Depeche Mode - The Best Of, Volume 1 [Japanese Ed. SHM-CD] (2006)

Year: 13 November 2006 (CD Nov 8, 2006)
Label: Tochiba-EMI (Japan), TOCP-66627
Style: Synth-Pop, Electronic, New Wave
Country: Basildon, Essex, England
Time: 74:46
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 553 Mb

According to the band, there are no plans to release succeeding volumes in a “Best Of” series, making the “Volume 1” in the title somewhat of a joke. The debate with hits collections, as always, is over song selection. While no one can argue the inclusion of hits like “Strangelove” and “Just Can’t Get Enough,” there are plenty of other songs whose exclusion some will take issue with. On this particular “Best Of,” the most notable absence is any song from Black Celebration. Maybe it’s just that songs from Black Celebration work better as a complete thematic whole, “Stripped” following “A Question of Time” and “But Not Tonight” succeeding “New Dress.” I don’t know, but I’m still trying to fathom a “Best of Depeche Mode” without “Fly on the Windscreen.” All in all, the eighteen tracks selected for this collection are a fairly representative and fair look at a spectacular and legendary pop band that probably still isn’t given the due it deserves.
As far as the real “Best Of,” the one bearing the misleading `Volume 1" tag, at its best it is a worthy representation of 25 years of pop mastery. At its worst, it is a reminder that, given any 18 songs from this legendary band, whether your favorites or not, Depeche Mode will always be relevant. From “New Life” to “Suffer Well,” there are no bad songs on this record, only great song after great song.
(full version: treblezine.com/depeche-mode-the-best-of-vol-1/)

01. Personal Jesus (03:47)
02. Just Can't Get Enough (03:43)
03. Everything Counts (04:01)
04. Enjoy the Silence (04:14)
05. Shake the Disease (04:51)
06. See You (03:57)
07. It's No Good (05:58)
08. Strangelove (03:46)
09. Suffer Well (03:52)
10. Dream On (03:41)
11. People Are People (03:46)
12. Martyr (03:25)
13. Walking in My Shoes (05:00)
14. I Feel You (04:35)
15. Precious (04:09)
16. Master and Servant (03:49)
17. New Life (03:46)
18. Never Let Me Down Again (04:18)

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Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts [7 bonus tracks] (1981)

Year: February 25, 1981 (CD Apr 11, 2006)
Label: Nonesuch Records (US), 79894-2
Style: Experimental, Electronic
Country: England / Scotland
Time: 59:54
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 385 Mb

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is the first collaborative studio album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, released in February 1981. It was Byrne's first album without his band Talking Heads. The album integrates sampled vocals and found sounds, African and Middle Eastern rhythms, and electronic music techniques. It was recorded before Eno and Byrne's work on Talking Heads' 1980 album Remain in Light, but problems clearing samples delayed its release by several months.
The album title is derived from Amos Tutuola's 1954 novel My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. According to Byrne's 2006 liner notes, neither he nor Eno had read the novel, but they felt the title "seemed to encapsulate what this record was about".
The extensive sampling on the album is considered innovative, though its influence on later sample-based music genres is debated. Pitchfork named it the 21st best album of the 1980s, while Slant Magazine named it the 83rd.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Life_in_the_Bush_of_Ghosts_(album))

01. America Is Waiting (03:38)
02. Mea Culpa (04:57)
03. Regiment (04:11)
04. Help Me Somebody (04:17)
05. The Jezebel Spirit (04:56)
06. Very, Very Hungry (03:21)
07. Moonlight In Glory (04:30)
08. The Carrier (04:19)
09. A Secret Life (02:31)
10. Come With Us (02:42)
11. Mountain Of Needles (02:39)
12. Pitch To Voltage (bonus track) (02:38)
13. Two Against Three (bonus track) (01:55)
14. Vocal Outtakes (bonus track) (00:36)
15. New Feet (bonus track) (02:26)
16. Defiant (bonus track) (03:41)
17. Number 8 Mix (bonus track) (03:30)
18. Solo Guitar With Tin Foil (bonus track) (02:58)

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Jon (Yes) and Vangelis (Aphrodite's Child) - Private Collection (1983)

Year: May 1983 (CD 1983)
Label: Polydor Records (Germany), 813174-2
Style: Electronic, Art Rock, Modern Classical
Country: Greece / United Kingdom
Time: 47:38
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 257 Mb

Charts: UK #22, AUS #31, AUT #18, CAN #78, GER #27, NL #15, NZ #45, SPA #10, SWE #24, US #148.
Jon & Vangelis' first two albums really seemed to be building up to this point. With Private Collection, the two artists (Jon Anderson of Yes fame and Vangelis) have created what feels just a bit like a classical work. Truly the nearly 23-minute "Horizon" really feels a lot like a modern symphony. It is definitely the culmination of their work together, their most ambitious effort. The shorter cuts on the album all have their moments and surely hold up to anything from the previous releases, but "Horizon" stands far above them all. It combines the best elements of Anderson's work in Yes with the electronically classically tinged stylings of Vangelis to produce a work that is near masterpiece in its quality. It is a life-affirming, positive piece. Among the other highlights of the disc are "Deborah" and "He Is Sailing." If you only buy one Jon & Vangelis album, choose the best-of collection. However, if you opt for a second disc, this is the one.
(allmusic.com/album/private-collection-mw0000650325)

01. Italian Song (02:54)

02. And When the Night Comes (04:37)

03. Deborah (04:56)

04. Polonaise (05:26)

05. He Is Sailing (06:49)

06. Horizon (22:53)

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Steve Hillage - For To Next / And Not Or [2LP on 1CD] (1983)

Year: March 1983 (CD 2007)
Label: Virgin Records (Europe), CDVR 2244, 00946-373463-2-7
Style: Progressive Rock, Electronic, Instrumental
Country: Chingford, Essex, England (2 August 1951)
Time: 79:05
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 520 Mb

For To Next is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock musician Steve Hillage, released by Virgin Records in March 1983. It was released simultaneously with the instrumental companion album And Not Or. The two albums have been released as a double album and on a single CD.
For To Next and And Not Or are the last studio albums issued under Hillage's own name. The titles were derived from the BASIC programming language and reflect the pair's move into computer-based music production, this being mainly synthetic except for Hillage's guitar.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_To_Next)

01. These Uncharted Lands (05:38)
02. Kamikaze Eyes (04:50)
03. Alone (05:21)
04. Anthems For The Blind (04:30)
05. Bright Future (05:08)
06. Frame By Frame (05:52)
07. Waiting (05:24)
08. Glory (06:28)
09. Before The Storm (07:06)
10. Red Admiral (06:11)
11. Serotonin (05:37)
12. And Not Or (06:27)
13. Knights Templar (04:32)
14. Still Golden (05:54)

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Jon and Vangelis - The Friends Of Mr. Cairo (1981)

Year: July 1981 (CD 1993)
Label: PolyGram Records (Germany), 800 021-2
Style: Electronic, Art Rock
Country: Greece / United Kingdom
Time: 45:45
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 232 Mb

Charts: UK #6, AUS #9, AUT #8, GER #13, NL #3, US #64, CAN #2, SWE #35. Australia: Platinum, Canada: Platinum, United Kingdom: Gold.
The Friends of Mr Cairo is the second album by Jon and Vangelis, released in 1981. There are two editions of the album, with different sleeves. Both were released in 1981 within a few weeks of each other. The title track, "The Friends of Mr Cairo", peaked at No. 1 on the Canadian singles chart in late 1981, though the track was not a hit elsewhere. The second edition of the album includes the single "I'll Find My Way Home", which according to Anderson was added in response to poor initial sales of the album, and which stayed in the Swiss charts for 14 weeks and peaked at No. 1 on 7 March 1982. It also peaked at No. 6 in the UK. The album was #2 in Canada for 3 weeks, and was #15 in the Best of 1981. "State of Independence" was later a hit single for Donna Summer, and a decade later for Moodswings with Chrissie Hynde on vocal. Anderson also later re-recorded that song on his solo album Change We Must, released in 1994.
The title track and its accompanying music video serve as an ode to classic Hollywood films of the 1930s and 1940s, including references to the classic film noir The Maltese Falcon. Joel Cairo (Mr Cairo) is the character played by Peter Lorre in The Maltese Falcon. The track incorporates sound effects and voice impressions of the stars of the era, most notably Lorre, Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, and Jimmy Stewart.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Friends_of_Mr_Cairo)

01. I'll Find My Way Home (04:31)
02. State of Independence (07:57)
03. Beside (04:12)
04. The Mayflower (06:39)
05. The Friends of Mr. Cairo (12:10)
06. Back to School (05:10)
07. Outside of This (Inside of T (05:03)

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Jon (Yes) and Vangelis (Aphrodite's Child) - Short Stories (1980)

Year: January 1980 (CD 1983)
Label: PolyGram Records (Germany), 800 027-2
Style: Electronic, Art Rock
Country: Greece / United Kingdom
Time: 45:14
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 211 Mb

Charts: UK #4, AUS #65, AUT #18, GER #30, NL #1, US #125, FRA #13, NOR #31. Netherlands: Gold, United Kingdom: Gold.
Review Summary: This is a very beautiful and magical album that came just in the right time. It shows the musical world of both musicians almost in a perfect way.
Jon & Vangelis was a musical project formed by the lead singer of Yes Jon Anderson and the famous Greek electronic pioneer musician Vangelis, in the 80’s. This wasn’t the first time the two had worked together. The first meeting between them took place in London, in the 70’s. Vangelis was to be the natural replacement for Rick Wakeman on the keyboards, in Yes, when he left the band after the release of their sixth studio album “Tales From Topographic Oceans”. It would never happen especially due to personal reasons of Vangelis. Meanwhile, the role went to the second choice, the Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz. Still, Jon Anderson has participated already, in the role of vocalist, on albums of Vangelis like “Heaven And Hell”, “See You Latter”, and played harp on the album “Opera Sauvage”, too.
So, “Short Stories” is the debut studio album of Jon Anderson and Vangelis Papathanassiou and was released in 1980. Jon Anderson was the author of the lyrics and performed all the vocals and the music was all composed by Vangelis Papathanassiou which also performed all the instruments, keyboards, synthesizers, piano and electronics. Beyond them, the album had also the participation of Raphael Preston on acoustic guitars, with some small contributions.
(Full version: sputnikmusic.com/review/78687/Jon-and-Vangelis-Short-Stories/)

01. Curious Electric (06:42)
02. Each And Everyday + Bird Son (05:08)
03. I Hear You Now (05:13)
04. The Road (04:31)
05. Far Away In Baagad (08:03)
06. Love Is + One More Time (06:18)
07. Thunder (02:14)
08. A Play Within A Play (07:02)

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