Editorial Reviews
Music Review:
Music Review
Feodor Chaliapin Sings Russian Music, Vol.1
Dvorak: Danses Slaves, Opp. 46 & 72
I Won't Change You Pt.1 [CD-single] [Enhanced] [Import]
Holiday Collection (Phantom) [CD-single] [EP] [Import]
Amazon.com
The arrival of The Singles demonstrates perfect timing. With the impulse to treat 1980s pop with irony finally dying and cutting-edge American bands such as the Rapture and the Faint directly sourcing Brit synth-pop, this lavish box set now sounds like a key dance-rock primer. Unlike the other major players in the early 1980s British Invasion of America, Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor, and Nick Rhodes weren't afraid to rock. They rocked hardest on their early singles, as the glossy black box of the first 13 singles, lovingly recreated for CD, proves. The first eight--from the turbo-powered disco of "Planet Earth" to the synthetic Beatles-influenced pop of "Is There Something I Should Know?"--work on the tension between the band's mega-pop ambitions and their rudimentary instrumental skills, creating an eerie, erotic desperation. The full compliment of B-sides--particularly a hysterical, uber-youth club stab at David Bowie's "Fame"--charm with their gung-ho ridiculousness. "A View to a Kill" may be slick Bond theme, but this set is so evocative of strange pop times that you'll end up with "Rio" and "The Wild Boys" on a permanent mind-loop. --Garry Mulholland
Album Description
UK box-set spans the height of the 80s icons career from their very first single 'Planet Earth' to their James Bond tune 'A View To A Kill'. 13 discs including all the original B-sides. The packaging is a flip top box with each single in a 'pouchette' reproduction of the original artwork. EMI. 2003.