Customer Reviews

Platinum & Gold Collection

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

 

 

I've always been familiar with this band, having grown up in the '80s and watching the "I Ran" video on MTV over and over. Truth is, the Flock had other very noteworthy songs as well, three of the best being "Space Age Love Song," "Telecommunication" and "Wishing." Also a highlight here is "The Story of a Young Heart." If you enjoyed seeing this band on VH1's recent series "Bands Reunited" (all four original members provided a very strong performance) then I recommend this CD. It was released in 2003 and the sound is fantastic...crisp and clear...and it also includes the extra long intro to "I Ran." This band needs to continue its VH1 reunion...and after watching the VH1 show, Paul Reynolds is a fantastic guitarist who I would be interested seeing more of in a Flock reunion!

The full track list is:

I Ran
Telecommunication
Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)
Space Age Love Song
Nightmares
The More You Live, the More You Love
Modern Love is Automatic
D.N.A.
Don't Ask Me
You Can Run
Heartbeat Like a Drum
The Story of a Young Heart

CD includes great liner notes and many photographs of the band.

Yup. This is it. During their brief visit into our public consciousness, A Flock of Seagulls really made the most of it, didn't they? Almost anybody who was into music back then, can remember them now without any sort of hesitation.

They had a distinctive, if limited, sound with a distinctive, but now horrifically dated, look.

Their initial singles,nicely remastered here, were all over the radio in those early days of "new wave."
"Telecommunication" (a song significant enough to be played twice during their early concerts), "Space Age Love Song" and the one everybody knows, "I Ran (So Far Away)" all sound just as great as they did more than twenty years ago. Propulsive beats, atmospheric synth washes and brittle linear guitar lines all servicing, and let's be honest here, some pretty decent melodies. Simple yes, but you know what? You can still sing/hum them with ease and pleasure. What else is good pop music for?

I don't deny myself simple pleasures when they present themselves...this isn't Springsteen or U2 here. It's just stuff that sound great on your car radio, or playing from the stereo speakers during a busy party.

Several additional songs from their first album are included, "Modern Love is Automatic" and the Grammy-winning instrumental (go ahead and laugh now) "DNA."

Their subsequent, less successful singles are here too, "Wishing (I had a photograph of you)" and "Nightmares".

Some samples of their more generic, less "Flock of Seagulls sounding" later work are also here. They simply prove that change isn't always necessarily a good thing.

Amusing liner notes (it's not a fluff piece...he's not always kind) and photos can be found in the CD insert.

Any music fan compiling songs from that era will need this disc. It's a splendid career summary, representing a very specific genre of music.

I have to confess that I didn't take to the Seagulls from the start. It was only after my younger brother bought their first album and kept playing it all the time that I gradually became influenced.

Up to that time, I had only heard "I Ran" which I thought was okay but no big deal at least not enough for me to want to explore the band more. Then I heard the rest of the album and realised that "I Ran" was actually one of the weaker tracks!

"Space Age Love Song" just blew me away and then track after track of great songs like "Telecommunications", "DNA" (grammy award winner), "Tokyo", "Don't Ask Me Why", "Modern Love is Automatic" etc. Subsequently, thanks to my brother's love for the band, I constantly got to hear the other albums soon after their release. "Wishing", and especially "Nightmares" from their second album really got me hooked; clearly, this was not a flash in the pan band and unfortunately, these ex-hairdressers got labelled as a New Wave band and sort of died along with the whole genre a few years later.

Years later when I took up the guitar and played at gigs, I began to realise just how good the guitar work was by these guys too. As a guitarist, I also understand completely why "DNA" won the Instrumental of the Year Grammy Award too as it's just a great composition showcasing what guitars can do artistically in the right hands. The natural harmonics in the intro still gives me the chills when I hear it today and I wish I had thought of doing that!

Anyways, if you were going to get a best of album of these guys, this one is pretty good and with remastered sound, they haven't sounded better except for my one gripe and why I hesitated giving it 5 stars was because it doesn't have "Transfer Affection" which is a really great track.

If you like this compilation and want to explore more, you can't go wrong with their first two albums which I believe contain their best work.

Not sure what singer Mike Score is looking at on the cover, but judging from the look on his face it just might be a mirror. The rest of the guys look unpretty weird, too. That said, you can stop here if you're curious about these Gulls (or even if you're a fan, really). "I Ran" is what they will always be remembered for, even if lesser hits ("Telecommunication," "Space Age Love Song," "Wishing") are worthy of your time. As for the rest, it's passable - - serviceable, even - - if a little lacking in the melody department. It helps not to listen (or look!) too closely. Guess that's the point, though. Hit `em with atmosphere, and hope for the best. Well, here it is.

i've always loved this band,but after purchasing this c.d.,theres a couple songs that i've never heard before,(don't ask me why)..great song,and as always,the lyrics talk about flying saucers up in the sky,the same kind of theme as most of there other songs,(modern love is automatic!)when i first heard this song,WOW!!! this song really rocks!the lyrics are different,the songs about forbidden young love in japan,to me,that song blows away there big hit (i ran so far away)if you never heard this song,it's one you must put in your i-pod!awesome song,and a great tune to crank up while driving arond town! most of the other songs,can be found on other c.d.'s this is a awesome c.d. don't pass this one up!

This is the Greates Band Ever and this is my Favorite CD in my Collection!!! I listin to it almost Every Day!!! It includes all the Hits including I Ran (so far away) Space Age Love Song and D.N.A. which won best rock instumental at the Grammys!!! I am only 14 and AFOS is my favorite Band!!!!! I first really heard them in Rockstar Norths Grand Theft Auto: Vice City!
it is a great CD great Liner Notes and Rare Pictures of the band!!!
AFOS 4 EVER!!!

A Flock Of Seagulls were a good 80's new wave band, but the fact is that they didn't have any good enough songs to make their hits collection worth a "5" star rating. The good news, however, is that if you like the band then this is a great collection! All your favorite Seagulls hits are here as well as some songs that you probably never heard before. "Telecommunication" is one of my favorites that I don't think was a hit (I think it wasn't one, anyway). They were a good band, but a lot of it was cheesy and a guilty pleasure. Singer Mike Score has a pretty good voice on most of the songs, but at times I can see not many people liking him. Overall he does a good job, though. Musically it's pretty dated and definitely 80's (the production is dated as this most definitely needs some sort of remastering) - it's not a bad thing, necessarily, but it's very noticable and might turn some people off (see "Telecommunication" for another example). These are pretty good songs, but the only really good ones are the hit "I Ran" and to an extent "Nightmares" and "Space Age Love Song". None of these are really classics, but if you like the band then this hits collection will definitely satisfy you (I haven't heard any of the other collections, so I can't comment on how this one fares compared to others). All in all this is highly recommended!

Highlights include:
basically everything here