Reviewed by James Lewis

This is the latest in the series of releases to celebrate 25 years of Word UK, and unsurprisingly culls 13 tracks from; you guessed it, the eighties! There aren't many more surprises in store, either - the music here is safer than an account in Fort Knox (and almost as interesting). MOR pop is the order of the day here - the most adventurous track is Garth Hewitt's Elvis pastiche attacking hedonism, "Amusing Ourselves To Death". The only real surprise for me at all was the offering from Don Francisco, a live track "One Heart At A Time", the first track I've ever heard from him, and one I was surprised to find myself quite enjoying. Where, though, are the more adventurous artists, like Iona, Split Level, the Electrics (and the latter two are now signed to Pila, anyway). When there is such a wealth of UK talent (Greenbelt is living proof) how come so much of it still has to produce private recordings on a TDK 46 (how about Word distributing Sticky Music nationally, for example. See, us critics can make constructive criticism, folks!). For a tape, which presumably represents the best of ten years, this is alarmingly free of any classic songs. The sleeve notes, track information is equal here to the packaging of the 70's compilation which our glorious Ed reviewed a while back, i.e. non-existent. This collection is inoffensive, which is almost as damming a criticism as offensive.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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