Squeeze - Greatest Hits [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Squeeze

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 18, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000007424
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,864 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Art, craft, fashion, and commerce, despite widespread presumptions, have hardly been synonymous in the record business. A prime example is Squeeze, one of the U.K. new wave's most traditional-minded bands and largely the conceit of songwriters Chris Difford (words) and Glenn Tilbrook (music). Despite glowing critical comparisons with Lennon and McCartney, tireless touring, initial successes in Britain, and a perennially popular hits compilation (45's and Under), Squeeze's fortunes were mixed. Even their hard-won status as mid-'80s MTV sensations seemed to evaporate overnight. Perhaps they were just too smart for their own good. Tilbrook's hooks and melodies comfortably recalled the Beatles and the Kinks, but with ever surprising and sophisticated twists, while many of Tilbrook's cinematic lyrics were Broadway-sophisticated in their scope. "Up the Junction," "Pulling Mussels from the Shell," and "Tempted" (the latter burnished to perfection by the production of Elvis Costello and the vocals of veteran Paul Carrack) paint remarkably robust portraits of romantic tensions set in contexts so rich with detail you can almost smell and taste them. This 20-track compilation effectively expands upon 45's and Under by appending the best of the band's final three '80s albums, even if a few provide discomfiting evidence that the band was being positioned as the English equivalent of Huey Lewis and the News. But like its effervescent early singles, what would the Squeeze saga be without a compelling twist or three? --Jerry McCulley

Product Description
20 Great Hits from the Band's A&m Years, 20 Bit Mastered.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars NON-REMASTERED RECYCLED HITS PACKAGE WITH SUB-STANDARD AUDIO, December 14, 2004

By	BOB (LOS ANGELES, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Although this CD was released in 2001, it is simply a recycled "Singles 45's & Under" CD with new packaging and added tracks. The tipoff is the 1992 copyright date on the back of the CD.

The reason I'm giving it the lowest rating is that Universal chucked this one out there without updating the audio quality over the older (and BEWARE, still available, RIPOFF!) package. The masters used for this CD date from the late 80's.

All of the content of this CD exists in remastered form on many other Squeeze CD's. It's a great collection of songs, but from an audio standpoint, there is no bottom end to this CD at all; it sounds like the music is playing thru an AM radio.

A big "BOOOOO & HISSSSSS" to Universal for being so lazy.

Perhaps this is why the president of A&M hung a black arm-band over the company sign the day they closed up shop after being sold to Universal; A&M would never have done something like this in its heyday as one of the great independent record companies

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deserving of better, March 7, 2005

By	Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

After being all but ignored in the US for most of their career, Squeeze belatedly hit the top 40 with "Hourglass." With a novelty sing-a-long chorus and a comic video, it gave the band their needed MTV exposure...and then it vaporized almost immediately. One other minor hit from "Babylon and On," "853-5937" (annoyingly absent from this collection), and the band's fortunes fell away.

It makes "Greatest Hits" a frustrating experience. While it does nicely supplant the old "45's and Under," it ignores the non A&M material, and their final albums, especially the great "Loving You Tonight" and title track from "Some Fantastic Place." And since for some insane, criminal, reason, the entire classic Squeeze discography is out of print in America, this remains the sole place to get about a third of the songs on this disc.

The Lennon and McCartney comparisons that Difford and Tilbrook frequently garnered are apparent here, starting from the singles off "Argy Bargy," which was where Tilbrook and Difford coalesced their quirks to their classicism. By their best album, "East Side Story," the band was aiming for the edge of the universe, and with Paul Carrack's perfect vocal, "Tempted" became their benchmark. But it also became their anchor, as their desire to make great art and still have mad success began to strain them. "Sweets From A Stranger" was wildly uneven, with the soulful "Black Coffee in Bed" being the most brilliant moment. (And "I've Returned" missing in action here.)

Then it was off to some overbearing solo work and an erratic reunion (the three best songs from "Cosi Fan Tutti Fruitti" are all here). Then they got serious for one last hurrah and made the stunningly poppy "Babylon And On." With the energetic "Trust Me To Open My Mouth" and classic sounding "Footprints," this was what most people probably think of when they refer to a Squeeze sound. "Frank" had some ok moments, but this time it was record company indifference that did the album in.

But for those moments that dot the soundscape of "Greatest Hits," you get some of the finest pop the 80's produced. The gamut from quirky new wave ("Cool For Cats"), country ("Labeled With Love"), soul ("Tempted" and "Black Coffee in Bed") and classic, sophisticated pop ("Footprints," "Up The Junction"). Squeeze were maestros of modern music. While you'll find plenty to like here, they deserve better than this haphazard anthology.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Missing one song from Singles 45s and Under, June 29, 2003

By A Customer

FYI: Actually this has 11 of the 12 songs from "Singles 45's and Under." Missing is "If I Didn't Love You" from Argy Bargy and substituted from the same "era" is "Labelled With Love" from East Side Story.