Editorial Reviews Music Review:
Music Review
Escher: Musique pour l'esprit en deuil; Concerto
Flag [Import] [Original recording remastered]
Global Underground 006: Sydney
Greatest Sports Rock and Jams, Vol. 4
Pop Music: 'Round About Midnight [Original recording remastered]
George Henry Crumb: Makrokosmos, Vol. l + ll/Mathé: Der Schlangenträger
Amazon.com
One need hear only the first notes of this collection--the Edge's ringing guitar notes ushering in "Pride (In the Name of Love)"--to be taken back to 1984: Ronald Reagan and Maggie Thatcher rule the Western world, the L.A. Olympics is the top sports story, and Ms. Pac-Man reigns at arcades. In rock & roll, there's U2 growing in stature with each new tour and title. Even doubters of the Irish lads have to concede that together they formed the one '80s band with the skill and sense of scale to take over the airwaves and concert stages in a decade of diminished expectations. This 15-song '80s best-of assortment (stick around for the hidden track) spans the decade, reaching back to 1980's "I Will Follow," when Bono and company were peach-fuzzy and earnest as choirboys, and tracking their path through their most glaring misstep, 1988's overblown Rattle and Hum. The limited-edition second disc is the real treat for stalwart fans. It's laden with odds and ends, highlights of which include some spot-on covers (Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot," the old pop hits "Everlasting Love" and "Unchained Melody") and misplaced originals (the great '82 B-side "Trash, Trampoline, and the Party Girl"). The group's more jovial '90s recordings provide evidence that U2 shine brightly when they don't take themselves too seriously. These likable leftovers prove that was true in the '80s, too. --Steven Stolder