 "Siouxsie & The Banshees are awesome" | 2008-01-27 |
| - Reviewed By kimba69 |
| Since the day I was introduced to this band, say...back in the 80's...I've always loved them. They've always had their own style and there are few bands today that can even touch their creative blends of goth, new wave and punk. I highly recommend this best of CD. |
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| "Siouxsie The Banshees are awesome" | 2008-01-27 |
| - Reviewed By kimba69 |
| Since the day I was introduced to this band, say...back in the 80's...I've always loved them. They've always had their own style and there are few bands today that can even touch their creative blends of goth, new wave and punk. I highly recommend this best of CD. |
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| "Incredible!!!" | 2007-12-26 |
| - Reviewed By malnificent2 |
| I was walking thru the make-up department in one of the biggest local department stores and heard a song from the album. I had this on casette, but no longer have a player, so I picked this up. This really is a great collection and I highly recommend it. |
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 "Not for the purist, but a great intro to SATB" | 2007-12-16 |
| - Reviewed By lnftranslations |
| SATB had way too diverse a catalog to be able to assemble "hit" songs into any reasonably coherent and comprehensive compilation. But this is as good as you can get for a single disk trying to do so. Here's a warning to the purists out there: some of the song intros and outros have been added to help with the transitions on this disc and are not part of the original recording. They are minor, but noticeable if you're a fan. Otherwise, there are a couple of great songs that are hard to come by without either spending much more money on an import or the time to track down a used copy or limited edition print. |
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| "Spectacular and Unique" | 2007-12-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1ODQ9AZ5DIZ33 |
Tim Burton introduced me to Siouxsie and the Banshees, thanks to their minor hit in 1991's "Face to Face," which served as a perfect backdrop for Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne and Michelle Pfeiffer's Selina Kyle to accidentally "unmask" each other at, of all things, a masquerade party thrown by Christopher Walken. If not for that one song, I would have never heard of Siouxsie.
I was too young to truly appreciate the Punk movement, but I was certainly aware of it. All the same, this one song led me to their greatest hits album, which I lost thanks to Hurricane Katrina. When I first listened to it, I knew I'd like "Face to Face," b/c I'd already heard it and loved it. What surprised me about this album was everything else.
"Cities in the Dust," "Spellbound," and "Peek-a-Boo" stand out as my favorites, but it's truly rare that one likes every single track on any album, even a greatest hits compilation disc. This disc is the exception to the rule. I can honestly say that I can sit and listen to every track and not want to turn it down or skip to the next track. "Peek-a-Boo" stands out because of its haunting, slightly demented carnival and/or circus style, while "Cities" and "Spellbound" both hit me w/ warbling, wavering imagery and upbeat tempo, respectively.
If I had been a little older when the Punk movement took hold of the UK and US...I probably still would have shied away from the black clothes, mascara, and gloomy outlook. But even wearing an Izod shirt and Dockers, I could have easily slipped Siouxsie and the Banshees into the tape deck (or was it an 8-Track player?) without hesitation. This album truly is the *greatest* hits. |
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| "Great CD" | 2007-08-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3MI6PNXQEIWSZ |
| This is a wonderful cd. I just love the 80's and Siouxie is one of the best. |
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 "Not the best by any means" | 2007-04-22 |
| - Reviewed By superstition2 |
First of all, this band's catalogue is huge and yet this "Best Of" disc is only, what? 57 minutes? That's less than the first generation audio CD spec, which was 63 minutes. Now, the only audio CDRs a person can get easily are 80 minutes. That leaves 23 minutes, time that could contain more great tracks, like Dazzle, The Last Beat of My Heart, Song From the Edge of the World, or Melt. O Baby and Song from the Edge should have been here simply to finish the singles collection, as they're not on the prior two releases (Once Upon a Time and Twice Upon a Time), although with the real version of Fear of the Unknown and Last Beat of My Heart. Dizzy, a left-over from the band's breakup, was obviously added to increase sales, even though it's fairly weak, and there is a better version extant, the one handed out with the Seven Year Itch tour. It sticks out like a sore thumb.
Finally, the "remastering" may make the CD louder, but when comparing Face to Face, which admittedly sounded a bit anemic on Twice Upon a Time, the remastered version sounds worse, with the vocals edging toward one of the horribly compressed songs from The Rapture. Listen to a song like Fall From Grace. It's mix is so mashed it sounds like garbage, which is sad since it's a great song. It was clearly a reaction against Superstition's "thin" mix.
"Remastering" today usually means clipping, taking away all of the space songs used to have. Listen to The Cure's Boys Don't Cry, with a tracks like Another Day and Fire In Cairo and then compare them to the "remastered" versions. There is no space now, and they sound worse. I'll gladly trade a miniscule amount of tape hiss for the original spacious mixes and dynamic contrast.
Stick with Twice Upon a Time, or, if you like their early sound, Once Upon a Time. Skip this collection unless you really like remixes, as the second disc is nothing but those. What this collection should have been is a complete singles set, or at least one that truly reflects the band at its best, with songs like Dizzy nowhere to be found, except as material on a bonus disc, in a manner similar to New Order's Substance. |
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| "A classic collection of songs" | 2007-03-08 |
| - Reviewed By franckf59 |
Siouxsie & the banshees influenced some of the best music of the last decades. In fact, Trip-hop could have never existed wihout them.
MASSIVE ATTACK recorded a cover of "Metal Poscard"(from "The Scream") in 1997 for "The Jackal" cd. TRICKY sang in 1996 "Tattoo"(from "Downside-Up") on his "Nearly god" album. Other famous singers were also inspired by them : JEFF BUCKLEY covered live "killing Time"(from "Boomerang") which is a Siouxsie / The Creatures composition. MORRISSEY even recorded a single "Interlude" in duet with Siouxsie !!! where as others like Shirley Manson from GARBAGE wrote in 2003 the foreword of "The Siouxsie & The Banshees's Authorized Biography". So, this band can't be ignored in every good collection of albums.
This best-of is an excellent teaser to discover them. Classics like "Happy House" or "Hong Kong Garden", are as brilliant as any Blondie or Talking Heads songs. "Kiss them for me" is musically a catchy song close to New Order or Garbage and "Peek-A-Boo" is The Chemical Brothers meet Massive Attack.
This music is just superb. |
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| "Great stuff!!" | 2007-02-21 |
| - Reviewed By schooldaze007 |
| Glad to finally own a copy of their best! Easy to listen to over and over...this music does not go out of style. |
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| "It Does What It Has To do" | 2007-02-17 |
| - Reviewed By meowth62227 |
Every song on this best-of collection is a single, and every one of them was a huge hit in the U.K., and they all deserved it. There's even a great bonus song that the band never realeased. Here's the breakdown:
1. Dear Prudence- Their biggest ever hit, this one's pretty good. It's a Beatles cover that the band manages to sound like their own, with a spacious, atmospheric sound and even touches of a harp. Siouxsie Sioux's vocals, accentuated by an expansive echo effect, give it an almost angelic feel.
2. Hong Kong Garden- The band's very first single release is one of their best songs. The guitar playing is brilliant and the Asian chimes are just adorable. Recently, the song was featured on the soundtrack to the film "Marie Antoinette" in a masked ball scene. That version featured a gorgeous orchestral introduction that suited the song well.
3. Cities in Dust- A really big hit from the band and their break-through single in the U.S., I'm still kind of sick of it. The lyrics aren't very deep or meaningful, and Sioux's vocals are grating. However, there are some very catchy synths, and the guitar and bass work are excellent.
4. Peek-a-Boo- The Banshees's first single to ever get on the Billboard Hot 100 is one of their most recognizable and catchy. It's also one of their oddest, considering that the instruments are all being recorded backwards and it features a sea-shanty accordion. This one's a must-hear.
5. Happy House- This song is one of my all-time favorite singles from Siouxsie. It's also the first song to ever feature the tribal drumwork from Budgie, and that makes one their most important songs.
6. Kiss Them for Me- I love this song! It's their biggest single in the U.S. and their second number one hit on the U.S. Modern Rock Chart (It stayed on there for five weeks!). Sioux's vocals are refreshingly gentle, and the East Indian instrumentation from Talvin Singh is dazzling.
7. Face to Face- A firm fan favorite, it was featured on the soundtrack to the 1992 film Batman Returns and played during a crucial moment in the movie. It's obviously a ballad, with strings and light percussion. Bits of Danny Elfman's movie score are in it as well.
8. Dizzy- The unreleased bonus track on this record. It's actually quite mellow, and judging from some of the synths used, it probably came from around the time the band's final album "The Rapture" came out. It's a very pretty song.
9. Israel- Although I think it's one of their more overrated singles, this classic gothic rock song gets a deserved place in the collection. It featured classic early 80's Banshees sounds: ominous bass, high-pitched guitars, Budgie's thunderous drumming, and Sioux's spooky voice.
10. Christine- Possibly my favorite Banshees single. It's a very psychedelic song, with a farsifa organ and an acoustic guitar that flangs at the end. Sioux's vocals are a lot softer, considering that people at the time were used to her high-pitched punk wailing.
11. Spellbound- Well, it wouldn't be a Banshees best-of collection if this song wasn't on here, now would it? It just bristles with storming energy and, as ususal, Budgie pounds the living daylights out of his drums.
12. Stargazer- I will never get why this song was featured on here. It might be because it was the Banshee's last single before calling it a day in 1996. I'm not very fond of it, though the acoustic guitar hook is just brilliant.
13. Arabian Knights- A concert favorite, this is one of the Banshee's classic singles, even though it faetures a lots of old riffs. It's also the best known song to use the word "orifices".
14. The Killing Jar- This shiny goth-pop song is perfect for people who are just getting into the band. It's very catchy and is pretty pop-oriented and features a cello.
15. This Wheel's On Fire- Another cover from the band, this time of a song written by Bob Dylan and performed by Julie Driscoll. It's very shiny and has strings that remind me very much of the Orient. Very good cover.
Overall, this collection is suitable for people who are just getting into this band. Die-hard fans should stick to "Once Upon a Time" and "Twice Upon a Time".
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