Customer Reviews

Millennium: 80's New Wave Party

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4 star:		(4)
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2 star:		(3)
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Thumbs up to Rhino Records for actually putting out good music on their compilations! I'm not just referring to the music included but also the sound quality. I was blown away when I stumbled upon another "Millennium" release by Rhino. The sound quality is amazing. So I was inspired to buy 3 (!) more of their "Millennium" compilations. According to their website, they look for the best available original master tapes and use the best state-of-the-art equipment for remastering these songs, referring to the "remastered in rhinophonic authentic sound" logos on the releases. Most labels don't even remaster the material! I'm really big on sound quality and I've never heard any of these songs on this collection (or any of their other "Millennium" releases) sound so crisp, bright, and clear! Take for example, "Sweet Dreams" or "Whip It," recorded in 1983 and 1980, respectively. The bass stands out like any song released today. A must-have just for the quality!

Besides the sound quality, the tracklisting is one of the best I've seen for an 80's collection (despite not all songs being "New Wave"). Another plus is the liner notes with the Billboard Hot 100 chart peaks and year of release.

These are 20 new wave classics all in one spot. They still sound good after all these years and bring back the memories of college dorm parties for me. Sure there are a lot of these collections around but not so many for so little $$ on one CD. I like the choice of songs; they are a good sample from the styles of the era. The best surprise is the most excellent liner notes booklet by Andy Zax describing with clever brevity the groups and the songs. (e.g., "Men Without Hats' The Safety Dance possessed all the right criteria for a one-off hit-single success in the '80s: It was danceable, catchy, and sort of annoying. . . . And perhaps most importantly, it had an eye-grabbing video clip featuring a dancing midget. Inevitably, it became a sensation" etc., etc.) What a blast! I can't wait to drive around with the windows down with this CD.

If you came of age in the 80's, then new wave, synthesizer-heavy music was the soundtrack of your youth. Every one of the songs on this disc gets me to reminiscing about my high school days and what fun we had...Anyway, just the inclusion of the inane song by Frank and Moon Zappa, "Valley Girl," should be enough to get you out to the nearest store to buy this CD! Other equally spacey, yet great songs included are, "Rock Lobster," "Whip It," "The Safety Dance," "I Want Candy," and "Cars." This is truly a classic collection of songs that will immediately transport you back to the days when pegged jeans, big hair, parachute pants, and skirts with ankle socks and high heels were all the rage. Don't miss out...you'll be dancing to this one 'til the disc wears out!

You can either download a pile of titles from 80's progressive rock from the internet or you can just buy this disc and get a lot of fun classics from this era. It's got a lot of the titles you want.

Ignore the tacky cover and the genre confusion, as this is an enjoyable collection of hits from the late seventies and the eighties that is well worth the price. My favourites include the quirky Rock Lobster by the B-52's, Devo's hypnotic Whip It, the powerpop of Just What I Needed by The Cars, the delightful catchy synth-pop of Mickey by Toni Basil and Thomas Dolby's wonderful She Blinded Me With Science. Synth-pop is represented by Basil, Eurythmics, A Flock Of Seagulls, Soft Cell and Gary Numan's chilling but mesmerising Cars. New Wave Rockers are the B-52's, Devo, The Cars, Dolby and Bow Wow Wow, while there are also singalong radio fodder like A-Ha's Take On Me and the tracks by Men Without Hats and Wang Chung. On the soulful side, we have Dexys Midnight Runners, Haircut One Hundred and Soft Cell, while Madness contributes some prime ska, Stray Cats provide roaring rockabilly and the Zappas bring some humour to the collection. I'm not sure about the album title though - as far as I remember, very few of these artists were considered "new wave" at the time. The so-called "new romantic" bands like Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran etc. were considered the new wavers. As a collection of 80's hits, however, this album is good value for money.

For many years, I have been trying to distance myself from the 80's. I was 8 when they started, and 18 when they ended. Yes, not exactly the fun years. I hated the clothes, the era, the politics... and then I bought this CD, and suddenly, I am reevaluating it. This CD rocks... and hearing all these songs together makes me realize, hey, this music was pretty darn good. For anybody who worships, misses or even reviles this decade, this CD brings it all back, and even makes me nostalgic.

Pop in this disc and almost instantly you'll be taken back to the days of alligator shirts, "Footloose", and the rubix cube. This compilation is comparitive to another superb compilation called "Pure 80's" in that both contain an excellent blend of synthesizer-happy music. And yes, the liner notes are plentiful and not typical of most comps that you'll find (most lack liner notes altogether). It's interesting to read about the de-evolution movement Devo spoke of while listening to "Whip It" and learn about the career of Toni Basil prior to and after her sole hit song "Mickey". But the best song on the comp was recently revived in a Burger King commercial...you guessed it, "I Melt With You". Slap in "Take On Me" and "Come On Eileen" and this one is definitely something you should pick up if you crave an 80's flashback!

I grew up in the 80's loving these songs! I like to play this CD in the truck with my 4 year old twin girls and my 2 year old boy. They love to sing along and carseat dance to the music. :-) I feel good playing it for them, too.

If you are looking for a sole New Wave CD, this is not right, I want Candy and Rock Lobster are nowhere close to being New Wave. Its still a great compilation of hit songs of the 80s, mainly one hit wonders like Whip It, Come on Eileen, Tainted Love, and Cars. It is good for parties if you grew up in that decade and I may not have been born yet during that period, but I enjoyed the music on this CD and is much better than music that is put forth today.

This is a fantastic album, but something's missing. A little known fact is that the 19th track was originally supposed to be Michaelmatician's "Quivering Relics". Ultimately this track as well as others were left off and instead intended for the 2nd Volume. The 2nd volume hasn't occurred yet.

However, the Music of Michaelmatician can be heard.

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