Flock Of Seagulls ! Flock Of Seagulls ! Flock Of Seagulls !
Disadvantages:
A handful of boring tracks
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
One of the most controversial computer games of all time has spawned one of the most diverse compilations of all time. Probably on no other compilation you will ever lay your eyes on would you see a collection of artists as miscellaneous as those above. 'Grand Theft Auto: Vice City' is the game, or rather, it was the whole Grand Theft Auto series, that was absolutely huge in the news a while back because it featured you, the lead character, charging around, breaking the law, working for the mob, stealing fire engines, mowing down old ladies at 125 MPH, hacking off the limbs of police officers with a chainsaw, blasting innocent pedestrians with a sawn-off shotgun and breaking the highway code with great frequency. Needless to say, it got many appalled conservatives in a right knot, and the game became infamous for its violence. The game itself was unique at the time (though it has spawned a whole host of (inferior) imitations) and was a darn good game, extremely playable and has not aged a bit in the few years since it was first released.
One of the best things about the game was its fantastic soundtrack. You see, to get around the imaginary city called 'Vice City' (doesn't sound like the kind of place you would take the kids on holiday, does it?) it would be impossible to walk your way around, no, the city is just too vast for that, and you'd probably still be trying to walk around for the next fifty years of your life until you are old and grey and none of your friends want to hang out with you anymore because you smell and have the longest beard known to man. Ahem. No, the only way to get around (as you are car-less) is to steal a car and get around that way. Aside from the sheer thrill of dragging the driver out of the seat, plonking your bum firmly into the driver seat and careering off down the road leaving the owner of the vehicle completely befuddled as to what has just happened, one of the most glorious things about stealing the cars is the radio. The creators of GTA (as it is called in gaming circles, or so I hear) have worked tirelessly to create a score of radio stations, each with its own distinctive playlist. There are stations to cover rock, new wave, hip-hop and even a talk radio station. Each one has a life of its own, with its own DJ (extremely funny) and they all compete against each other, vying for the attention of the listener.
That is where this little compilation comes in. Realising that they were definitely onto something by putting together such a vast plethora of material, and no doubt sensing the opportunity to make a bit of extra money, the creators decided to release a series of albums, one for each radio station, highlighting the songs of Vice City. And this is the Greatest Hits collection, a compendium of Vice City's best moments so that you can play it whenever you feel nostalgic for rampaging through the streets with a handgun and blowing the heads off anybody in sight (as we all feel from time to time, naturally…).
As said, the collection is quite diverse, with artists ranging from Judas Priest to Tito Puente to Mr. Mister. This reflects the diversity of the stations on the Vice City radio, and in the sleevenotes there is even a little message from each of the (imaginary) Vice City DJ's.
The opening track ('The Theme From Vice City') opens up the album in magnificent style, feeling like the soundtrack to one of those 80's cop shows (such as 'Miami Vice'…), and makes you want to go out and wear a pair of trousers and shoes but no socks and go dancing along the boardwalk, possibly arresting a shady criminal or two. 'You've Got Another Thing Comin' by Judas Priest was a song I hadn't heard of until I listened to it on this album and must admit I was quite taken by how great it is. Judas Priest, coincidentally, are the band that some crazy people in the 1980's claimed wrote satanic messages on their records, so that if you played it backwards then apparently you would hear messages from the devil himself. Of course this turned out to be a load of old nonsense, and, as everybody surely knows, the devil only speaks through Meatloaf and Cher.
Hall & Oates sound as classy as ever on the choice cut 'Out Of Touch', which isn't as memorable as some of their other work (I like 'Maneater' myself, very classy, very shady), but is worth a listen. Hashim's 'Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)' is somewhat forgettable and is the one of the tracks I find myself frequently skipping over. Normal service resumes with track five, where Roxy Music excel themselves on the hyper-smooth 'More Than This'. You can almost picture a cocktail bar at the edge of the ocean as Bryan Ferry reaches for another Martini and makes a pass at a leggy supermodel. Or something. 'More Than This' is not of the early Roxy Music, the Ferry/Eno model, when they were a thoroughly weird glam rock outfit with a penchant for make-up and fancy dress, but the later model when they were a super-smooth lounge act, singing love songs that often seemed to stress heartache but simultaneously seeming somewhat hollow, lacking a soul. Perhaps that is why Roxy Music are just so darn brilliant.
'I Ran (So Far Away)' by A Flock Of Seagulls is easily the best song on the album, the song itself being one of the best songs of the whole 1980's. It has such a rush, such energy and propulsion. A Flock Of Seagulls was the band with the singer who had the most terrible haircut known to man, worse even than Phil Oakey of the Human League (if such a thing were possible). If you can imagine dyed blonde hair teased up into points at either side of the head and then a big point coming down (yes, down) to the forehead, hairsprayed to the point of becoming toxic. I think scientists should look into the theory that the o-zone layer was done more damage during the 'New Romantic' era than any other. Regardless, this is a fantastic song by a band who have passed into the annals of history. Rene & Angela's 'I'll Be Good' bounces along, has a nice twiddly bit at the beginning, and is a good cut from the soul station at Vice City. Irakere's 'Aguanile' is another more forgettable cut, but I am inclined to think that this is due to my own bias against the Latin music section of the Vice City radio stations, maybe there are some of you out there who like that kind of thing, and for that, I salute you.
Rock's most undesirable son-in-laws, Motley Crue, make an appearance with 'Too Young To Fall In Love', and it is something of a forgettable entry on the album. The band were extremely over-rated and not one of the best things to come out of the ill-fated hair metal scene of the 1980's, more famous for the whoring and scoring than their actual output, and the song really isn't anything special. Run DMC's 'Rock Box' represents the hip-hop station and is a worthy inclusion, though the best single by the band would easily have to be 'It's Tricky', which has a bit more bounce.
Yes's 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart' (sampled by Dubstar on their hit 'No More Talk', stat fans), is such a fantastic song by a band that were sneered at by the music intelligensia when punk came along. The band yes conjures up images of lengthy twenty minute epics and Rick Wakeman dressed in a gold cape playing song about King Arthur slaying dragons, but forget all that, this is from Yes in the 1980's, when genius producer Trevor Horn (of Buggles fame, also the producer for ABC and Frankie Goes To Hollywood) teased out this little number from them, and it stands the test of time. Soft rock gets an inclusion with Mr. Mister and 'Broken Wings', which hip-hop fans may recognise due to the fact it has been sampled a couple of times by different artists (Tupac (in a recording from beyond the grave) included), to diminishing effect. It takes a while to get into the song, and is hideously cheesy, but it is still a highpoint.
Blondie's 'Atomic' represents the new wave station and in many ways the song was a high point of the new wave genre, Blondie being the genre's cleverest and most successful exponent. An ode to the death of disco, Blondie parody themselves and their success with the genre-defying 'Heart Of Glass', the song is easily one of Blondie's best and most memorable. Michael Jackson gets included too, with his fantastic 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'', from his classic 1979 'Off The Wall' album. The song is just so alive and wonderful, the beat is really intense, and it is hearing such fantastic songs as this that makes me sad to consider the present condition of poor Michael and the mess he is now in. I wonder at what actual point in Michael's life did he go completely insane? It is easy to equate the man today, with his awful music and 'heal the world, feed the children, save the elephants' posturing, with the sheer insanity we see in his daily life, but I find it hard to consider that the same man made some of the best music of the 1970's and 80's. At some point along the line, something in his head flipped.
Anyway, closing the album is Tito Puente with 'Mambo Gozon', which closes the album in classy style. I remember Tito Puente from his appearance on 'The Simpsons' years ago as the new jazz teacher at the school, and I had assumed that he was just a fictional character. Ah well, you live, you learn. There are also three hidden tracks on the album, some very funny mock jingles and advertisements, which will surely generate a laugh or two.
Altogether this is a great album, extremely diverse and worthy of inclusion in anybody's CD collection. Just make sure it doesn't inspire the bloodlust in you…
'Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - Greatest Hits' is available from Amazon.co.uk at £12.99
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Not applicable
How does it rate alongside the competition
Good
Cover / Inlay Design and Content
Outstanding
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