All the school kids so sick of books
They like the punk and the metal band
When the buzzer rings (oh whey oh)
They're walking like an Egyptian”
Even though I really enjoy this album I feel that it is
mistitled as “Bangles Greatest Hits".
It should more accurately be titled "The
Best of The Bangles". My reasons first the song "Everything I Wanted" was PREVIOUSLY
UNRELEASED. How can a song that has never been heard publicly before, be
considered a "greatest hit"? The answer to that is the music
companies need to add something new as filler so the old and current fans can
experience something new. There were a few other songs that were never on the
charts so again technically not a "hit" in the sense of not getting
any radio airplay. The songs come from their 3 full albums (at the time of
release 1990) "All Over The Place",
"Different Light" and
"Everything" except for;
"Everything I Wanted" as
mentioned before previously unreleased, "Where Were You When I Needed You?" the B-side to the single
"Hero Takes A Fall", and
their cover of Paul Simon's "Hazy Shade Of Winter" from the
"Less Than Zero" Soundtrack
(a song that became a bigger hit than the movie it was on the soundtrack to).
Personaly I think at least one song is missing from this “Best of” album and
that is “How is the Air up There?”
from their self-titled EP released in 1982 I’ve always liked that song. There
may be a few more but it has been ages since I've listened to their other
albums.
The 1980s were mostly known for "Hair Bands", Rap music, Popularizing
Punk Rock, New Wave, and a sort of Girl Group Revival. Girl groups had been
around in the 1960s but they were mostly just singers, the '80s saw Girl groups
that were actually "bands" in the sense that they played their own
instruments. Some of them supposedly played their instruments but that can be
debatable. The Bangles already knew
how to play their instruments before they became a band (some bands had to
learn to play their instruments). They also wrote their own songs most of the
time. An exception was one of their biggest hits “Manic Monday” which was written by Prince.
My favorites from this album I guess would include: The cover of Katrina & The Waves “Going Down To Liverpool”, “Manic Monday”, “In Your Room”, “Eternal Flame”,
“Hazy Shade of Winter” and probably “Walk Like An Egyptian” even though it
was over played and over-hyped.
The Bangles have an excellent blend
of harmonies, but honestly one can grow tired of Suzanna Hoffs’ high pitched voice. Drummer Debbi Peterson has a more pleasant but slightly husky voice especially
when she takes the lead on her song “Be
With You”. Her huskiness reminds me just a little bit of the Wilson Sisters of Heart.
The album certainly has an ‘80s feel to it. It also has a tiny international
feel to it with “Walk Like An Egyptian”
sort of, that song more sort of borrows a hint of the middle eastern feel with
it’s mock Egyptian beat. A better international feel is the sitar (played by Michael Steele) of “In Your Room” or at least that ‘60s
“lets impersonate George Harrison and
The Beatles” feel.
In my book a best of album or a “Greatest Hits” album should contain those
songs from a group’s repertoire that if the songs were on another album they
would be the ones you would skip other songs to listen to. The more songs like
that the better. I enjoy this album but for me not all the songs are songs I
would skip to.
For people wanting to decide if the
Bangles (previously known as “The
Bangs”) is for them this is an excellent album to get. I would also suggest
“Everything” and “Different Light” if you can find a copy
getting the 5 song self-titled EP “Bangles”
recorded when they were still the Bangs but
re-released after their name change) is a plus for your Bangles collection.
