Now That's What I call The 80's was one of the cd's I found in my Christmas stocking this year, all my family knows I love cheesy 80's music so I wasn't surprised by this choice. Initially it seemed like a really good cd, at least on first appearances, part of the Now series and featuring one of my favourite musical decades you would think it could do no wrong, sadly there are too many flaws making this cd a major let down.

Now I know as well as anyone that what makes good music is down to the individual listener and others opinions of the cd may vary greatly to mine, but the mix of song styles on each disc simply do not blend together for example disc3 mixes soft rockers Kiss "crazy crazy nights" with new romantic style Tin Tin Duffy "kiss me", disc2 gives the interesting contrast of Billy Idol "Rebel yell" with The Bangles "walk like an Egyptian"
All 3 cd's flow in this awkward manner and while disc1 is probably the most manageable in terms of listening to easily through every track the same cannot be said of the other 2 discs. They would have been better off grouping similar musical styles together, maybe disc1 being early 80's, disc2 mid 80's and disc3 late 80's, to create better flowing discs that are a pleasure to listen to than giving us this jumpy mix which sees the listener skipping to their favoured tracks and completely ignoring the rest. I guess it's not all bad though, the varied mix of tracks and artists means there's likely to be something there for everybody, even if there's just a handful of songs, however it's unlikely to be anyone's favourite cd as it's far too mixed.

Stand out tracks to me include Aha "Take on me" DeBarge "Rhythm of the night" Cameo "Word up" David Bowie "Modern love" and of course the previously mentioned "Crazy crazy nights" however there are some great 80's acts on here that are badly represented by their tracks including Duran Duran "A view to a kill" and Simply Red "Moneys too tight to mention" further adding to the insanity of the cd's makers is the inclusion of 2 tracks featuring Kate Bush, granted one she duets with Peter Gabriel but I'm sure one appearance by the singer is enough and could have made way for a top tune by a brilliant artist, or even just a popular one of the decade, there's no Culture Club for example, no Dexys Midnight Runners, no ABC……..I just cant understand some of the selections, perhaps the were trying to achieve some kind of balance of the whole decade but it just hasn't worked, the early 80's New Romantic music just doesn't sit with late 80's early Indie styles.

Disc 3
1.: Angel Eyes (Home And Away) - Wet Wet Wet
2.: Alone - Heart
3.: Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears For Fears
4.: Power Of Love - Lewis, Huey & The News
5.: Crazy Crazy Nights - Kiss
6.: Here I Go Again '87 - Whitesnake
7.: Best - Turner, Tina
8.: Addicted To Love - Palmer, Robert
9.: Modern Love - Bowie, David
10.: Whole Of The Moon - Waterboys
11.: Mary's Prayer - Wilson, Danny George
12.: Kiss Me - Duffy, Stephen 'Tin Tin'
13.: Waiting For A Train - Flash & The Pan
14.: Running Up That Hill - Bush, Kate
15.: Alive And Kicking - Simple Minds
16.: Higher Love - Winwood, Steve
17.: Breakout - Swing Out Sister
18.: You Keep It All In - Beautiful South
19.: Hourglass - Squeeze
20.: Axel F - Faltermeyer, Harold