Greatest Hits: Blondie

Blondie | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: March 7, 2006
• Release Date: March 7, 2006
• Label: Capitol
• Copyright: (C) 2006 Capitol Records, Inc.
• Total Length: 1:05:25
• Genres:
• ASIN: B000SXOM1M
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,884 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars US release of Greatest Hits and DVD-- edited a bit!!, March 7, 2006

By 

K. Eisenberger "dance music freak!" (Defiance, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Greatest Hits (CD+DVD) (Audio CD)

I will always give anything Debbie Harry and Blondie does the highest rating even when the label decides to subtract tracks and DVDs off of the collections. I got the German version of the Sound & Vision :Greatest Hits collection for Christmas from my friend Roland in Holland and I actually bought a region free dvd player from my brother who works at Best Buy for Christmas so I could watch the DVD ahead of the US release. But now as Blondie becomes the first Chrysalis and who knows how long Capitol act to go into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame comes this collection. The original cd from Europe had 22 tracks and ran 79 minutes and the dvd had 17 Videos and ran around 57 minutes. The US version from Capitol removes for what unknown reason the SONGS and VIDEOS to "X Offender" and the classic "I'm Always Touched By Your Presence Dear" from the package. I am upset about this because when Capitol issued the Kylie Minogue Ultimate Kylie cd/dvd collection or the Best Shots release from Pat Benatar -- nothing was taken off either cd or DVD. So why Blondie when it was issued as a release to go with their induction of them into the Hall Of Fame. This makes me angry that these 2 songs and videos were removed. If you have the chance to buy the European dvd version you would see the beginning of "X Offender" with Debbie talking at the beginning of the video and for "Presence Dear" video instead of the car scene from The Best Of Blondie collection you get the shot of the Double Clems that begin the video. I do not see why they were removed.

Now onto the actual US collection. This Greatest Hits is different than the 2002 Hits collection. This one uses only single mixes for the cd-- for the hits and longer tracks. NO full lp mixes for "Atomic" or "The Tide Is High". They-- like the European version put the UK and US number one tracks out front at tracks 1-7 and in order as well. "Heart Of Glass " from 1979 to "Maria" in 1999. All 7 number one tracks. Plus you also get the classics like "Dreaming" "One Way Or Another" and "Island Of Lost Souls" that were US top 40 singles. Plus for the first time on a US cd the FULL promo only before now 12" (6:06) Blow Up Mix that Sanctuary issued for "Good Boys". This is the rarest track here because it was a Promo only to Dj's mix that is now on the cd. PLUS you get a brand new version of the classic first huge hit from 1976 "In The Flesh" done electro style by Super Buddha that has worked with Scissor Sisters. PLUS the reason this cd did well in the UK-- the mash up for "Rapture Riders" that is out on UK vinyl 12". Done by Mark Vidler it uses the music and beat from the original 1981 "Rapture" while mostly using the vocals to The Doors trippy "Riders On The Storm". Listen to Jim Morrison sound so incredible and at ease under the dance beat and then listen for the FULL rap of Debbie's from "Rapture". The original single mix found on the European version of this cd is only 3:46 while on the US version it is 4:04. A tiny bit longer but still not as long as the FULL VERSION (which is 5:43) on 12" and promo cd single.

The Videos-- well from 1976 to 1982 Blondie issued 23 videos from each of their albums. So this is just a primer to when Capitol or EMI finally issue the full release of the 12 tracks of videos from Eat To The Beat. But the plus side (even though they deleated 2 of the best know Blondie videos) is that you get them without the stupid skits from The Best Of Blondie collection. Full and complete videos (although I still think that "Rapture " is from The Best Of Blondie with the beginning) BUT you do get the video that was not on the European issued DVD for "Rapture Riders" so that is a plus. Plus the "The Tide Is High" video is the US VH1 Classic version and not the original 1981 version.

So if you haven't bought the European version of this collection then it is fine to buy the US version because you will get the chance to see the videos completely but remember that Capitol cut 2 of the best videos and songs from this collection and I still have no clue as to why. A++++ again for just the fact that it is Debbie Harry and Blondie and the fact they are finally going into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame - a thing that should have happened four years ago. BUY it still.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too Short, but sounds good., March 14, 2006

By 

Dexbet "digbeesmith" (North East Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Greatest Hits (CD+DVD) (Audio CD)

Most of the songs are the shortened/edited single versions. Not the album versions. Too bad. However, within the CD/DVD packaging, there is advertising for all the albums (even Hunter) stating there are bonus tracs. I guess this CD is a come-on to buy all the original albums. Almost no liner notes--no who's who or timeline history or anything. Again, too bad. Sounds good.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, but far from perfect..., June 13, 2007

By 

Ryan Clark (PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Greatest Hits (CD+DVD) (Audio CD)

Blondie is my favorite band and I have all of their albums, so I was curious to compare this collection with their first hits collection, The Best of Blondie (1982), and their other Greatest Hits album from 2002.

Sound & Vision is much better than The Best of Blondie, with vastly improved sound quality and a bigger selection of songs. The only songs that The Best of Blondie contains that this collection does not are "(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear" and the original version of "In the Flesh"--the version of the latter on Sound & Vision is an awful remix with brand new vocals by Debbie Harry, and it sounds NOTHING like the original. Sound & Vision is certainly preferable to The Best of Blondie, though, no matter how you look at it.

However, when compared to the 2002 Greatest Hits CD, Sound & Vision doesn't fair quite as well, not taking into account the bonus DVD with music videos. Greatest Hits has nearly every song from this collection--it does NOT include "Good Boys" or "End To End" from The Curse of Blondie, released in 2004, nor the "Rapture Riders" mash-up, but makes up for it with the inclusion of "(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear" and "X Offender", two of Blondie's best songs. It also includes the original version of "In the Flesh" in lieu of the pointless remix. Those factors alone, along with the fact that Greatest Hits is quite a bit cheaper than this collection, make Greatest Hits worth getting instead of Sound & Vision.

So, how does Sound & Vision hold up on its own? It is a decent collection of Blondie's most popular songs, but they are mostly radio edits and not the full album versions. They even dared to chop off the openings of "Heart of Glass", Atomic" and "The Tide is High"! The remix included for "Good Boys" is decent, and much MUCH better than the remix for "In the Flesh", but the album version is still the best. The remastering is swell, but in some cases I prefer the remasters of the original album versions (for example, "Union City Blue").

If you're a diehard Blondie fan like me, you will want Sound & Vision for the bonus DVD, which includes some of Blondie's best music videos. These are not traditional music videos because they were all produced before MTV, but rather they are performance videos of the band lip-synching to the studio versions of the songs. My personal favorite of the videos is "Rapture", but "Heart of Glass", "Denis", "Hanging on the Telephone", "Dreaming" and "The Hardest Part" are favorites as well. The worst of them by far is "The Tide of High"--love the song, but the video is T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E.

Most casual listeners will not be concerned with the things I am nitpicking about here. But unless you must have the videos, you would be better off purchasing the 2002 Greatest Hits collection because of the cheaper price tag. Thankfully, I found this collection for $12 used, or else I would have bought Greatest Hits, too.