Customer Reviews

Too Young to Die :Best of

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think Saint Etienne's music exemplifies what pop music should sound like with their catchy, light-hearted, playful songs. "Too Young to Die" pretty much covers the first half of the band's career. What drew me to this band was that they have been able to incorporate pop with elements of dance music which results in fun pop music minus the cheese. Sarah Cracknell may have a relatively limited vocal styling but her voice goes well with the music that the band puts out. "Too Young to Die" overall is an excellent place for anyone curious about the band's music to begin with.

This album (the limited edition with the mix cd) was my first of this fantastic, unique and genius band. After seeing the video of "He's On The Phone" I fell in love with the song, produced by Motiv8.
I had absolutely no idea what laid before me. Who'd have known Saint Etienne would change my life this much?
He's On The Phone is pure disco pop to dance all night to (here in a 5 min.+ version), just like I Was Born On Christmas Day, but the rest people, the rest is another thing altogether.
My perception of the band's music, especially their albums before this collection was made, may perhaps have been altered by time spent adoring them, but if you listen to this you will agree these are masterpieces. Where else have you heard such hauntingly beaufitul melodies such as in Avenue, Hobart Paving?
I grew to love every single track here.
But what came after this for me? Well, surprise surprise: most of the songs have been slightly remixed, some are radio versions.
The original album versions....are even better!!! Kiss And Make Up, with that echo of the sweet base, or People Get Real, the sound almost gets lost in the sweet vocals of the uncelebrated queen of indie pop that is Sarah Cracknell.
You need to grab FoxBase Alpha, You Need A Mess of Help To Stand Alone and So Tough at least to realize what lies behind this greatest hits album.
Saint Etienne, please never leave us

Sorry for my lousy English.My favorite music type must be simply easy listening.Since I used to be a big fan of Germany singer Sandra.(female vocalist of Enigma). Then there's another girl Princessa following her style,great pop album got 18 great songs on it,all Euro style and she did a cover version of "She's on the phone" from st. etienne. which cause my curiosity about this band. But there's no any formally distributor in Taiwan. I haven't get a chance tolisten to their great tunes for so many years.Their Cds can only found in Tower record and the price ishigh of course,There's no any details I can follow from their alternate cover, so I haven't bought it right away. It could be Rock & Roll which I hate most. One month later, there's a British Exhibition open on a department store, They're playing some big hits from U.K. about this 2 years One of my familiar tune just popping out "He's on the phone".(It's an older song in this case,And it's the only song that I can identify st.etienne. I had never expect to see this MTV in anywhere else.As a matter of fact, I shall never see any st.etienne MTV even if I wanted to.The original version is even better than Princessa's.It must be predestinate.) So I rush my way to Tower and buy this album "Too young to die" So glad I did it and so regret that I missed them for so many years.I also purchased their other CDs of course, But how can I mend the lost 9 years? They're very hard to find and rare in Taiwan let alone those precious CD singles.I may not qualify to be a saint etienne fan, But I do love them with all my heart,fallen in love with them at that moment I played this CD. Within the past 2 months I've tried all the efforts to collect some more but always disappointed.And I'm a fresh beginner as a PC user for I just bought this computer who dying to know more saint etienne news from internet since I can't find other way in Taiwan.I've owned more than 800 CDs.If they did represent something,I can tell you, Saint Etienne is the finest pop band in the world, There's no other artists can imitate their various styles or in any trace sounds like them. They're marvellous,unique and special,wizards for music.

An excellent compilation of the UK singles from this great, sadly underpublicized band. Terrific melodies, strong production, great beats and ballads. Can't be recommended highly enough!

To be honest, I own the more complete Singles and More.... Anyway, this has a lot of their really good songs (Avenue and Hobart Paving are absolutely lovely) so it is a good album to start off with. I bought the singles without knowing much about St. Etienne and I wasn't disappointed at all!

"Too young to die" is an inspirational collection showcasing all of Saint Etienne's output whilst signed to the Heavenly imprint. An utter joy from beginning to end, the album opens with the heartrending balearic classic "Only love can break your heart". Amazingly, this pioneering track was produced way back in 1990 yet hardly shows its age at all. Featuring vocals by Moira Lambert, it was Andrew Weatherall's epic 'a mix of two halves' which propelled this pop/dance/ambient hybrid into the public consciousness. Next up is the equally magical "Kiss and make up". Featuring a different vocalist this time, "Kiss and make up" perfectly encapsulates the evolving britpop sound of the early '90s, in fact it doesn't sound too dissimilar to those other early '90s pseudo electronic innovators One Dove, helmed by Andrew Weatherall and the enduring Dot Allison. The third track to be featured on the album is the distinctly more poppy "Nothing can stop us", which reaks of '90s nostalgia and does sound a tad dated in comparison to the previous two classic tracks. The stratosphere-cruising "Join our club" is up next, a genre straddling affair which walks a fine line between dance music and pop-indie. Unfortunately "Join our club" sounds a tad dated now, but let us not forget that it was actually produced in 1991 and sounded and indeed was hugely innovative for that era. "People get real" and "Avenue" are the fifth and sixth tracks on the album respectively, the latter a more downtempo and moody affair, the former harking back to the days of "Only love can break your heart", St. Et's debut production. The classic "You're in bad way" is up next and remains a delight thirteen years after its release. Having lost none of its originality and charm whatsoever, the dangerously infectious "You're in a bad way" was one of Saint Etienne's biggest chart hits to date. "Who do you think you are", track eight, capitalised on the success of "You're in a bad way" and is another fast paced, feelgood track to which Sarah Cracknell's distinctive vocals are entirely suited. Track 9, "Hobart paving" is a sublime, introspective affair which really pulls on the heartstrings. Almost balladic in feel, "Hobart paving" is one of the highlights of Saint Etienne's extensive back catalogue and really demonstrates their chameleonic quality. "I was born on Christmas day" is one of the best and most underrated festive numbers ever. A duet between Cracknell and Tim Burgess of the Charlatans, this was released as part of an EP entitled "Xmas 1993" and hasn't aged a day over a decade since its release. 1994 saw Saint Etienne embracing their true electronic potential, the outcome of which in the first instance was the euphoric trancelite number "Pale movie". A soaring slab of uplifting electronica, "Pale movie" again demonstrated Saint Etienne's uniquely ability to cruise from genre from genre with little discernable effort. Quite simply a stunning aural affair. "Like a motorway" is a plaintive, understated brooding number which again sees Saint Etienne immerse themselves firmly in the dance music arena. This is one of the highlights of the album, but the remixes of "Like a motorway" failed to do it justice. It's a shame that this is one of the least known Saint Etienne compositions. The joyously upbeat "Hug my soul" is the penultimate track on the album and sees St Et again perfectly encapsulating their simply unclassifiable sound. "He's on the phone" was the last Saint Etienne track to be released on Heavenly. Issued in late 1995, it was produced by dance outfit Motiv 8 aka Steve Rodway, who was earlier commissioned to retweak "Hug my soul". An unashamedly cheesy yet unabashedly uplifting experience, "He's on the phone" gave new definition to the term euphoric and perhaps shows that after all their genre-hopping, Saint Etienne felt more comfortable embracing the electronic sound of the day. Unfortunately the release of "He's on the phone" heralded something of a hiatus for Saint Etienne, who would not be back in the public eye until 1998's "Sylvie". This album however hasn't aged a day and is an absolutely joy to listen to, showcasing the immense talent of Saint Etienne, one of the most enduring and talented British acts ever.

This is a collection of Saint Etienne's singles for the label "Heavenly." Every song is a keeper. If you're new to Saint Etienne, this is a great place to start as this album contains mainstream singles rather than some of their other oddities that only a true fan could love.