Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Big Audio Dynamite - Super Hits


YOURZ

I suppose I'm gonna have to eat a little bit of humble pie here and say if we'd gone along with my idea of not reviewing greatest hits collections, then this would've been one we'd skipped.  Thankfully, Mine had her smart hat on and insisted I was wrong.  Again.  (At least I can say I'm nothing if not predictable). (Mine says: oh, you're so much more than predictable, sweetie.)

As previously mentioned, I love The Clash.  By dint of this love, I am also a big fan of anything former members of The Clash put out as well, although having said this, I've not heard much of Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros only because I haven't gotten around to it yet (but I fully intend to - so much music, so little time).

I saw B.A.D. many years ago and am happy to say they were every bit as good live as you would expect.  What made it particularly memorable is Mick happily played tracks from The Clash catalogue, which included a killer version of Lost In The Supermarket and Should I Stay Or Should I Go. It was fabulous.

The same, unfortunately, can't be said for this collection.  There are some great tracks on it, but again, I have a problem with the idea of a 'greatest hits' album if some of the songs clearly weren't.  A few of the tracks, particularly Contact and Play The Music, are obviously only there to pad out the disc.  However, you can't call it A Few Great Hits, A Couple Of Alright Ones & And A Few Dodgy Songs I Thought Might Take This Time Round can you? 

VERDICT: TURN IT UP except for the two aforementioned songs


MINE

I think I have a bit more of a critical sense about the Clash and former members thereof than YourZ does.  I mean, I love The Globe, don't get me wrong.  but I'd never have bought this myself - they strike me as being a wee bit too one-or-two-hit wonders.

Yup, as YourZ says this is the bad example of "best of" CDs.  Clearly showing B.A.D. didn't really do much beyond their couple of hits, and the rest is just sound-alike filler.  And really, hon, what's the point of keeping it?  (YourZ sez: well, I still think it is worth holding on to).  I vote...

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT



2 comments:

  1. Not sure how I feel about this one I own it due to really like E=MC squared and selling my copy of Megatop Phoenix due to nothing more than wanting to thin my record collection and increase my bank account. As much as I like them I can't remember the last time I listened to it.

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  2. As I said in the review, there are a number of tracks on this I really like - enough to go against Mine and want to keep it in our collection. I do occasionally listen to it but is this enough to warrant keeping it? Hmm, the big question...

    YourZ

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