Peaches (The Very Best Of The Stranglers) - Stranglers (The) > Reviews > Good compilation for walking on the beaches

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	As good a selection of Stranglers songs available on 1 disc
Disadvantages:	Naturally not everyone will have their favourites on here .  Skin Deep is on it .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Very few good things have come out of my experiences in my current workplace. Sure getting money from them every month is a nice thing, and I've made a few friends, but on the whole, the hellhole that is my workplace seems to do nothing apart from suck my soul out, and not even in a cool Shang Tsung from Mortal Kombat fashion, just slowing ebbing away and causing depression and suffering. It's a pretty evil place. However, one decidedly positive memory I will have of the place, is that it's where I bought my first Stranglers record. After being drip-fed the band via songs like Peaches and 5 Minutes via pub jukeboxes, compilation CDs and movie soundtracks, and not to mention the band's most famous song, Golden Brown being adopted for some reason by my friends in high school as an anthem of sorts, I decided that maybe I should look into the band more. Peaches, with it's sleazy reggae sound and lyrics about strolling down the beach for a perv, Golden Brown with it's more classy waltz sound, and infamous lyrics comparing a girl with heroin and 5 Minutes, a foot-stomping punk anthem, all left completely different tastes in my mouth, none of them negative, but it's hard to believe they were from the same band.

Upon a bored lunchtime jaunt in my work's CD section, I noticed Peaches: The Very Best of The Stranglers sitting neatly in our sickeningly soul-less CD section. Nestled next to a a copy of a Michael Jackson album, in the tiny section devoted to albums that aren't in the chart, something caught my eye about Peaches. Possibly the nicely used name, the cover of a tin of peaches, who knows, but something did, and I handed the evil deity that is my work £4.99 in exchange for it and went back to work for a few hours.

Initially, apart from the 3 songs I was accustommed to, I can't say I was really impressed with the band. As close-minded as this sounds, I think it was the concept of a keyboard that put me off. I was accustommed to punk bands, especially those of the 1970s, being down and dirty, bare bones outfits. That isn't The Stranglers. Slowly but surely, this collection of the band's work taken from the years 1977-1990, when Hugh Cornwell was the singer and guitarist of the band, helped lodge many of the band's songs in my brain, and I'm glad I didn't write the group off. Now I wonder what was wrong with me for not being immediately taken with classics like No More Heroes and Always The Sun, even if the latter is presented in it's remixed 'Sunny Side Up Mix' format.

First of all, I suppose it would be wise to issue you all with a little background on the group. The group that would become The Stranglers actually began life in, of all places, Sweden. Hugh Cornwell, a student at Lund Hospital, relocated from his home in England, formed a band with two American draft dodgers and a Swede named Hans Warmling. The group went by the name of Johnny Soxx, and after various encounters with a bank robber named Kai Hansson, but little success, Hugh convinced the band in the mid-70s that London was the place to be, so the group relocated not too long afterwards, minus their drummer. However, it wasn't long before they had taken in Brian 'Jet Black' Murphy, a drummer who owned an off-license with space above for rehearsals, and the new look band were formed. However, things didn't go to plan, and the remaining American dodger returned to America when an amnesty was declared for draft dodgers. Left a man down, this American did end up contributing to his replacement, as one day a young man named John Burnell had picked him up hitch-hiking, and he had got quite friendly with the group.

Touring intensively, to little success, Warmling eventually grew tired of the band, now going by the name The Guildford Stranglers, and returned to Sweden. After placing an ad in the British Music magazine Melody Maker, a replacement was found in the form of keyboard player Dave Greenfield. Somewhere along the line, the group shortened it's name to simply be 'The Stranglers', and managed to get caught up in the uprising of the musical movement fast becoming known as 'punk'. Hugh had long been friends with The Clash's frontman Joe Strummer, from his days in the pub-rock band The 101'ers, and the band were the support act for The Ramones first UK tour, the last night of which lead to an incident that alienated them from the other punk acts, when John Burnell, now going by the name Jean Jacques Burnell, got into a fight with The Clash's Paul Simonon and The Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and Paul Cook.

However, the group had gathered enough of a following to have signed with EMI, and in 1977 they dropped not one, but two albums. Rattus Norvegicus and No More Heroes were the group's signal of intent, both packed with both searing punk anthems, as well as music far more ambitious than anything their contemporaries were coming away with. Personally they were my favourite albums, and saw the group at it's most consistant, where far more songs were great than those deserving a title of anything less. The following year, the group were back with another record, the much lauded Black & White, which may not have been as great as the first two records, but it still packed in a healthy amount of excellent music. The release of the group's fourth album, The Raven, was marred by Hugh being sent to jail for drugs offences, and 1981 was the band's first year without an album on the shelves. 1981 saw the release of (The Gospel According To)The Meninblack, an ambitious, but ultimately rather poor, concept album about aliens. While all of the band's albums had been met with poor critical responses, this was more due to their hijinks in terms of not playing nice with the music press than the actual quality of the music contained within, the criticisms of this album were different, in that it turned off many of the group's own fans.

Seeking to rectify this immediately, the band released La Folie, another concept album, this time tackling love songs, but not always of the usual kind. After the first single, Let Me Introduce You To The Family, flopped, EMI informed the band that they were unwanted, and this would be their last album. However, something happened that changed the entire world's perception of the group. A song called Golden Brown was released as a single, and it took off all accross Europe, taking the number two spot in the UK singles charts. Despite their attempts to keep the band tied to their contract, the band escaped EMI, and found themselves at CBS, where their next album, another ambitious project featuring accoustic guitars and basses, Feline was released, to a tame reception. Returning a few years later, the group's next two albums, Aural Sculpture and Dreamtime saw a return to very solid form, but the latter was marred by the poor sales response to the single Always The Sun, which was easily one of the group's best songs. By this time, fed up with a lack of success, especially in the USA, where the band had never achieved any higher than cult status. When the group's tenth album, 10 was initially rejected by CBS, forcing the band to re-record all of the songs, the band fell apart, and on the last day of the tour to promote the record, Hugh decided to leave the band.

While he assumed that the band would end, Burnell, Black and Greenfield decided to try and continue without him, recruiting former Vibrators guitarist John Ellis as well as singer Paul Roberts, the band released 4 albums before Ellis himself decided to quit, to be replaced by Baz Warne, with this incarnation of the band releasing one album so far.It should be noted that all of the band's albums since Hugh departed have made (The Gospel According To)The Meninblack look like a runaway success.

In the 2001/2002, on the back of Peaches being used in an Adidas TV ad, all of the band's albums were re-issued on CD, along with a rarities collection, two singles reproduction box sets, and this compilation, geared to snare in all the people who caught the song on the advert, and even possibly in the movie Sexy Beast.

All in all, it's a bit of an odd compilation. It's in anything but chronological order, even if the first and last tracks would suggest this, but then, any Stranglers compilation will sound a bit odd. Over the course of their 10 albums, they went from a tongue-in-cheek gang of bass-pounding punk snarlers to a rather classy sounding rock outfit who liked to experiment. When you also take into account that the band released 10 albums, as well as plenty of non-album singles in the early days, it also tells you something about the scope this compilation has to work in. Picking the 20 best Stranglers songs is no mean feat, and I have to admit that after giving all the band's work a thorough listening, I do have to say that Peaches, like any other Stranglers compilation, was really fighting a losing battle in terms of being a perfect compilation, because the group have so many great songs, and so many songs that appeal to different audiences, that trying to gather a condensed collection of them that will please everyone is going to be incredibly difficult, nigh on impossible even.

Yet, it has to be said, that Peaches really gives it a good shot. Including the necessary staples of the song the title comes from, the keyboard-powered punk anthem No More Heroes, the eccentric Golden Brown , the band's powerful, and long, bass-driven cover of Walk On By and the remixed version of one of the most underrated in terms of sales songs ever, Always The Sun, but the record also makes some excellent choices to make up the remainder of the 20 song-strong tracklist, with only one song that I'm against the inclusion of, and another that is questionnable.

The record takes 2 songs and a remix of (Get A)Grip(On Yourself) from Rattus Norvegicus, 1 song and 2 non-album singles from the sessions of No More Heroes, 1 song from, and 1 from the sessions of Black & White, 2 from The Raven, 1 from the sessions of (The Gospel According To)The Meninblack, 2 from La Folie, and one from the sessions, and a song apiece from the CBS albums, as well as the band's non-album cover of The Kinks' All Day And All Of The Night. While there is a definite bias towards the earlier years, that's when the band was more consistant, and on the whole it is a pretty evenly spread interpretation of the group's career, although it also shouldn't be overlooked that the compilation was put out by EMI, which means they would have to pay extra for using the CBS years songs.

It captures them at all their points, from the days where it was all about JJ's bass, like Something Better Change and Nice 'N' Sleazy to the haunting piano's of Don't Bring Harry, or the farfisa organ powered cover of ? & The Mysterians 96 Tears, which closes the compilation. The band were very good at changing their sound, and even the singing voices of Hugh, JJ and Dave(who sadly doesn't see any of his songs on the compilation) could vary. JJ could do 'in yer face' aggression, on songs like Something Better Change, but also give a husky and tender vocalisation to tracks like Don't Bring Harry and The European Female, whereas Hugh could go from almost spoken word deliveries, like on (Get A)Grip(On Yourself), to punk snarling on No More Heroes, to emotional singing on Always The Sun, via sleazy pseudo-rapping on Peaches.

As I say, only the sickeningly sacharine polished Skin Deep should be banished from the compilation, especially when you take into account it comes from an album with beautiful pieces of music like Let Me Down Easy and North Winds. Other than that, only La Folie, a 6 minute song, sung in French by Burnell, is really a poor choice in my eyes, with all 18 others attaining at least 'good' status in my eyes. Possibly the biggest oddity on the record is Grip '89, the remix of (Get A)Grip(On Yourself), which I've never heard referenced in any articles about the band. It's basically the same song, just seemingly sped up.

The only problem is that really, in cutting the band's career down to 20 songs, you are missing out on a lot of quality music. Personal favourites of mine like London Lady, Curfew, Too Many Teardrops,Sweet Smell of Success,Never To Look Back, Princess of The Street and The Raven are all excluded from the compilation, and, unforgivabley, two of the band's classic tracks, Toiler On The Sea and Down In The Sewer are missing.

Yet, with all those songs that I love missing, I can still say this is a solid selection of songs, many songs I started out liking here, and grew to love on their respective albums. I can still remember the moment No More Heroes finally clicked with me, even the point of the song, just as the solo, that's the keyboard solo, which is connected to the guitar, finishes and Hugh is getting ready to get back to singing.

When I think about all of the other Stranglers compilations that have come out over the years, most of them have either limited themselves to a timescale, or been box-sets. Peaches tried an ambitious move, to condense the band's career onto a single CD, perfect for personal CD players or car CD players, and while it ain't perfect, it's a spirited effort, and probably the best way to get used to the band, before embarking on a quest for their albums. If there is one flaw that could have been adressed better, it's the sleeve notes, which feature one picture of the band, not even offering any real notes as such, just copyright details. Still, as a budget release to adjust to the bands sound(s), or even for fans to take in situations where dragging 10 albums would be impractical, Peaches: The Very Best of The Stranglers is a good compilation. It's not perfect, but good, and probably the best single-disc collection available.

And after all of that, something else about this collection came to me the other day, once again bringing me back to the cesspool that is my work. Every evening, usually when I'm bunking off and going to the toilet, my work plays Dionne Warwick's version of Walk On By. Every time this happens, I'm overcome with a urge to burst into song, with Hugh's rather gruff, yet still emotional voice, and also overcome with an unmistakable disappointment when the (2 minute long) keyboard solo doesn't happen. Without Peaches, maybe I never would have discovered such a version of the song existed.

Anyway, 4/5 is a fair reflection of this collection. It's certainly good, but not anywhere near perfect. If you are looking to get into the band, it's a pretty good place to start, and for fans, while it may not offer much new, if you want a healthy selection of the group's songs on 1 cd, this is your best bet.

Track Listing
1.Peaches
2.Golden Brown
3.Walk On By
4.No More Heroes
5.Skin Deep
6.Hanging Around
7.All Day And All Of The Night
8.Straighten Out
9.Nice 'N' Sleazy
10.Strange Little Girl
11.Who Wants The World
12.Something Better Change
13.Always The Sun(Sunny Side Up Mix)
14.European Female
15.Grip '89:(Get A)Grip(On Yourself)
16.Duchess
17.5 Minutes
18.Don't Bring Harry
19.La Folie
20.96 Tears

While it isn't a perfect representation of the band's career on a disc, Peaches certainly gives it one hell of a go.