Capital Gold Eighties Legends - Various Artists

...the CD.

Capital Gold Eighties Legends contains songs by just that, 80's legends. There is a wide variety of artists providing a wide range of styles from pop to rock, Motown style and funk. It is a 2 disc CD providing 40 great 80's tunes.

Because it is an 80's compilation, and most of us would have either heard the songs or heard of them, I wont go into a track by track description, that would spoil the fun of going ...
...songs yourself.


Disc One-
Disc one is packed with some really huge stars and massive hits. Kicking off with "A kind of magic" by Queen it is a great start to what is the better of the 2 CDs. Favourites of mine on this disc include UB40 "Red, red wine" and Duran Duran "Save a prayer" the songs featured are not necessarily the artists best though and songs such as "Thorn in my side" ... more

As a child born in the 80's I have come to adore the music of the time, I'm always on the lookout for a good compilation CD and happened to spot this one during a shopping trip in Asda. Flipping the CD over to look at the track listing my eyes were drawn to one track and I didn't need to read the rest to know I had to have the CD.

Capital Gold Eighties Legends contains songs by just that, 80's legends. There is a wide variety of artists providing a wide range of styles from pop to rock, Motown style and funk. It is a 2 disc CD providing 40 great 80's tunes.

Because it is an 80's compilation, and most of us would have either heard the songs or heard of them, I wont go into a track by track description, that would spoil the fun of going out to buy the album and getting the know the songs yourself.

Disc One-
Disc one is packed with some really huge stars and massive hits. Kicking off with "A kind of magic" by Queen it is a great start to what is the better of the 2 CDs. Favourites of mine on this disc include UB40 "Red, red wine" and Duran Duran "Save a prayer" the songs featured are not necessarily the artists best though and songs such as "Thorn in my side" by the Eurythmics or "I found someone" by Cher could have easily been replaced by better known hits. Belinda Carlisle with "Heaven is a place on earth" has always really annoyed me so I tend to skip this track along with Bonnie Tyler's "Total eclipse of the heart" other than those though I find the rest of the tracks enjoyable.

1. A Kind Of Magic - Queen
2. Every Breath You Take - The Police
3. Only You - Yazoo
4. The Tide Is High - Blondie
5. My Girl - Madness
6. Red Red Wine - UB40
7. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
8. Let's Dance - David Bowie
9. Don't You Want Me - The Human League
10. Is This Love? - Alison Moyer
11. A Little Respect - Erasure
12. Heaven 17 Temptation
13. Thorn In My Side - Eurythmics
14. Heaven Is A Place On Earth - Belinda Carlisle
15. Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - Star ship
16. I Found Someone - Cher
17. Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler
18. Slave To Love - Bryan Ferry
19. Save A Prayer - Duran Duran
20. Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime - The Korgis

Disc 2-
Although disc 2 lacks the better artists and some of the better hits it was actually this album which initially drew my attention. While there are such acts as Wham, Diana Ross and Lionel Richie here it was actually the Detroit Spinners "Working my way back to you" that had me parting with my husbands hard earned cash, I have always loved the song yet have never had it in my music collection, at the time of purchase I didn't care if the rest of the album was terrible, all I wanted was this song. As it turns out there are more than just the one track to enjoy with other favourites of mine on this disc being the fabulous "Chain reaction" by Diana Ross, backed by a favourite of mine the Bee Gees, there is also the funky "Get down on it" by Kool & The Gang and a song I've grown to really enjoy- Billy Joel's "Tell her about it". Some of the songs I'm not so keen on such as "Geno" by Dexys Midnight Runners or "Private dancer" by Tina Turner, but I guess that's the thing about these kind of CDs, you wont necessarily like all the tracks and who am I to judge, someone reading this review probably loves Tina Turner and hates Diana Ross, it's all about personal taste really. Anyway, while disc 1 may have the better selection it is disc 2 that is my favourite and the one I listen to more often.

1. I'm Your Man - Wham!
2. Tell Her About It - Billy Joel
3. Teardrops - Womack & Womack
4. Working My Way Back To You - Detroit Spinners
5. Chain Reaction - Diana Ross
6. Get Down On It - Kool & The Gang
7. Geno - Dexy's Midnight Runners
8. And The Beat Goes On - The Whispers
9. Say You, Say Me - Lionel Richie
10. True - Spandau Ballet
11. Move Closer - Phyllis Nelson
12. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me - Culture Club
13. Caribbean Queen - Billy Ocean
14. Maneater - Hall & Oates
15. All Around The World - Lisa Stansfield
16. Private Dancer - Tina Turner
17. Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young
18. It Started With A Kiss - Hot Chocolate
19. Body Talk - Imagination
20. If You Don't Know Me By Now - Simply Red

Overall it is a very well balanced album showcasing some of the 80's finest and most successful artists, there are ballads as well as up beat pop numbers and slightly more edgy groups of the time like Blondie, it all goes to making a thoroughly enjoyable album. While I may complain that some of the tracks are lesser known, or at least less popular, it could also be said that it is a good introduction to other works that may normally be overlooked in favour of the bigger hits and also provides a different choice of songs to listen to then many similar albums on the market, which are all packed with the same songs.

Being a fan of the new romantic style of music I especially like the addition of several artists of that style including Duran Duran, Human League, Culture Club and Spandau Ballet. But I also appreciate such great artists as Queen, David Bowie, The Police etc etc…I also have a bit of a secret soft spot for Erasure (but don't go telling anybody, it's our secret!) so this is a great all round album for my tastes, the few songs I'm not so keen on are easily skipped. I find the album passes quite quickly and I don't become bored of it, due to the mixture of artists there is little chance of getting tired of the same style being repeated continuously. Of course I know this wont be to everybody's tastes, a thrash metal fan will have little appreciation for pretty boy bands such as Duran Duran and would run screaming if you asked them to listen to Erasure, but with 40 different artists on the album there is a chance there will be at least one song that has an appeal to different people.

Ok, due to the nature of the album, the songs don't necessarily flow well one after another but that's to be expected with an album of this sort. It's a compilation of a decade's music not of artists from a particular musical style I.E pop or rap. There is bound to be a jump from one track to the next as the artists styles vary.

I paid £7 for the album in Asda's bargain compilation section and have to say it was worth it for a handful of songs I loved, but I get 2 albums worth a good 80's tunes on top of that so that's a real bonus, especially when you consider I originally bought it for 1 track! Just think 17.5p per track, who can argue with a price like that. This is a great album for fans of 80's music but would also be a good choice for someone wanting to learn a little bit more about the decade's eclectic range of musical styles and artists. The only major let down is the lack of any real content in the albums inner sleeve, providing basic track list information and a small 80's highlights section on the centre fold. 

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