Re-mixing this album with the correct song would help this album's rating a lot.


Those Were The Days-- Great New Wave Collection!   August 17, 2001
paperbackriter (USA)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

The best entry in Rhino's awesome "New Wave Hits" series.(Volume 1 which covers the late 70's is also excellent).All 16 songs are culled from 1982 which was indeed a very good year for pop music. Haircut One Hundred's "Love Plus One" and Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran" were anthems of the(then) young MTV Generation. These quirky video darlings raged like a hurricane of fresh air in the face of bland corporate schlock which hogged the airwaves. Songs like the Go Go's "Vacation" and Tommy Tutone's "867-5309" were not only pure fun-- they were also well-crafted 3-minute pop gems. In fact, nearly every tune on volume 5 is cut from the same intelligent pop mold. Other standouts from this set include the vastly underrated Marshall Crenshaw's "Someday Someway", The Jam's "A Town Called Malice" and Soft Cell's absurdly humorous "Sex Dwarf". The only weak cuts are Gang of Four's "Man in Uniform" and the truly horrible "Art of Parties" by Japan. Overall, this is a fantastic collection which harkens back to a truly innovative time in pop music-- a brief time when catchy Hit Singles ruled and all possibilities seemed endless.


Best In The Series   July 6, 2001
Carl Mack (Palm Springs, CA United States)
4 out of 8 found this review helpful

This is my favorite of the series. Actually there are only two cuts that I consider weak ("Kids in America" and "Mickey"). ALl the rest are great little slices of the variety and creativeness of 80's new wave rock. Good c.d. to have.