Customer Reviews

Pure 80's Hits

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Anyone who has bought a bunch of 80s compilations will agree that there are two types of songs; the staples that you can find anywhere and the more esoteric songs that you rarely find. The earlier two "Pure 80s" comps catered to the former, while "Pure 80s" hits leans more towards the latter. As someone who owns plenty of 80s CDs already, it was nice to finally get one with a few hidden gems, and one that looked beyond the #1 Hits.

What you will most likely notice is that all the performers are familiar enough, though the songs chosen are not their biggest hits. Instead of "Shout" from Tears for Fears, we are treated to the far superior "Head Over Heels". Instead of "Jessie's Girl" from Rick Springfield, we get "Human Touch". Berlin's "No More Words", "Duran Duran's "Notorious", and Kim Wilde's excellent "Kids In America" are more examples of lesser played, though no lesser in quality, tracks. In many cases, I find that I prefer these songs to the #1 Hits that have, frankly, been played to death.

Having said that, there are a few staples here to please the diehards. "(Don't You) Forget About Me" by Simple Minds, "Shattered Dreams" by Johnny Hates Jazz, "Missing You" by John Waite, and "Your Love" by The Outfield have been the staples of most good 80s compilations, and are well in place on "Pure 80s Hits". Other standout tracks include "Lessons In Love" by Level 42 and the excellent love ballad "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger.

Though many before me have noted the lack of instantly recognizable hits, that doesn't mean that the quality of the songs is lacking - quite the opposite - many of the songs here are just as good as the rest. I strongly urge you not to pass this compilation up, since it is as solid as any 80s compilation currently on the market, if not better.

What was once only available on a 12" vinyl single and the "actual" soundstrip...not soundtrack...of the film, "The Breakfast Club", "Pure 80's Hits" now boasts the FULL version of Simple Minds, "Don't You Forget About Me"! Yes indeed...after all these years! To the "average" household listener of 80's music, he or she may not even tell the slightest bit of difference...and not even care...but to true collectors of that decade's gems, this CD has that "hard-to-find" full-length version of that Simple Minds signature song. Listen! The first 15 seconds is VASTLY different than the cut-up version that gets played on all those homogenized-sounding, 80's flash-back radio programs...not to mention, the "extra" verse in the middle of the song, with a complete set of alternate lyrics! So for this...and this reason only...I give the CD FIVE big stars!

Given that we both graduated from high school in 1986, my husband and I are huge fans of music from the 80s: we even played all 80s music at our recent wedding! We own at least 10 different 80s compilation CDs, including this one. This CD focuses on true 80s pop, not necessarily 80s classic hits. For example, although Rick Springfield is included, the song is "Human Touch" rather than the mega-hit "Jessie's Girl." Similarly, Duran Duran is here with "Notorius," a later and lesser hit. The collection also contains some more obscure bands, including The Outfield, Johnny Hates Jazz, and Dan Hartman. If you are a collector of 80s music, this compilation might fill in some of the gaps, but if you want the best of the 80s, there are better choices out there.

The Pure 80's series is the best of the 80's collections, mostly because of the thought put into the tracks. I think that this one is good because they did not use the same songs as everyone always does. In adition, I have been trying to collect a lot of these (Simple Minds 12" mix, etc.) and now they are all on one CD. Some of these songs are not as well known because this is the third volume, but this collection still rocks. Most of the songs are big hits!

I've had this CD for 4 years and still love it! I like the green packaging, for neon colors were so common in the '80s. There are some songs here that were hits, but surprisingly overlooked or only peaked in the teens, 20s or 30s of the pop charts. There are some others that did go top 10 or No. 1. I still love Lessons In Love by Level 42, a song I liked in the summer of 1987 and still do today. I still like Johnny Hates Jazz's wonderful Shattered Dreams. Duran Duran's Notorious and The Power Station's Some Like it Hot add some funk to this album. But one '80s song on here was one I got to hear for the very first time--The Plimsouls' A Million Miles Away from 1983. It sounds quite good and original for them. The ones by Rick Springfield, Glass Tiger, Asia and others are still superb on here. One rare surprise is the kicking opener of Simple Minds' Don't You Forget About Me and its extended version of 6:32. They extended some sections of the intros, bridges and other parts to the original song to make it longer. This album smartly acknowledges some of the most underrated songs and hits of the '80s and does it well for 77 minutes!

This album is good but as usual when making 1980s collections they forget about the later 1980s. They always pick songs from 1984-1987, they soon forget that 1988-1989, 1980-1983, were also the 1980s. Until people who do these collection start including hits from all around the '80s. I will not recommend these items so called 1980s collections.

ill probably still be listening to 80s hits when im 80 yrs old. this decade generated some of the greatest songs of all time.

If you like 80's music you will enjoy this CD. I think all of the Pure 80's CD's are great to own. I wouldn't want to be without them. The great thing about this series is that it has many of the one-hit-wonders that you can't find anywhere else. This is the CD to buy if you want to bring back old memories.

As I mentioned in the Red Cube review there is a Red Cube and a Blue Cube. This is the Green Cube. Universal did a fine job of assembling these songs. The digital transfer is consistently good throughout. I still think the Blue cube is slightly better than the other two, but if you don't already own these tracks buy it, you'll be happy. Actually, if you're just starting an 80's collection you should buy all three.

This was a gift for my granddaughter and her mother. They like to dance to the music. I was told it is great music to clean house to as it makes the job easy and fun.