Customer Reviews

Great Southern Land

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A wonderful introduction to Iva's world. Each song is wonderfully written and recordrd and, unlike another review points out...these are the original versions and NOT re-recorded.
There are NO Man Of Colours tracks as Iva felt they were too new at the time and deserved to be heard as a set and not broken up for inclusion on a greatest hits package.

Any Icehouse purchase is worth it.

While Oils were rocking the Northern Beaches pub circuit, Ira Davies was busy putting together the most sophisticated Australian music legacy of the time. In a golden era for Oz/NZ music, Icehouse stands as arguably the best, and certainly, the most underrated band of their time.

Buy this CD, listen to it once - I dare you!

yea a great cd....BUT where are any songs from man of colors? ( crazy, electric blue). + ONLY 1 Song from there BEST album is here! (don't believe any more), where is (dusty pages, and even "take the town" ) songs are redone as well, not to put that down, but no orginal recordings here.

First things first: this is NOT a proper Greatest Hits collection from Icehouse. Instead, it's like their version of the Chili Peppers' 'What Hits?': a compilation of the band's early songs released in the wake of their overseas success. Note that nothing from the landmark 'Man Of Colours' appears here, the focus is squarely on Icehouse's past, although there are two new songs.

What 'Great Sothern Land' demonstrates is that the pop perfection of 'Man Of Colours' was no fluke. Icehouse and Iva Davies had a great pop sensibility right from the outset. Their debut album spun off synthpop classics such as 'We Can Get Together', 'Can't Help Myself', 'Walls' and 'Sister'. Other highlights include the emotional slow-burn of 'Don't Believe Anymore', the sly 'Hey Little Girl' and the anthemic title track. New track 'Touch The Fire' is a strong song as well.

Since Icehouse's commercial success petered out in the 90's, and some of their early albums might be difficult for international listeners to get hold of, this collection plus 'Man Of Colours' are the essential purchases for overseas fans. Highly recommended....although Australian fans are probably better off starting with their debut album.

When Icehouse began showing signs of American commercial breakout, "Great Southern Land" appeared. Originally released in 1989, it collected 10 songs from Icehouse's hefty catalog and added one new cut ("Touch The Fire"). It's interesting to hear how the band went from being a rather basic 80's synthpop band ("We Can Get Together") to Iva Davies' solo collective ala Roxy Music or Steely Dan ("Hey Little Girl"). Davies' greeting card to his home continent, "Great Southern Land," is also much more interesting than the corny "Down Under."

The import version of "Great Southern Land" sports more cuts than the out of print US CD, and also replaces the overdrawn remix of "No Promises" with the album version, to the song's benefit. Fans of 80's music like Roxy, Fixx and Ultravoxx would do well to seek this CD out.

Ira Davies and Icehouse put their best compilation together in Great Southern Land. Every song is great. This music will take you back to the early 80's. This classic sound for the time is heavy on synthesizer but full of feeling. Take my word, this is a must have for any 80's collection. It's too bad that Amazon doesn't have this in stock right now. Maybe I'll get an e:mail when it comes in. Hint Hint.

I never get tired of this album, even though we first bought it 20yrs ago and I wasn't a big Icehouse fan. It doesn't seem to be trapped by that typical 80's manufactured sound and I appreciate it more and more as time goes by, not so much as an 80's album but as a classic album that doesn't date.

ever since hearing them on the Young Einstein soundtrack
have wanted to get a cd of their work. I was not disappointed
if you like 80's rock and roll pick this one up

May I just begin by saying the man's name is IVA- who is this Ira guy? This is a good introduction to Icehouse. If you enjoy this c.d., I recommend purchasing all the individual albums. They are all brilliant (okay, 'Sidewalk' is a bit cheezy but the rest are worth it). I must disagree that there is not enough from "Man of Colours". While that album offers some decent songs, the earlier albums are much better in my humble opinion. We have all heard "Electric Blue" and "Crazy" quite enough. I believe this album offers insight into the slightly more obscure but always intriguing world of Icehouse.

Just got my IceHouse Great Southern Land album all I can say is this album is up there with the likes of Midnight Oil Inxs Men at Work and other great bands from Austrailia. Get a copy today.