The Bangles Album: “Glitter Years: Rarities & Gems”

For a cheap-o compilation I almost passed over, this is a easy way to pick up some hard to find and out of print Bangles rarities from their Columbia records days. The rest are tracks from "All Over The Place" and "Everything".

The single mix of "Hero Takes A Fall" adds some nasty slapback echo/delay to the lead vocal. I used to play the 45 as a college radio DJ and always thought it was annoying, and not an improvement over the LP version on "All Over The Place".

"What I Meant to Say" was the flipside of "Eternal Flame" and wound up the 45, the cassette single and on a super rare 3 inch mini CD here in the USA. I always liked this track, to me this and "Everything I Wanted" could have easily replaced some of the weaker tracks on "Everything".

I will have to dig out my LP of the Goonies LP and compare the mixes of "I've Got Nothing", right now they sound very similar.

As for the Dance Mix of "Egyptian" its fun, but kind of boring for sit-down listening. I kind of wish Columbia would have dug up the 12-inch dance mixes of "In Your Room" and "Hazy Shade of Winter" and added them. Its not a bad comp, just try to get it cheap. I just wish Sony would have done some more vault digging and made a nice comp of everything the Bangles didn't put on their 3 Columbia albums.

And I wish Sony or another company would get the rights to reissue all the early Bangles Faulty Products/IRS material! We need to have this stuff back on the shelves!

I bought this CD to get some more songs that I didn't already have from the Bangles. I have five of these songs on the other Bangles CD I own, which is The Definitive Collection 2 Disc set. That CD covers Susanna Hoffs solo work as well, which I enjoy having. I'm not a die-hard fan of the band as you can tell, but it was great hearing some other songs from them. "Watching The Sky" was a rocking song, kinda reminded me of Led Zep in a strange way, probably cause of the drums. The song "Glitter Years" was good. I really liked the fun song "James". "What I Meant To Say" was also good, done in that classic Bangles style. The song from the Goonies soundtrack "I Got Nothing" was great. Now I'll have to go back and watch the film and see where the song plays. The other songs I didn't mention are good, just not favorites of mine. I prefer the original "Walk Like An Egyptian" over the dance mix. And "Eternal Flame" is another classic that plays a lot on radio today. I just wish they would've included some live versions of some of their favorites on this collection.

If your a fan of the Bangles, this collection is pretty good to own. Many die-hards may already have most of these songs though. Me being the casual fan, this CD fits well with my Bangles collection.

Other than the extended dance version of "Walk Like an Egyptian," these tracks can all be heard in lots of other places. This means they aren't rarities like the title of the compilation says, but they are still good songs.

I'm not really a big fan of "BANGLES" I mean, they're ok...........but I LOVE "ETERNAL FLAME" and I like "WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN" and "HERO TAKES A FALL". There are seven other cuts on this album. I don't remember them from my "GLITTER YEARS" , but then I told you, I'm not really a big fan of "BANGLES"

I recieved the right product, in good order and in a speedy manner! I can't ask any more of an online retailer!