Hits [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Mike & The Mechanics

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 13, 2005)
• Original Release Date: March 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B000AM6ODU
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,298 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Founded by Mike Rutherford, bassist/guitarist for rock/pop supergroup Genesis-in the mid-1980s when Phil Collins was pursuing his own solo efforts, Mike + The Mechanics carved out their own legacy of chart-scaling singles. Rhino's new release puts a baker's dozen of their best songs on one hit-packed disc, featuring vocals by both Paul Young (ex-sad Cafe) and Paul Carrack of previous Squeeze and solo frame.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reliving The Living Years, September 24, 2005

By	Michael Kerner "Michael Kerner" (Brooklyn, New York U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The 1980's brought a great sense of pop music, as well as the case of spinoff bands. Band English was formed from members of Journey, Bad English was featured with members of Styx, and Genesis had a spinoff as well. While they were riding high with tracks like Invisible Touch, and Illegal Alien, Mike Rutherford stepped out on his own, and made a spinoff group that was unique. Mike & The Mechanics really did hit the nail on the head in the 1980's, with Paul Carrack from Squeeze as one of the leads, the group was very strong in the 80's, and part of the early 90's too. Now after almost ten years, a collection has come to the U.S. of their hits.

Mike & The Mechanics: Hits record, is a reissuing of the 1996 overseas greatest hits album. Arguably, there is absolutely nothing new on this package for anybody who bought the collection before. Nevertheless, the package really does deliver quite well, as it portraits the spinoff band so well. The album includes so many great tracks including The Living Years, Taken In, one of their early pop hits, the deep and dark Silent Running, and Over My Shoulder to name few. While so much is highlighted here, there just could've been a little bit more to add here like the original version of All I Need Is A Miracle instead of the 1996 rerecorded version, and the fact that the overseas version was not copy-proof like this packaged edition is.

Still, for anybody who is a fan of Mike Rutherford and his days of Genesis, or Squeeze, Hits by Mike & The Mechanics is a nice delight for anybody who loves great 80's pop music. I really still enjoy these guilty pleasure classics, and they still sound great today. All you should need, is their miracle.

Album Cover: B+

Songs: B+

Price: A-

Mastering: A-

Overall: B 1/2+

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Rhino Rip-Off!!!, October 24, 2005

By	S. SMITH "ROCKINGROLL" (COLONY 9, PLUTO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This just seems to be a reissue of M+TM's UK best-of from 1996. That means that the version of "All I Need Is A Miracle" here is not the original. When Rhino decided to re-release this, why didn't they include both? As if that wasn't bad enough, this collection doesn't even have all of the group's Top 100 US hits. Usually Rhino does a great job off nailing all the charting singles and adding extra tracks, but in this case they really dropped the ball!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good compilation but misses the original 1985 "All I Need is A Miracle", April 20, 2007

By	CharlieGreene "CharlieG" (Satelite Mexico) - See all my reviews

All the best BUT this album does not feature the original version of what is probably Mike +T Mechs greatest song.
It has a corny, overly produced, overly-reworked version of All I Need Is A Miracle.
Ok, maybe they had to re-record the song because of label disputes or something, but why make it worse and not better?
Avoid it if you want the original 1985 track!!!!!!