Legacy's latest version of the single-disc artist overview has a few novel twists. Rather than a strict chronological recitation of an artist's chart hits, the song selections are meant to gather those tracks a fan might compile for themselves. The 14-track playlists are still hit focused, but don't always provide a full accounting of an artist's chart success. Mono singles, longer album versions, out-of-print and non-hit tracks are sequenced to optimize song-to-song segues and draw out an impression of the artist's overall catalog. The results are intended to deliver a listening experience rather than a hits archive. As a physical disc, Legacy's marketing these as CD-quality alternatives to MP3s, improving on the package's ecological aspects with a plastic-free digipack made of 100% recycled paperboard, and including additional materials (pictures, liner notes, credits, wallpapers) on the disc itself, rather than in a printed booklet.
The Bangles edition of Playlist partly reneges on the premise by reeling off their eight U.S. chart hits in order, starting with the 1986 Prince-authored breakthrough "Manic Monday" and concluding with 1989's "Be With You." Unlike other artists in this series with more extensive hit catalogs, The Bangles chart run fits snugly into half a disc. Also included is the group's AOR hit "Hero Takes a Fall" from 1984's All Over the Place, and five album tracks from All Over the Place, Different Light, and Everything. The non-hits favor covers, including Katrina and the Waves' "Going Down to Liverpool," The Merry-Go-Round's "Live," and Big Star's "September Gurls." This is the same track sequence offered on 2006's We Are the `80s.
While these fourteen selections provide a fair representation of the Bangles' commercially successful years, they could have better captured the fan's view. Missing are tracks from the group's pre-Columbia EP on Faulty/IRS, their paisley-underground compilation appearances, 12" remixes that accompanied their hits, and material from their various reunions. Perhaps those are too arcane for a 14-track once-over, but without them this set offers only one compilation producer's selection of album tracks over another's. Many will find the album tracks included here (particularly the covers and the original "Dover Beach") an improvement over the selections on Greatest Hits, but your mileage may vary. 3-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]
This is the best Bangles album! I love to crank it up in the car! It brings me right back to the 80's!
I'm not a big fan of the eco-friendly packaging, but I guess all people do these days is load the CD onto their ipod and never use it again. If you like the Bangles, you will like this CD. They have 4-5 songs that are great and you know already. The rest of their songs are pretty good. The CD showed up one time, as is to be expected from Amazon Prime.
This cd has all the songs I wanted on it! Just feel good music. If you love The Bangles, buy it!
