Customer Reviews

Listen On: The Best of the Railway Children

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This is a super cd highlighting the best of this cool band. From the opening chords of "Every Beat of My Heart" all the way through the collection you get a neat feeling. "Monica's Light", "Collide", "In the Meantime", "Hours Go By" are all super songs. Gary Newby and his gang are true songsmiths. They have style. Too bad they didn't get the recognition they deserved in the States. Highly recommended to anyone a fan of true pop music that was pre-Nirvana.

The Railway Children was one of the first bands I followed, so I know what constitutes as great. The songs on this CD are, but the absence of songs like "A Pleasure", which really shows the dynamic range of the band, it more than a mistake: it's just sloppy. Brovo to Railway Children's work. Shame on the idiot who put this collection together.

With a classic beat-combo line-up (lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, and drums), the Railway Children create a shimmering, melodic sound that reminds me of '80s bands like Smiths, Spandau Ballet, and Wire. "Listen on.." claims to be a sort of "Greatest hits" compilation, but RC aren't merely a singles band. The problem is that this disc only covers the "Virgin years", with nothing from RC's independent days at the Factory label ("Reunion wilderness"). And there's a couple of unnecessary remixes and demo versions here which clearly pale next to such great songs as "Somewhere south", "In the meantime", or "Something so good". Well, there isn't much to tell about "Listen on". It contains some great music, but I think RC's regular albums are much more cohesive. "Recurrence", their major label debut, is probably their best album, followed by 1990's "Native place". The latter one is available as a cut-out edition, and usually you can find RC's releases at second-hand shops. After a long lay-off, the band returned in 1999 with "Dream arcade", but they didn't experience any commercial success. Despite some shortcomings, "Listen on" is a must-have for anyone with a weakness for melodic guitar-pop, and a good place to start your RC collection.

I never hear or heard a song from Railway Children since i saw a video clip on TV a month ago.It was "Every Beat Of The Heart"...It sounds like The Smiths.So i decided to buy this very best of this group.I am really happy with this purchase.I could say that more of the half of the songs on this CD is a hit.Plenty of good 80's sounds.One of my best is "Give It Away".Railway Children is a alternativ group.If you like The Smiths,New Order or Simple Minds,this one has to be in your collection.

Must have been a licensing thing, as material from the Factory debut isn't included, well except for a demo of "Listen On". I think "Reunion Wilderness" was released in the US on Virgin though; whatever the case this isn't really a comprehensive best of.

Still, it's a good place to start if you are looking to give TRC a shot. This best of concentrates a bit much on the dancier side of the band. There are great songs around from the 2nd and 3rd CDs including some new unreleased tracks.

Check out "Everybody". Highly addictive guitar work. Most of the standards are included, the popular "Every Beat of the Heart", the wistful "Somewhere South" and "In the Meantime" and the dancier "Music Stop" and "Something So Good".

Any "best of" that omits the song "A Pleasure" from the Recurrence CD cannot truly be called "best of." That song contains one of the all-time great guitar riffs in any genre.

Other than that, a great compilation, especially in light of the fact that many great CDs from many great bands are out of print or are going OOP....

It's tragic that this band could not follow the strong hooks and guitar turns of their first album REUNION WILDERNESS. However, since there isn't enough around, this best-of will have to make due until you can dig up the original. LISTEN ON and GENTLE SOUND represent their earlier efforts, while COLLIDE is one of the better selections from their later works. There is nothing complicated here, but Gary Newby, the band's leader, could really write the hooks.