New Wave music reviews

You shipped it to the wrong address and I never received it!!!!

If you are familiar with the movie and all the of new wave you heard, this is a soundtrack to have. The Plimsouls really made it hard not to like one of the main songs "A Million Miles Away." This is a great CD to have in the car for trips or just for everyday driving to and from work. Having a bad day? Listen to this and you will either laugh or just go back to those times when you were dancing to this music.

this was a gift for my husband who loves the movie and he loves the cd

I got this CD back in August 2002 and I absolutely love the CD. It's what I call my driving music. (...) Here we go, track by track.

1.Karma Chameleon - A country like type of song. It is very catchy and singable. Everybody knows the words to this song. Who doesn't? ''Karma karma karma karma karma chameleon....you come and go, you come and go.'' Love the harmonica. When Boy George does it at his concerts, he repeats the word ''karma'' 17 times at the end. Don't you think it's very, very repetitive? I'd say ''OK!! Enough!!''

2.It's A Miracle - A feel-good type of song. It was originally titled ''It's America.'' You clap your hands, stomp your feet, sing along. Always, like it says in the song ''Dreams are made of emotions!'' It's true.

3.Black Money - The soul song on the CD and very slow. It was about the band realizing the cost of fame to become very sucessful. George and Helen Terry are blasting away when you listen to this song.

4.Changing Every Day - Another slow jam that has very good sax solos. You always listen to this song on a very quiet morning.

5.That's the Way - The piano ballad with George and Helen Terry again singing a duet. It was about George's mom and George has some strong vocals.

6.Church of the Poisoned Mind - A tribute to Motown 60's soul. Aretha Franklin meets Stevie Wonder. There are some nice harmonica breaks during the song. It is a song about George's boyfriend, drummer Jon Moss.

7.Miss Me Blind - Wow!! Awesome song that will keep you rocking on your feet and will catch you singing along, though it gets repetitive after the awesome guitar solo by Roy Hay. Awesome! The trip to 70's disco!!

8.Mister Man - This is a trumpet song and very mid-tempo. George's smooth vocals have you dancing along to this song. It is not very fast.

9.Stormkeeper - The flute meets the sax. Awesome song. Hey, what is that noise at the end? It's the stormkeeper! Ha Ha!

10.Victims - The dark and drippy ballad almost like a storm. George sounds very vocallly and there are nice orchestra selections, including flute and violins. There's a piano in this, too.

Colour By Numbers is Culture Club's best album, but buy the remastered version as it has many bonus tracks including, among others, the song from where this album got its name and a Helen Terry fanny-kicking on B-side "Man Shake." Now, here is the reason this album is one of the best of the 1980s and definitely the best by Culture Club: Put aside all those stories about Boy George and drummer Jon Moss and Boy George's drug collapse and just listen to this album. It is nearly perfect and is one of the best albums to come out of the 1980s. Considering that their smash debut album had three songs in a row with the word "Boy" in the title, Colour By Numbers is a surprisingly mature-sounding album. "Victims" (a single in the UK) is an interesting and beautiful ballad. The rest are amazing pop tracks. So many of these songs were released as singles ("Karma Chameleon," "It's A Miracle," "Church of the Poison Mind," "Miss Me Blind," "Victims," and even "Black Money" was considered for release off the "This Time" hits set) it can almost be considered a greatest hits package in and of itself. All it needs is "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me," Culture Club's best song "Time (Clock of the Heart)" and maybe "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" and there you go. In fact, the weakest track here is probably the most famous one: "Karma Chameleon." In his autobiography, Boy George writes how guitarist Roy Hay hated this track and, due to a bet, married his girlfriend when the single reached #1. Things went downhill for the band after this album but Colour By Numbers made Culture Club one of the most important bands of the 1980s.

Just FYI- I would recomend skipping this version of the CD, and instead getting the REMASTERED version that was released in 2003 and includes bonus tracks!

Count me in because this record has nothing but catchy tunes for you to enjoy,Hurry and buy it.

Aztec Camera's "High Land, Hard Rain" is one of many albums I own that took a LONG time to like. I bought it with the knowledge that it was a monumental and thus historically influential album in the 80's - it was very unique and well-produced at the time. The other interesting fact is that it was all done by a seventeen year-old! Every song here is good, but the problem with most of them is that Roddy Frame's voice isn't all that appealing - it has a boyish nature to it and it just isn't all that good (this is the reason I didn't like it at first). However, it DOES grow on you, I think the lyrics and the musicianship are essentially where the album excels. Every song here has great lyrics (even if they're hard to make out sometimes), and the musicianship is very well done and definitely unique - I'm not sure how to describe it! I suppose the closest sounding album to this is XTC's "Skylarking" (it's relatively similar). It's definitely 80's pop rock, but it has odd instruments and noises attached to it that I really can't describe. I guess you'll just have to listen to it for yourself. Overall, though, it's incredibly well-produced - it's on par with a Jackson Browne album, I'd say. I would argue that the first two songs, its creativity, its influence and its production make up for any minor grievances. All in all I don't think it's for everyone, but for those who like 80's pop rock and can get used to Robby's voice then this is a fantastic purchase (trust me, you will probably HATE his voice for a while, except on the first two songs)! Absolutely recommended!

Highlights include:
"Oblivious"
"The Boy Wonders"
the rest are good, too

This is one of the best pop releases of the early 80's. Great chord structures, melodies, and arrangements - but most of all, songs. I can't believe no one has mentioned my favorite track, "We Could Send Letters" - What a powerful and regal tune. This needs to be in your collection.

New Gold Dream has an understated, even ethereal air to it, as Simple Minds moved away from their early punk rock roots towards synthesizer soundscapes. Someone Somewhere In Summertime is an evocative pastel shaded number. Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel is a moody piece with light keyboards, whilst Promised You A Miracle, the big hit, has a funky feel, jerky rhythm and catchy hooks.

Not all the tracks are memorable, like Big Sleep, which doesn't go anywhere and lacks a proper tune. The instrumental Somebody Up There Likes You is only mildly engaging. The title track has a propulsive beat, beautiful keyboard flourishes and some rousing vocals. The mid tempo ballad Glittering Prize has its moments, Hunter And The Hunted has a more solid rock beat and King Is White And In The Crowd is a slow, brooding song.

Ultimately, New Gold Dream provides more style than substance. Simple Minds carved a niche for their distinctive version of synth-rock, but not all of these songs have passed the test of time with flying colours. There is a lack of variety that gives the album an air of monotony. I prefer the late 1970s period Simple Minds when they gave us ageless classics like Chelsea Girl and I Travel.

But, I have to agree in extreme hindsight this is probably their best. Sure, "Sparkle in the Rain" rocks harder, and the later work was more polished, but this is a more unified effort. Jim Kerr's voice is unique here, he sounds like the ghost of Jim Morrison, down an octave and on macho overdrive, it's just fabulous. It's certainly their first really great album, a clean break from the past into fuller melodies and booming production values, while some of the keyboard work bridges the gap with the new wave style they left behind.

If they continue to produce, which I'll grant is somewhat unlikely given their age, "Cry" has the chance to be their modern equivalent, a solid bridge album from one era to the next. Which is another story, but the point is that if some of us still feel the candle of hope flickering for Jim and Charlie into the 21st century, the memory of albums like this are the reason why. It's a classic, so check it out.

"New Gold Dream", issued in 1982, is (with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight) the very best album Simple Minds ever made, bar none. Although it contains 3 songs that charted in Europe ("Someone Somewhere in Summertime", "Promised You a Miracle", "Glittering Prize"), this is still Simple Minds before they really hit it big in the US with "Don't You Forget About Me" and the "Once Upon a Time" album.

The great strength here is that the album flows wonderfully from one track to another. And, truthfully, the best tracks are NOT the 3 tracks that charted, but instead the more adventurous ones such as "Colours Fly and Catherine Wheels", the title track, the driving "Hunter and the Hunted" and "King is White".

Simple Minds have recorded great music, but were never better that on this album. As an aside, I have seen them live only once, in 1983 when they were touring behind this album and it is one of my very memorable concert memories.

At the time they released Special Beat Service in 1982, the English Beat appeared to be on the verge of a breakthrough. While their first album, I Just Can't Stop It, was a ska classic, and their second album, Wha'ppen?, was very deep into reggae, Special Beat Service toned down those genres in favor of British pop. Dave Wakeling's vocals were more compassionate than ever before and their songs were arguably their strongest overall. However, internal dissention would ultimately break up the English Beat and although several of the band members would later find success with General Public and The Fine Young Cannibals respectively, the excellent songs and performances on Special Beat Service make you wonder how far they could have gone if they were able to keep it together.

One listen to the soulful "I Confess" and the solemn ballad "End of the Party" show a newfound maturity that didn't exist on their previous releases. Songs like "Jeanette", "She's Going", and "Sugar & Stress" are very catchy while "Sorry" mixes their snappy horn lines with a dose of funk. "Soul Salvation", which combines their ska sound with an R&B edge, is also a great track. Other strong tracks include the new wave sounds of "Rotating Head" and the island like "Ackee 1 2 3." The reggae tracks, "Spar Wid Me", and "Pato and Roger a Go Talk" are also pretty decent. Finally, "Save It for Later" is one of the best British singles of the `80s, and is living proof that sometimes the best songs are the simplest. The strings near the end of the track also provide a nice touch. All told, Special Beat Service is a great album from one of the more enduring British bands. Highly recommended.

It's really hard to keep still when listening to this cd. I've owned it on vinyl, cassette, and cd over the years and it's always put me in a great mood. Friends have always asked about it when they heard it, and subsequently purchased it. Buy it, you won't be dissapointed.

Save it for Later is still one of the perfect songs of all time (though the extended versions from later are even better). There's some other great stuff off this album, like Ackee 1-2-3, and I Confess, but the whole album is solid. Actually, all of the Beat albums are solid; if you like any of their songs, I recommend the rest of their catalog to you. But Save it for Later is a special gem, so I recommend this album first.

I bought this cd because i like angst in my pants so much since i was a kid so i wanted another cd by Sparks i heard this one is the there best so i bought it. I cant really understand what the singer is saying he is very high pitchey sounds like Tiny Tim so the good sparks lyrics that are on this cd get lost in his funny voice luckly this cd comes with the lyrics. The good thing about this cd though is the music the guitars, bass and drums are quite good.

These Brits were just as odd to music in the mid 70s as the Monty Python Brits had been to television a few years earlier. Their group of songs blended together as connected and disjointedly as the skits in a Python show. I saw Sparks in concert in the summer of '76 or '77 or was it '78(?) (so long ago.) I was given a free ticket, and so off I went. Columbus, Ohio, and I expected nothing (had never heard of the band), but to have a few drinks in the Agora theater on High St. I was happily surprised. Many of the songs from Kimono My House and Propaganda were featured. Falsetto-voiced singer with Hitler at the keyboards. Great . Both child-like and adult at the same time. One of the best shows ever, and I've seen the Stones four times. They did a TV video, and were featured in the movie Roller Coaster. One of 70's rock's best kept secrets. NOTE: Some with be emarrased to listen to this band just because the singer's voice is so high pitched, but give the guitarist and the lyrics a chance and they'll hook ya. their release entitled, Indiscreet, is also worthy of a listen or two or three or more.

Five stars for both originality and quality.

Yes,that is a title of one of the songs from the band of ultimate actors(Histrionic Personality DisOrder diagnosed)..Sparks were a quirky bunch, a high pitched warbler,his brother a mad looking keyboard genius looking like a cross between a demented Hitler and Charlie Chaplain(coming to think of it their music was a bit fascistic with it's reliance on style and elegance combined with the irony and parody of Chaplain)Nonetheless, their music rocked hard with Continental flashes of brilliant crescendos in the right places...This CD was their best batch of songs and for a look at the UK music scene in 1974 you need not look further to see the other acts of the genre such as T-Rex,Roxy Music,Gary Glitter the look of Slade to see the amazing amount of acting and sexual posturing that went into the dash for international attention,stardom these acts left as a legacy in music history.
The remastering is fine and bonus tracks good...Their next Propoganda is like Kimono but this is a bit better in my opinion.

EXCELLENT compilation of INXS until 1997 with front man extraordinaire, Michael Hutchence. The 2 CD set gives the listener a great taste from the catalogue of a great band with an untimely end after the demise of Michael. All new listeners who discovered the rebirth of INXS with JD Fortune, will develop a greater appreciation of their timeless music. The linear notes combined with the CD give the listener background into the band and how the music and lyrics were created. The collection gives the listener background into the development of INXS through the 1980s and 1990s. ENJOY! Both new and veteran fans alike will be glad to add this CD to their collection and continue to support INXS as they rock on with JD Fortune.

I have owned this anthology for almost 4 years now, one of the best music buys I have made in the last 5 years. Being a big fan of INXS since the late 80's but just owning Kick, X, their live CD and their Greatest Hits, this gave me a broader vision of all their music and I am really glad to have had the opportunity to do just that. Since then I have collected more of their CD's so I have even more. But this is ideal for INXS fans who are more than casual fans and want more of what they have to offer without having to buy all of their CDs, which by the way wouldn't be a bad move either. My personal favorites on this set are The One Thing, I Send a Message, Burn for You, Kiss the Dirt, Disappear, Bitter Tears, Taste It, Beautiful Girl, The Strangest Party and Elegantly Wasted. Although there are over 40 songs on here from the very early days to their last album in 1997. The very first song, Simple Simon is a fun song to listen to.

INXS surely deserves this 2 disc compilation, after all their career spanned almost 20 years at the time of Michael Hutchence's death, which in itself is a real shame. How I wish he was still with us. This anthology is dedicated to him, and there is a nice booklet containing the story of INXS told by the band members themselves to a journalist who was writing a review which is an interesting read. There are also little snippets of information about each song, plus lots of pictures of the band, including some early ones that are fun to see. All in all, if you are a fan of INXS, casual or big, get this collection, it's about as complete as it gets.

I didn't really remember INXS songs until the tv show. Once I heard those few songs, it all came back to me. Bought a couple of CD's and DVD's and I just love the songs. Quite a bit of the songs I didn't recognize, but they grew on me pretty fast. Feel so sad that Michael isn't here anymore, but his wonderful voice is preserved this way for us to enjoy.

The Rezillos are a singular R&R experience. Punk and pre new wave Devo.

If You like the Rs you must check out their great and more talented successors the Epoxies, based in Portland. The Epoxies are as tight, with a punk rhythm section, a little more new wave keybords, and probably the best front person in music today -- Roxy Epoxy. Roxy sings with a beautiful bite, floats, skips, squeals, yodels, yelps and blends with her band mates.

If you can possibly see them live - drop everything, leave right now and get your tickes. They have recently been touring with Against Me and The Soviettes.

You must hear the Epoxies if you like the Rezillos.

actually, I will do anything the Rezillos tell me to do because they are really that good. If you actually can't stand the Rezillos then you are worthless and should leave our atmosphere and move somewhere where you cannot waste the good people's air. Ok, that was mean, but seriously, from the first moment that I heard this CD, I was hooked like a heroin addict.

There is not one song on this CD that is not utterly top-notch. 'Flying Saucer Attack' is a catchy song about, wait for it, wait for it: Flying Saucers attacking us and "frying us alive." It might be the best song of the CD, and it might be the best song ever. 'Somebody's Gonna get their Head Kicked in' is an angry song, without the female vox, but is still catchy as hell and worth by itself the cost of the entire CD. 'Top of the Pops' is nothing short of stellar. I have no idea what '2000 A.D.' is about, but it is still a mighty catchy song. Hell, even the cover songs are done in a top-notch manner.

The music transcends the simple punk-power chord structure and moves into a realm of utter perfection. The vocals are all done exactly as they should be, mixing male and female vox to create an extremely cohesive medley. Then the bassist is amazing. He provides a perfect texture for the band to play over, while at the same time demonstrating his own skills. The guitar is at times simple, but jumps into more complicated rhythyms and the occaisional solo.

There is nothing wrong with this album. Get it or forever be deprived of one of the best sounds to ever come out of your speakers.

Some of the other reviewers cite this album as a must-have for any punk or psychobilly collection. I agree--but really, it's a must-have for *any* collection!

My boyfriend asked me for a Rezillos CD for his birthday, so I bought this one. I'd never heard of them before, so after he'd blown out his candles and disposed of the pile of wrapping paper on the floor, we popped the album in for a listen. Madness ensued. 75 minutes later (give or take), I knew I had a new favorite band. I listened to Can't Stand the Rezillos during my 45-minute commute a couple of days later, and it ended up accompanying me to work every day for the next two weeks. I just couldn't take it out of the CD player--I mean, what could beat cruising down the freeway at 80mph, dancing and singing along with the most fun band that ever existed?

The Rezillos are reminiscent of a weird Ramones/B-52s amalgamation--as fun as the Ramones, but more coherent--and as weird as the B-52s, but in my opinion much more listenable. They are, to me, the best possible combination of punk and new wave the late 70s had to offer. The distinctive style of the Rezillos' music, combined with stellar bass lines and enthusiastic vocals, makes for a non-stop barrage of super-fun songs that will make you want to jump around and dance--no matter how many of your fellow motorists on the highway are pointing and laughing at you while you do it.

Call the lyrics dumb all you want, they are more interesting than 1,000 bands trying to search their lost soul. News Flash: There is no such thing as a soul. Keep looking for love and UFO's and let us know your fascination with modern life. I love the guitar sound and the hooks make your albums the best. This and #2 are the classics. What happened to make you so dull after that. "Remember David" was one of your best songs and "Suicide Day" was good, but the rest of the third album, even the tile track was boring. Two classics ain't bad. Get this one right away.

There aren't very many albums from the 80's that could be considered "classic", but this one is; it has even aged well. A lot of groups sounded the same in the 80's. especially, the early 80's, but the FOS sound was distinctive. They definitely set a trend for the early 80's, and a lot of groups tried to (unsuccessfully) emulate them. If you want an album that defines early 80's synth-pop, this is it; it also happens to sound really good, too. Anybody even remotely interested in 80's pop-rock must have this album.

When this, the Flock's explosion of a debut album, was released in 1982, "I Ran" started with a bang (literally, one drum stroke followed immediately by the first guitar note), not with the slow cutesy fade-in that someone inflicted upon it when they released the CD version much later. To each his own, but I have always thought it is a much better song in its original version.

Until today I thought that the original version of the song was available only on the old cassette. I have bought several compilations (for all the songs, not just theirs) and have always hoped for the old version but it had always been the one on the re-release CD. But Flockers who want to have the ORIGINAL of "I Ran"--titled "I Ran (So Far Away)"--can find it on "Chart Toppers: Modern Rock Hits of the 80s Vol. 1." (However even it is not quite identical to the original album version; for example, it has a slow fade for an ending, while the original album track ended abruptly: I presume it is the original single release. Anyway it is where you can get the original beginning...). I bought it used on Amazon. (It is a very good compendium of New Wave hits in its own right, also containing hard to find tracks like The Church's "Under The Milky Way" and After The Fire's "Der Kommissar, plus "Voices Carry" by 'Til Tuesday and "The One Thing" by INXS. You can also find the original beginning of "I Ran" on VH1's "More of the Big '80s," along with Der Kommissar, and a few fairly unusual '80s tracks including a great song I had forgotten all about: "Cry," by Godley & Creme).

This band was very talented. Their third, "The Story of a Young Heart," was their masterpiece. Following the overtureistic first title track, the album tells musically the story of a young person's "coming of age" from youthful optimism ("The Dancer," "The More You Live") through adolescent longings to be someone else ("I Wish I Were A European"), on to the inevitable guru ("Remember David") through a heart-rending break up with a girl ("Heart of Steel", "The End") and ending with silly-esque thoughts of Suicide (not for real, "Suicide Pays" is written in too light a tone to be taken seriously). It is a whole album about the loss of innocence. The album never took off, partly because by the mid-80s new trends were hitting, partly because the band made (in my opinion) a crucial mis-step when they released the title track as their showcase single, instead of one of the several far better songs (especially Track 2, "the Dancer," a very "up-ish" song which would have shown the world a totally different side of the Flock at exactly the right time).

I recently found this used on CD in a small-town record store to my utter amazement. I have been looking for it for 10 years on CD.

The Flock's first self-titled debut and their second "Listen" are more similar to each other than either is to "Story of a Young Heart": that is, both of the first two are uncompromising early 80s new wave. The reviewers are right--every song on their first CD is strong. But not strong in the same way: from "I Ran" through two powerful instrumentals to the contemplative ending track ("Man Made Machines"), it is a great ride through early-80s synth/pop new wave.

This band has several unique features. First, they use a guitar sound for accent that actually SOUNDS like a seagull's cry, it is their signature sound (even more surprising, they do it repeatedly without it ever sounding "hokey" or "forced"--it fits the music perfectly). Second, this band has an amazing ability to start their songs "over at one spot," then switch in amazingly powerful and complex transitions into a completely new musical theme "at another spot," while still maintaining a musical link between the early part and the main body of the song. I've been listening to rock music for decades and I've never heard anyone do something quite like this (On their first CD, the best example of this technique is Track 8 "Standing In The Doorway," On their second CD "Listen," it is Track 10 ["It's Not Me Talking," their first single release] and to a lesser extent Track 6, "The Traveler." On "Story of a Young Heart," it is very prominent in Track 7 "Heart of Steel," and also noticeable in the title track and Track 8, "The End.") These guys wrote and played some unusually subtle music, which challenges the listener to pay attention and "get it." All this without losing an intense chordal and rhythmic sense throughout all their work.

"Listen," their second, has the minor hit "Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You)," really an unusually good and strikingly original song, featuring another unique sound similar yet different in feel from anything on the first album. The second album, recently released on CD, is to me mainly a "growth" or "transitional" album, with more complex elements than the first, although the link is clear. It is also very good, but a bit darker. There is quite noticeable growth in songwriting.

The Flock's later albums following "Story of a Young Heart" were the releases of a band scrambling to stay in the picture, and it showed. For me, the only interesting track to come in the later stuff was a really nice song called "Hot Tonight," which I don't think was ever released as a single (It was on their 4th LP, I didn't like any part of their fifth and last one). Near the end they abandoned their signature sound to try, unsuccessfully, to fit in with the mid- to late-80s styles. It must have been a discouraging period for this outstanding band.

At its peak the band was dynamite, and in a different culture they would have gotten a great deal more enthusiastic attention. But, from the mid-80s through 1993 or so when alternative began rising, there was no audience for this band's best music among those who set the trends in music (whoever or whatever they are). The Flock are one of the better known of many excellent bands crowded out in the '85-'92 period by the rise of Rap, "hair bands", grunge, and other nihilistic trends that better suited MTV's incessant attempts to shape the culture toward more atonal, musically anarchistic, politically revolutionary "music."

A personal note: In 1982 I was in college and the Flock came to our town, to play in a small facility. I had heard the group on radio and may have already bought their cassette but chose not to go. My roommate did go and said they rocked the house, but that they ran out of songs [!] and had to start again at the beginning of their docket. Of all my musical bloopers, this one was the worst--I could have seen them riding the wave of their early success, in a small and intimate venue, and God knows what convinced me otherwise. I'll always wonder what it would have been like to see them live at the peak of their success.

XTC's music is full of great writing, arranging, playing, witty lyrics, and pristine production. Pop music with an attitude. This "sweetest hits" collection, drawing from eight studio releases between 1979 and 1992, would be a good introduction if you don't want to buy (my opinion) their essential studio albums ("White Music", "English Settlement", "Skylarking", "Oranges and Lemons"). The issues I have with this release is there is not one song represented from their first two releases, and like any fan, the songs selected are not exactly what I would pick.

Previous reviewers have pointed out, the lyrics to "Respectable Street" on this disc are altered. The words changed were... abortion to absorption, contraception to child perfection?, and sex position to proposition. If these words are so offensive, another tune should have been selected so the artist's lyrics stay intact. Why butcher the artist's vision? It's puzzling that the bold lyrics of "Dear God" were not changed, but the lyrics above were. Nevertheless, this is a fair compilation from an awesome band.

This is one of two strong compilations of XTC, although I had to get it used on Amazon. Geffen has apparently lost the rights to the XTC catalog (and it has trickled out on Caroline), so this great collection is likely going to drift into oblivion. Get it now, because more so than the recently reissued "The Compact XTC," "Upsy Daisy Assortment" delivers XTC's maturation into a first class melodic pop band.

"UDA" bypasses the first two arty albums to focus on XTC's first major statement, the biting but catchy "Drums and Wires" album. The rough edges had been smoothed over to allow for the wittier songs to subversively insinuate themselves, like the brilliant tale of "Making Plans For Nigel." In a distinctly British scenario, our lad Nigel is a boy who "likes to speak and he loves to be spoken to." It laid the groundwork for such delightful political rants like "Generals and Majors" (which would have been a hit if American radio hadn't been terrified of new wave and the RSO original release of "Black Sea" hadn't been still-born by the record company's collapse). After all, the Beach Boys 'oo wee oo' of "Respectable Street" permits a goofy litany of suburban snootiness to skim by and a line like "Saturday I saw him retching over our fence" to breeze through like a perfect pop moment should.

Shortly afterwards, Andy Partridge's disdain for and strain from touring left him physically exhausted, so he abandoned the road to work on music and start a family. The album that preceded the stoppage shows that perhaps he was feeling tired of the pop rat race, as "English Settlement" held psychedelic overtones and a more rustic feel. The hit UK single "Sense Working Overtime" sums that train of thought up best, but the anti-racist "No Thugs In Our House" still packs serious wallop. By "Mummer," though, that bite began to taste bitter, and "Funk Pop a Roll" snarls at what must have been their early distaste for Geffen records ("big money selling you stuff that you really do not need"). Just the same, "Love On a Farmboy's Wages" could easily be the most beautiful song the band ever recorded.

The following record. "The Big Express," finds the band floundering to maintain a sound; "The World Over" was probably the best song on it. It took Todd Rundgren to come in (and the trippy Dukes of Stratosphere side project) to make the band deliver a rejuvenated album. "Skylarking" was easily the most coherent disc in the XTC library. Rundgren's Beatlesque production flourishes and musical linking of songs into mini-suite arrangements brought XTC to a brand new audience, and the bitter anti-hymn "Dear God" got them headlines. But the delightful double-meaning of "Grass" and the production scope of "Earn Enough For Us" also allowed the band to expand on their huge field of ideas. This all finally paid off when the first single from "Oranges and Lemons" became XTC's first major American hit and the album became a success. "The Mayor Of Simpleton" tossed of buoyant hooks with an easy to swallow story lyric, as did "King For A Day." The final gasp of XTC's decade, "Nonsuch," found them fighting with their label (who originally declined the album) and was another modest success. "The Disappointed" is a wistful look at fading loves, as dreamy as "Chalkhills and Children's" nostalgia.

It is at this point that XTC basically went on strike, not releasing any new music till 2000's "Apple Venus." I really can't give "UDA" the five stars I might have because of omissions like "Wonderland," "This Is Pop" or "Sgt Rock." As such, it is still a wonderful tasty assortment of candied goodies. Get it while there's still stock.

As with all collections, there will be "what's here and what's not" arguments, but overall this is a great bunch of "XTC" songs for any fan. It includes the early tracks "Generals and Majors", "Senses Working Overtime", and "Making Plans For Nigel", which "Primus" covered on "Miscellaneous Debris". Plus the later tracks "Mayor Of Simpleton", "King For A Day", and "Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead", which "Crash Test Dummies" covered on the "Dumb And Dumber" soundtrack. Also here is "Dear God", which turns up alot on 80's radio. If you enjoy smart alt-pop, or someone like "Elvis Costello", you'll enjoy "Upsy Daisy Assortment".