almost 10 years after his death in a car crash, his austrian record label finally releases a worthy best-of-cd of austria's most famous pop singer. for the first time this collection includes (almost) all of his most popular and successful hits. over 2 cds you get a well balanced collection of his best songs (maybe there is a bit too much material from his first three albums, but one could argue that this albums, released from 1982 to 1985, were also his best). most important for many fans is the fact that this collection of songs includes hits from all of his 9 albums (of which 2 were released after his death) so you get a good impression for falco's work from 1981 to 1998.
there are even a few collector's items: there is "urban tropical", the original b-side from the "rock me amadeus"-single in europe, for the first time on cd. there is also the previously unreleased "rough mix" of the dylan-cover "its all over now, baby blue" and there is also a decent re-mix of "maenner des westens" from 1985's "falco 3"-album. you can also find a horrible "tribute to falco" from his former producers bolland&bolland on this collection but unlike in the 80s (and on vinyl) you easily can skip such garbage... :-)
all in all, this is by far the best falco-best-of-album and everybody who is interested in the austrian's music should choose this over "greatest hits" or "the final curtain".
besides: "rock me amadeus" is included here in the "gold mix", thats the european version of this smash hit. the "canadian edit" or the "american edit" which were the versions released in the usa in 1986 are not on this cd. neither is the "salieri version" which is a mix from both of this edits. maybe one day someone will notice that the original 12" versions of falco's hits are really great and will release them on cd (compare frankie goes to hollywood's mixes releases).
I grew up with Falco. I am from Geremany and now live in the USA. So it is nice to be able to sing along with all those great songs no matter what language they are in. He was a great artist, gone before his time. It is a peferct CD because it has all the songs on it I want to hear, especially the ones never released in America. That I only ever heard in Germany. So I now get them both, great to have.
But shipping was quick for standard and the product was just as advertised new (all sealed in platic), no scratches, play's excellant, and LOUD!
Get this album! There is a variety of Falco's work in this collection and for the most part, well worth every dime. My favorite? "Out of the Dark." Hands down, this is his best song. I bought the album just for this song but there are many other songs on the 2 CD's that I listen to a lot as well.
