Bananarama Album: “Very Best Of”

Bananarama is one of my favorite pop groups from the '80s. Their music was a ton of fun to listen to and it still is for me to this very day. I recently got hold of a copy of THE VERY BEST OF BANANARAMA. I never thought about it until recently that the group was a precursor to The Spice Girls but a lot more fun and a lot less stupid. THE VERY BEST OF BANANARAMA is a comprehensive look at the group's past and present hits, with and without Siobhan Fahey. Yeah a lot of the group's songs are corny like "Robert DeNiro's Waiting" and "Nathan Jones" but Bananarama's music has always been a lot of fun to listen for me. My personal favorite songs are when Siobhan was still in the group. I absolutely love "Cruel Summer", "Venus", and "I Heard a Rumor". I don't consider Bananarama a guilty pleasure. I am not ashamed that I was and still am a fan of the British pop group today.

During the 80's there were a lot of girl groups. If you ask me, I thought they were all perfect and pretty and so forth. The one that always caught my attention and held it was Bananarama. You know why? "Cruel Summer" starts off and maintains this fabulous 'mover and shaker' beat. Then of course I saw the music video for the song probably on "Friday Night Music Videos." Whenever a song mentions Venus in it, that means fertility and girldom. So when I heard "Venus" by Bananarama I knew they were a really talented girl group. Now I'm in my 30's, and looking them up on the web, they look sophisticated. Signifying we were young and just having lots of fun!

OK - This collection is great if you get the double CD bonus remix disc (this review may be attached to the set that is not - so look to be sure). Otherwise... this is the same collection rejuvenation many times produced - but now made by Rhino. YES some new tracks remastered - which I love. I love all of these songs but there is one issue - the treble (and I know there are others out there going "well.. maybe... it did seem a bit much...".. the treble is maxed out so much it is hard to even have an equalizer bring it down. Oddly - the bonus disc does not have this problem.

I love the version of 'Only Your Love' on here - but the treble cracks my speakers and phones - I have adjusted as much as I can!

It is a tacky look (anyone could make this cover better)- I mean would it have cost THAT much more money for a more artistic cover?

So buy this for the bonus disc and go for the 30 years of Bananarama disc - sold separately AND with a DVD (still a bland insert).

What can I say? This is an awesome compilation! Cruel Summer is by far one of my favorite songs and it sounds rich and fabulous here! I can't stop playing it! Venus, Love in the First Degree, I Want You Back, I Heard a Rumor, More-More-More, Only Your Love, and I Can't Help It are all exciting and fun tracks that you will play over and over. There are 22 tracks here! So great value as well for the money and the quality is amazing! Track 22, Tempus Fugit Mix Medley is also a showstopper! Go for it!