singing with them. It is a shame the collaboartion couldn't have continued beyong the "Dissapointed" single.

This album collect different moments of the great history to electronic, transports you to the past, excellent CD 100% recommended

Johnny Marr, Karl Bartos, Bernard Sumner ... what sounds like the who is who in music is indeed a very fine collaborative art. This best of compilation features the highlights of all three Electronic albums - a must have

I have always been a big fan of everything The Smiths or New Order do. I am a fan of Electronic, specially the first album. When I saw the song list of this collection, most of the songs are listed as remastered version or radio edit. To tell the true, it's the same or almost the same as the albums versions. If you have the 3 previous cds, then DON'T buy this. If you don't and want the basic songs of this great duo, then you should definitely buy this.