10cc – The Very Best Of 10cc
What do you get with a band that seems to be equal parts Beatles influence and comedic irony? That would be 10cc, and those looking for an entry-level crash course into the band’s history could hardly ask for better than The Very Best Of, covering the British group’s six-year career and following it up with some material from alumni Godley & Creme.
10cc’s most offbeat material has always been what appealed to me most about the group, and most of their better efforts can be found here, including “Rubber Bullets”, “Life Is A Minestrone”, “I’m Not In Love”, and a healthy helping of songs from Deceptive Bends, their biggest-selling album (which has already been reviewed here). There are some other tunes which don’t quite do it for me (you’d think, being the vocal harmony fanatic that I am, that I’d dig “I’m Mandy Fly Me”, but for some reason I’ve never really gotten to like that one), but at the very least it’s a decent grouping of the band’s best material.
I’m a little torn about the decision to cap the collection off with Godley & Creme’s “Cry” – it seems a bit like 
tagging a Wings song onto a Beatles compilation to me – especially when Godley & Creme’s “History Mix” would’ve been more apt, combining “Cry” with several 10cc chestnuts in a bit of techno mega-mix – it seems to me that this would’ve been a more relevant track. But as fond as people are of “Cry”, I can see why it was included. Overall, a solid slice of 10cc.
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- Donna (2:54)
- Rubber Bullets (5:17)
- The Dean And I (3:03)
- The Wall Street Shuffle (3:52)
- Sully Love (3:57)
- Life Is A Minestrone (4:40)
- I’m Not In Love (6:05)
- Art For Art’s Sake (5:52)
- I’m Mandy Fly Me (5:20)
- The Things We Do For Love (3:31)
- Good Morning Judge (2:53)
- People In Love (3:45)
- Dreadlock Holiday (4:59)
- For You And I (5:18)
- Cry (3:55)
Released by: Mercury
Release date: 1997
Total running time: 65:21
I appreciate very much the fact that the compilers of this best-of collection cop to the fact upfront that the listener’s mileage may vary wildly on what constitutes the best of pop pioneer Todd Rundgren. It’s nice to hear that acknowledged, particularly when you’re dealing with someone whose repertoir varies as wildly as Rundgren’s does.
Answer” and “Bang On The Drum All Day”.
Debuting in the 18-month gap between Doctor Who’s 22nd and 23rd seasons, The Tripods was the BBC’s adaptation of John Christopher’s trilogy of children’s novels about a group of young people joining up with rebels in the fight to rid Earth of an alien race which has enslaved humanity. In many ways, The Tripods fared little better than the show it had been intended to replace – it got cancelled after a second season, leaving the show in a permanent major cliffhanger (which itself seems to be something of a BBC science fiction tradition, just ask any Blake’s 7 fan) when the adaptation of the third book was cancelled. Still, both the books and the 25-episode television series left behind a strong cult following. One of the products of that following is this soundtrack collection, consisting of a full-length CD and two CD singles with dance-oriented remixes of the show’s theme and assorted incidental cues.
Embers Of The Freemen (1:50)
Tripods: Limited Edition Remix
This sophomore effort from the Canadian band that brought us the nicely harmonized electronic rock anthem “All That You Are” is awash in much the same style of production and instrumentation. However, this isn’t a bad thing – I rather like the Econoline Crush style, actually. The album gets a fast-paced start with two of its better tunes, “Surefire” and “Sparkle And Shine”. From there, we’re treated to a couple of uptempo ballads, more near-headbanging material, and – for some reason I can’t fathom – a slightly mellower remix of the song that put the band on the map (“All That You Are x 3”). I’m not sure why the latter is there, unless they wanted to make darn sure that fans of the first album picked this one up. Or perhaps they wanted to ensure sales by including that song in some form on the new album as well as the old, as chances are pretty good that most music buyers would be 
In an excellent follow-up to their debut album, Jars of Clay continue exploring their musical strengths, while moving their lyrics into a more mature and somewhere darker plane. The cutting “Crazy Times”, though it remains within the parameters of the band’s Christian rock obligations, also seems to be a little more judgemental than the first album’s material (“it takes more than your saline eyes / to make things right”). However, these lyrics add just a dash of realism to what could have instead been an increasingly happy and condescending tone that I sometimes find irritating in this particular genre. Jars of 
Yep, it’s the “Kiss Me” band. Thanks to heavy MTV rotation of a song which was played on Dawson’s Creek, Sixpence None The Richer’s 1997 album suddenly wound up being a hot commodity – which is a good thing, since their self-titled CD didn’t deserve the trip into obscurity that it initially took.
Very seldom, at least in my mind, does highly-politicized music have real honest-to-God talent to back up the message. Peter Garrett and Midnight Oil have always earned my admiration by making the sound of their message appealing. Garrett and company are famous for putting the plight of the Australian aborigine, the working-class laborer, and the environment to the sound of music. And damned good music, at that – there’s not a song on this compilation that makes me want to skip it. Whether the songs are older or brand new, the unique sound of Midnight Oil is one of the most distinctive sounds I remember from the late 80s and early 90s. Most people will recall the more popular songs such as “Blue Sky Mine” and “Beds Are 
Grayghost is a band with which I’m intimately acquainted, thanks to sheer repetition and osmosis. Why is this? Grayghost was one of the frequently recurring house bands at Old Town Grain & Feed, a bar in downtown Fort Smith which also had some apartments upstairs. I lived there for three years, and got to hear plenty of Grayghost nearly every Friday night. I’ll admit, Grayghost rocks hard and plays loud, so this did make sleep somewhat difficult at times. But with the benefit of living a thousand miles now, I find that I actually miss a lot of their original numbers. Grayghost could belt out some mean covers, but their original songs are truly unique. Though this CD varies wildly from their usual live set list, it’s still a decent document of their most-requested songs. Included are the wild guitar solo “Hale-Bopp” (which makes a stellar segue into “Mars”), “Train”, “X-Ray”, the reggae-rocker “Drive”, and hard rockers “Naked” and “Suicide”. Grayghost’s female lead vocalist sometimes sounds like she’s swallowed a cup full of razor blades, but at other times she 
