No Vacancy: The Best of the Motels

Motels

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000007S6Z
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #121,242 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Danger

2. Only the Lonely

3. Celia

4. Shame

5. Careful

6. Suddenly Last Summer

7. So L.A.

8. Cries and Whispers

9. Icy Red

10. Apocalypso - The Motels

11. Total Control

12. Take the L

13. Trust Me

14. Remember the Nights

15. Bonjour Baby

16. Little Robbers

17. Annie Told Me - The Motels

18. Kix

19. Whose Problem?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Hits Package., February 28, 2000

By	Jason Stein (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I've followed The Motels since 1982's All Four One album, but it's their greatest hits package that stands out. 19 tracks, all of them great post-punk and punk songs. It's difficult to categorize The Motels because they incorporate elements of punk, new wave and adult contemporary. Their individual albums are not quite as solid as this hits package, but you might want to listen to 1982's All Four One cd. The Motels disbanded in 1985, after the release of Shock. Martha did a solo cd in 1987, and then in 1990 this hits package was released. The hits are all here: "Only the Lonely", "Take the L", "Suddenly, Last Summer" and "Shame" plus other non-hits like "Icy Red", "So L.A.", "Who's Problem Am I?", "Kix", "Total Control" and "Danger". I'd highly recommend this compilation of songs for those who like early new wave/late punk served up with style.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Awesome Punk/New Wave CD, August 7, 2000

By	"ransom22" (Lake Villa, IL United States) - See all my reviews

I'd never owned a Motels record before I bought this one, but I'd enjoyed "Only the Lonely," "Take the L," and "Suddenly Last Summer" during their runs on MTV in the early eighties. I bought this CD because I wanted some 80's pop to listen to on the way to work. I didn't know what to expect, but I figured I'd at least like the three songs I knew.

On the first listen, I was just blown away. That usually doesn't happen to me. I normally have to listen to something a few times before I really get into it. But this time, I was just in awe of Martha Davis' lyrics and delivery from the start. Songs like "Total Control" and "Celia" have wonderful story-like qualities. At the end of each song, I was just in awe of the writing skill that went into them. And then there's "Icy Red," which just thrills me every time I hear it. In that case, it's not so much the lyrics that make it a great song, it's Martha's delivery of them. When she sings, "Danger like a flag I wave," shivers go up and down my spine.

Even the relatively straight-forward songs such as the three mentioned at the beginning of this piece, plus "So L.A.," and "Apocolypso" are thoroughly enjoyable to listen to.

The only thing I regret about buying this CD is that it makes me sad I didn't buy the rest of the Motels' Cd's when they were available. You can get three of their five albums on CD fairly easily, but their second and final albums are almost impossible to find in any format at this point. Hopefully Capitol will reissue them someday.

Until then, I'll keep playing the Motels CD's I have, and enjoying Martha Davis' sophisticated songwriting and thrilling voice.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars WEALTH OF MATERIAL OVERSHADOWED BY LONG-OBSOLETED MASTERING, July 30, 2007

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

This compilation, first mastered and issued in 1990, has long since been supplanted by several superior remastered compilations.

The best audio is resident on the 2005 Essential Collection. The same audio is also on the now-OOP 2002 Classic Masters CD.

Essential has 15 tracks to Classic's 12, but Classic has the 6 minute version of "Total Control" (a great early track), where Essential carries the shorter single edit.

There are six tracks on "No Vacancy" that do not appear on these two recent compilations (8, 9, 13, 15, 16 & 17).

Both of these compilations also have superior mastering to the 1999 "All For One" Expanded Edition.

So, while No Vacancy has more material than the more recent compilations, the sound quality of the newer discs is much more enjoyable.