Tag: Bangles

Title: Bangles – Greatest Hits (1990) [Reissue 2000]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD reissue of 1990 ‘Best Of’ compilation for the female pop-rock quartet, pressed onto a gold disc. 14 tracks including, ‘Eternal Flame, ‘Hazy Shade of Winter’, ‘ManicMonday’, ‘If She Knew What She Wants’ and ‘Walking Down Your Street’.

The Bangles’ transformation from Merseybeat and garage-smart guitar band to near-definitive example of buffed-and-polished corporate popsters is one of the great rock mysteries of the ’80s. What was up with that video for “Walk Like an Egyptian,” anyway? Greatest Hits puts it all in perspective, tracing the curve from the post-Beatles group sneer of “Hero Takes a Fall” to the deadly earnest Susanna Hoffs showcase of “Eternal Flame.” Shortly after that ballad hit No. 1, the group split. Now unfairly remembered as little more than space fillers on turn-of-the-decade airwaves, the Bangles here make a good case for their spirit, their own songwriting gifts, and, of course, those voices. Weighing in at 14 tracks, Greatest Hits is a good, basic collection of the Bangles’ biggest singles, containing all the hits, including the previously non-LP “Hazy Shade of Winter,” plus a couple of album tracks and, for the dedicated, a new cover of the Grass Roots’ “Where Were You When I Needed You.” It may be easy to carp about fine album tracks from All Over the Place and Different Light that should have been included, yet this is a fine sampler/introduction that might not necessarily capture the Bangles’ best — in this context, their ties to the Paisley Underground and college rock seem nonexistent — but still finds them as masters of irresistible pop singles.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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