Disco de ABC: “Absolutely ABC: The Best of ABC”

With ABC's excellent Alphabet City album sadly out of print on CD, this best-of collection will have to serve as the first choice for an initiation into ABC's classic 80's electro-pop. And it is a fine testament to the efforts of Martin Fry and Mark White, as writers, performers, and producers. However, the excellence of the singles that make up the first two-thirds of this album is hampered, unfortunately, by the four remixed versions that follow. Most casual listeners of eighties pop radio will instantly recognize the heavy charters such as "Poison Arrow, "The Look Of Love," "Be Near Me," and "When Smokey Sings." The collection also benefits greatly from the inclusion of noncharting singles from 1987's aforementioned Alphabet City, "The Night You Murdered Love," and "King Without A Crown." These tracks rank right up with the Pet Shop Boys' releases of the same era for pure electronic dance pop. Unnecessarily, disappointment and, indeed, tedium sets in during the last four tracks of the collection which span more than twenty minutes. In fact, their inclusion here is inexplicable. The album is more than complete without them, and the thirteen preceding tracks certainly give you your money's worth. Furthermore, the remixed versions are poorly done and, instead of adding energy and danceability (which is what most good dance mixes accomplish), the beats and tempos are disjointed and clumsily segued, making them more difficult to listen or dance to than the original versions. If you were ever a fan of ABC and their radio singles, I can definitely recommend the purchase of this album. However, I also recommend utilizing the program function on your CD player to play the first thirteen tracks and ignore the four remixes at the end.

This is a nice compilation of ABC's work including their well known tracks as you would expect on a "best of" CD. The remixes of Be Near Me and When Smokey Sings are great party tracks.

This hit's package was the first CD I bought from ABC. I like most of the material on here. There is no denying that ABC could write some good songs. Examples are "Poison Arrow," "All of My Heart," and "Be Near Me." I like most of the others also. The alternate version of "The Look of Love" is pretty cool too. This album is a good place to start. Get The Lexicon of Love after this one if you're new to the music of ABC. I actually give this CD three-and-a-half stars.

ABC is one of the more "forgotten" New Wave pop bands of the 80s. Forever in the pop-culture shadow of the likes of Duran Duran, Human League, Simple Minds, and even A Flock of Seagulls. Yet ABC had a sound all their own, a sort of cerebral intelligence to their lyrics to go with the catchy hooks.

The best songs on this compilation are "Poison Arrow", "The Look Of Love", and "All Of My Heart" (all big chart hits). The underappreciated "Tears Are Not Enough" and "Be Near Me" are also solid. Yes, there is some filler on this compilation (senseless remixes for the most part), but overall a good reminder of why ABC was a critical (if not a smashing commercial) success in the 80s.

Be warned, however, that this CD does include the lamentable song "When Smokey Sings". While not a bad listen musically, it definitely marked the point at which ABC's career came to a crashing halt. A New Wave band singing a paen to the Motown sound? Isn't that a bit like a hard-rock band writing about the joys of Disco? Motown is about as far as you can get from what the New Wave movement stood for. No wonder fans bailed in droves at that point!

For the price, I got what I wanted. Even though the item was used, you couldn't tell the differance. If I had a chance to use the seller again, I would. Outstanding service