Turn It On Again - The Hits (1999)
1.Turn It On Again
2.Invisible Touch
3.Mama
4.Land of Confusion
5.I Can't Dance
6.Follow You Follow Me
7.Hold On My Heart
8.Abacab
9.I Know What I Like
10.No Son Of Mine
11.Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
12.In Too Deep
13.Congo
14.Jesus He Knows Me
15.That's All
16.Misunderstanding
17.Throwing It All Away
18.The Carpet Crawlers 99
It seems a bit surprising that a band
that had been together for thirty years
and umpteen albums would finally release a greatest hits package with
nine of it's songs from only two
albums. No one could argue the tenure of this band with its odd
history was normal, however, and what we have
here is a pretty fair representation of material. We should remember
that the band was never commercially successful until
1983 when they finally got a top ten single (That's
All). Although purists will no doubt feel as though
some favorites were left off, this one does have all the radio tunes
that casual listeners want.
We also can't feel cheated in terms of volume either. Eighteen
songs that account for over seventy-five
minutes. In order to pack it full, a wise choice was made in cutting
some of the lengthier numbers down to the
"single" release (Abacab and Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
are each whittled down by about three
minutes). Perhaps the oddest thing about the collection was the
earliest and latest "hits" respectively. I Know
What I Like from 1973 sounds very out of place being so old
and from such a different era. Congo
from the latest studio release, the band's only disaster, Calling All Stations, should probably
have been left off because...well...like the album that it came from, it's
subpar to say the least. It was nice that ex-members
Gabriel and Collins were called in to record a new version of 1974's
The Carpet Crawlers from
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, a beautiful tune that many new fans
were oblivious to its existence.
All in all, a great collection on a great career for mostly radio
listeners and new fans. Most listeners should
check out an earlier live release (maybe Seconds
Out or Three
Sides Live) to enjoy some wonderful non-hits that this band was
capable of releasing,for a better representation of the band's history.
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