Customer Reviews

Heavenly Pop Hits

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I don't know what's in the water in New Zealand, but that little island produced some of the best pop bands of the 1980's. Sure, you've heard the Church and Crowded House, but the Chills may have been the best of the bunch. "Greatest Hits" records usually tend to skip some of the best of an artist's work, but the Chills were, up till their last album, a singles band, so this works perfectly, collecting all their singles, up through the magnificent "Soft Bomb." Oh, and if that name sounds familiar, Justin Harwood left after the band's breakup to join Luna. This comp gets it all right, with thoughtful track sequencing, great liner notes, and good sound. These guys had the nerve to write a song, call it "Heavenly Pop Hit," and get away with it. 'Nuff said. Get this and "Soft Bomb," and you've got the best of their great career.

...what happened to The Chills. They wrote some of the best pop songs of the nineties, yet could never seem to get their act together enough to fulfill their real potential. This is a good introduction, though really you might be better off just buying Submarine Bells and Kaleidoscope world instead, because once you hear this you're going to want to buy them anyways. My biggest regret is that they left off the bonus disc that was included in the original import pressing: while it only has a handful of difficult to find songs on it, one of those songs, Big Dark Day, is one of their best and, unless you have the patience (and luck) to track down the original single it was on, is nearly impossible to find anymore. Yet another example of one of the saddest pop music tragedies that no one seems to know or care about.

Someone said The Church are from NZ, but they're not. And that NZ was a little island, but it's not. Someone said the Chills broke up, but they've had 20 line-ups, released three albums since this "hits" compilation, and apparently still exist. Others suggested to get this CD and Kaleidoscope World (or Soft Bomb or Submarine Bells), etc., but that would only cause you to miss some great stuff! Their classic, best-reviewed breakthrough LP, Brave Words, hasn't yet been mentioned. I think it's their strongest LP. A singles band? For me, The Verlaines and The Bats are stronger bands from NZ, all began releasing records in the 80s, but The Chills are an excellent third. What you're getting with all three is organic, pop/rock music heavy on natural guitars, bass, and drums (with The Chills offering the most piano and organ, too) and light on anything synthesized. It's melodic, honest, indie music, though The Chills and Verlaines were on major labels in the US in the 90s. It's all great, unique, enriching stuff!

This is a great collection of heartfelt pop songs, however as it says it an 'uptempo collection' and therfore misses some of their finest quieter moments.
I'd recommend getting Submarine Bells before this.
Also i do need to point out to the previous guy that The Church were very much Australian.

The Chills were part of the seminal New Zealand label Flying Nun and were part of the so called 'Dunedin sound.' More or less they specialised in twee, catchy pop songs with an indie quality to them. Sometimes they are very beautiful, but sometimes a bit too twee and corny in terms of lyrics. But overall they were a good band and admirable in many respects. But its important to remember most of their songs were twee, this saves me mentioning it for every song. The compilation starts strongly with the Chills best known hit the aptly titled Heavenly Pop Hit, a memorable song. Thats followed by the short but sweet I Love My Leather Jacket, a tribute to a friend who passed away. One of the compilations best tunes comes after, the exquisute Doledrums which features a buoyant melody and pulls off the age old trick of writing a happy sounding song about a depressing subject. The chorus lyrics are "In the doledrums, On the dole." Fitting lyrics for a New Zealand rock band in 1990. The fourth track double summer is slightly soppy but is a great song nonetheless featuring a very beautiful melody. The Oncoming Day is more driving than most Chills songs and is good but not as good as the next tune Rolling Moon. This is a prime slice of early 80s Flying Nun 'Dunedin Sound' pop, a great, understated melodic tune which strongly reminds me of being a student in Dunedin, which I am. The standard kind of lowers slightly after than with some more forgettable songs like Never Never Go which are ok but not outstanding. Some more great tunes come later though with the classic Pink Frost which is introspective, brooding, beautiful and slightly creepy. Another pop classic follows with Kaleidoscope World. Some other decent tracks round out the rest of the comp. Anyone interested in Flying Nun or the Dunedin Sound will do well to buy this album, it features some great, unique tunes and overall is very good. But anyone who likes indie or pop/rock might like it.