Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits

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

 

 

This appealing collection contains twenty tuneful songs from a band that deserved to have had greater success. Oh well, at least their demise gave us Eurythmics! There is depth, poetics & magic in their compositions and arrangements. Every track is special in its own way, from the sublime neo-psychedelic Blind Among The Flowers and the melancholic Loneliest Man In The World (from their first album) to the fast-paced I Only Want To Be With You and So Good To Be Back Home Again to the eerie excursion In The Morning When The Madness Has Faded which ends in a chilling howl (from the 2nd album Reality Effect).

There's more psychedelia in Angels & Demons, the pop is perfect on the aforementioned cover I Only Wanna Be With You and So You Want To Go Away Now (from the 3rd album Luminous Basement) whilst dub & reggae influences surface on Aint No Room. On certain tracks they have an almost Byrds-like sound with chiming, jangling guitars and soaring vocal harmonies. Although I like every single song, the following also deserve special mention: All Life's Tragedies, Don't Say I Told You So, Everywhere You Look & It Doesn't Have Be This Way.

There is one omission, Walls & Foundations, which makes their Luminous Basement album essential still; being a magnificent work, it is well worth seeking out for fans of Lennox & Stewart. They went on to release the highly experimental first Eurythmics album In the Garden which reflects the same sadness expressed here; a track like She's Invisible Now in a way mirrors The Loneliest Man In The World. The debut was followed by the more accessible Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) that spawned the massive hits Love Is A Stranger and Sweet Dreams. Devoted fans of Eurythmics really ought to investigate the music of The Tourists.

As far as greatest hits albums go, this is a very good one. We get several fun pictures of young, fearless Annie Lennox; great liner notes; and 20 songs!

As a longtime fan of Annie Lennox, Eurythmics, and The Tourists... I have to say that I don't know why the other reviewers here commented that this album is "mostly cover versions." The one and only cover version here is a (very well done) remake of the Dusty Springfield classic "I Only Want To Be With You." Pete Coombs wrote almost all of The Tourists' songs. Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox co-wrote a few, but The Tourists was really Coombs's band. (This is what lead to the band's eventual breakup: Annie and Dave felt that they were acting as mouthpieces for songs they hadn't written, and they were ready to pursue their own songwriting ventures, thereby giving birth to Eurythmics).

For fans of Annie Lennox and Eurythmics, here's what you can expect from The Tourists: Annie only gets some of the lead vocals. Most songs are duets with Pete Coombs, and they are not the kind of duets where the male and female lead take turns; instead, they sing together and sometimes sing over each other. And the guitar-driven sound of the music is somewhat like Eurythmics's psychedelic first album "In The Garden" with the energy of their rock album "Be Yourself Tonight."

Standout songs here include "All Life's Tragedies" (Annie gets the lead vocal on this one, and she sounds AMAZING, especially on the chours); "I Only Want To Be With You," "So Good To Be Back Home Again," (the Tourists' only other Top Ten hit, featuring Annie's trademark go-go dance style keyboard playing that was a fun motif throughout Tourists albums) and "From The Middle Room," which is the only song composed by Lennox and Stewart without Coombs. This last one sounds like pure Eurythmics, with Annie's traditionally sparse keyboard work. Also interesting is another ballad, "Strange Sky," where Annie once again gets the lead vocals to herself. This song builds to a crescendo with Annie's spirited wail sounding uncannily like Grace Slick... something the still-brilliant singer is too tame to do these days.

The Tourists only released a few albums, the best of which was arguably Reality Effect in 1979. This collection combines the highlights of Reality Effect with some of the band's other best moments. The result is a surprisingly tight collection of quality songs that are representative of what this band was all about. Some of the songs hint at what was to come when Annie and Dave formed the Eurythmics. It's quite obvious the Tourists were heavily influenced by the Byrds, the Beatles and the Kinks, among others. Highly recommended.

Worth the $$ for any fan of the Eurythmics. "So good to be back home again" is the highlight, featuring a Hohner keyboard device that I think only ever appeared on this album.

Most of these cuts are cover tunes and not originals, but that doesn't make a difference w/ the voice of Annie Lennox penetrating each note. Songs like "One Step Nearer the Edge" will be your favorites if you loved the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" and "Here Comes the Rain Again." Songs like "I only Want to Be with You" will have you singing along and dancing while doing housework. I was a die-hard fan of the Eurythmics' music way before I ever heard of the Tourists... finding that there was more of that rough sound available, I had to get the record. Sadly, my turn-table died and this greatest Hits LP was not available on CD until very recently... it's a great must-have for Dave & Annie fans, and you better get it before it's out of print!

I have always felt that the true merit and talent of a band can be seen with the passage of time after the Hype has died down. The Bay City Rollers are in the Graveyard of Music Obscurity but Free and Bachman Turner Overdrive remain Immortal. I actually remember seeing Annie Lennox singing "I Only Wanna Be With You" on a video clip and I felt that she was destined for greater things which she attained in The Eurythmics. This band's sound is catchy with a slight overtone of Punk which is quite an accomplishment since most Punk influenced bands did not write such commercial music.My favourite track would have to be "Deadly Kiss". The Tourists may no longer be with us but their music is not forgotten. And Annnie Lennox is HOT!

This is one of the best albums I've ever seen. I really like the cover of Dusty Springfield's song "I only wanna be with you". Excellent stuff.

(PS: An interesting fact about "I only wanna be with you". It was used in a promotional clip for Thames Television celebrating their history on their final day of broadcasting in December 1992.)

Like 99% of the people who are going to seek out this cd -- I started out as a Eurythmics fan and began working backwards. By the time I obtained my first Tourists album, Eurythmics had released 'Touch' which was a little too bubblegum for my sensibilities. The Tourists, on the other hand, made some really good music.

The peculiar thing about the Tourists, though, is that the music and the vocals seem at times to be at odds with each other. Most of the music is straight-forward rock, or even prog-rock, and then in the other hand you have this AMAZING voice that needs to be shown off, needs to wail, scream, whisper -- instead it's belting out rock lyrics.

Nonetheless some really good tunes came out of this band.... some of which are on this cd. If you're a fan of Annie Lennox, this cd is worth owning for "One Step Nearer the Edge."

The other Toursits import available on Amazon has a few more of the pop tracks on it, as well as an alternate version of "The Lonliest Man in the World." I prefer the version on this disc, however.

This half-hearted nod was obviously slapped together by some worthless hack who was put on assignment when Eurythmics broke big. The Tourists, who were a far better band in every way than what climbed out of their breakup, deserve a decent retrospective instead of the two lousy comps that exist, neither of which contain "Walls & Foundations" fom The Tourists terrific "Luminous Basement" album. This crappy comp only gets three stars because it contains four gems, "It Doesn't Have To Be This Way", "The Loneliest Man In The World", "Blind Among The Flowers " and "All Life's Tragedies".

Hi Dave & Annie fans, this "pre-Eurythmics" Cd is great. I only found out about TOURISTS through Annies' interview picture book CD. This music is definitely worth listening to. TOURISTS GREATEST HITS has been on my shopping list for 2 months before purchase in september of 2000. The CD is impossible to find in music stores, as I soon learned.

Originally, I wanted the "SHOULD HAVE BEEN GREATEST HITS". My luck ran out, because the day we went to get it, someone else bought it the day before. This was after seeing it in the store for 3 months.

So, after buying "TOURISTS GREATEST HITS" including 9 or 10 more songs than the other, Me happy...yaw!

Most of the songs are cover versions, but The Tourists have made short lived success. I like the singalong track "I ONLY WANT TO BE WITH YOU". This song is popular with Samantha fox. Annie's voice seems to be more mature, sounding alike her voice later on in her career. I must also state that Annie looks like an actrice from Coronation street ( a british tv soap). this look was also adopted for the Cd IN THE GARDEN, the 1st actual Eurythmics CD.

<BLIND AMONG THE FLOWERS>, <I ONLY WANT TO BE WITH YOU>, <THE LONLIEST MAN IN THE WORLD> and <DON'T SAY I TOLD YOU SO> are the best songs. Some tracks are done without Annie, but are just as good. Tourists were fortunate enough to have such a great band. Eddie Chin(bass), Jim Toomey(drums) and Pete Coombs, the "other" singer-songwriter of the band. The band had been formed from a duet with Dave Stewart and Pete Coombs.

The band formed in '79 and ended in '80. the copy I have has been re-released as import in '97. I can't keep from listening to this CD. It's great for anyone whom is musically eclectic. happy listening. Buy this CD.

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