Listen On: The Best of the Railway Children [Import]

Railway Children | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 20, 1995)
• Original Release Date: 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Europe Generic
• ASIN: B00000736T
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,166 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2004 compilation featuring 17 tracks. Virgin.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Really a Best Of, But Still Essential, December 14, 2001

By 

Denmark Jensen (Carson City, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Listen On: The Best of the Railway Children (Audio CD)

If this is the first Railway Children CD you buy (and its the only one that's easy to find new these days) then you should be warned that the title is a bit decieving. Sure the first track is incredible, but midway through track 2 you might be wondering " ... and this is their best?". Rather then being a "best of" collection, this is really a mixed bag of singles and b-sides with a few standout album tracks as well, but not nearly all of the good ones. In my opinion, every track on their first three albums is very very good. However, I can't say the same for some of the b-sides on this disc. While some of them have definitly grown on me, tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8 on this CD, which are all b-sides from the "Native Place" singles, are worse than any of the tracks on any of their regular albums. This is a good thing, as it shows they did a good job of selecting the best material for the albums, but unfortunately all of those first three albums have gone out of print. So, as its easy to buy, this CD may be a good place to start listening to the Railway Children, but I highly recommend tracking down the original albums. "Native Place" is quite easy to find for sale used. Their first, "Reunion Wilderness" has been reissued and is available on the bands web site. "Recurrence" is currently the most difficult one to find, but may well be the best. But even if you do manage to find all three of these, this CD will still be important. The original version here of "Listen On" is quite different from the album version, and I like the this one better. This plus the post "Native Place" single, "So Right", along with the b-sides, make this a great CD to own even if you have the original albums. The really exciting news is that the band has a new single out supposedly soon.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Introduction to a great unsung song-writer, March 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Listen On: The Best of the Railway Children (Audio CD)

The Railway Children's fifth album collects together songs from "Recurrence" and "Native Place" (both no longer available) + rare b-sides & remixes from Virgin releases. At over 60 minutes long it is very good value for money. Gary Newby is my favourite song-writer. His songs are always melodic & lyrically uplifting. The Railway Children are still making albums today and have their own official web-site which is run by Gary himself! His music will last forever.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best of.... Sort of, December 17, 2003

By 

Matt Crazed "crazed outlook" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Listen On: The Best of the Railway Children (Audio CD)

Listen On is a valid "Best of" collection in the sense that it contains The Railway Children's biggest singles and compiles songs from different albums. If you only get one album from TRC, you should probably get this one. If you become a big fan of the band, however, this CD alone will not do them justice. One omission that's almost unforgiveable (and there seems to be a consensus on this) is "A Pleasure", a highly compelling song from the Recurrence album.

The track selection for Listen On is, more or less, hit or miss. "Hours Go By" and "After The Rain", for instance, don't exactly epitomize the band's best moments. There are some pleasant surprises, nonetheless, for both diehard and novice fans. Substandard mixing and obvious production flaws on b-sides "What She Wants" and "Give It Away" somehow add character to the tracks, while re-introducing the rawness that was somewhat lacking during the Native Place sessions when the band took a more commercial direction. Furthermore, the featured single version of "Something So Good" conveys more of the band's trademark raw emotion than the originally released album version.

Of course, the cult classic "Every Beat Of The Heart" is included on this collection. That's the song that introduced me to The Railway Children. Hopefully Listen On will further expand TRC's fan base and provide many more music fans with a pleasurable listening experience.