Track listing
- 1 Europa and the Pirate Twins 3:19
- 2 Urges 3:39
- 3 Leipzig 3:53
- 4 Windpower 4:22
- 5 Airwaves (7" Version) 3:35
- 6 She Blinded Me With Science 3:41
- 7 One of Our Submarines 5:09
- 8 Screen Kiss 5:26
- 9 Hyperactive! 4:12
- 10 I Scare Myself 5:40
- 11 The Flat Earth 6:35
- 12 Pulp Culture 5:35
- 13 Budapest by Blimp 8:39
- 14 Cruel 3:08
- 15 Close But No Cigar 4:25
- 16 I Love You Goodbye 5:58
- Total length: 77:16
Rate/Catalog
Catalog
Set listening
Review
To rate, slide your finger across the stars from left to right.
2 Issues
7 Reviews
This is a good, measured collection of Dolby's output to date (drawing from all four LPs, plus both sides of two key non-album singles). I don't think it'd be shocking or controversial if I said that it's kinda frontloaded- the key tracks ("Europa and the Pirate Twins," "Urges," "One of Our Submarines," "Hyperactive!") are from the first half of the 80s; there's good stuff on his later albums, of course, but the peaks are lower. Probably I'd rather experience those peaks ("Budapest by Blimp," "Close But No Cigar") in this condensed context, rather than on their home albums.
The only really significant omissions are "Radio Silence" (for which they probably should've dropped a latter track- "Cruel"?) and "Field Work," Dolby's collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto (which they probably couldn't get the rights to).
The only really significant omissions are "Radio Silence" (for which they probably should've dropped a latter track- "Cruel"?) and "Field Work," Dolby's collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto (which they probably couldn't get the rights to).
Published
ADVERTISEMENT
Like Howard Jones with more imagination and bigger testicles…I really cannot say that I am an officianado of Dolby’s work and as such cannot really comment on whether this is a decent ‘best of’ or that is representative of his better work.
…But it has the few tracks I know and love on it such as Hyperactive, Windpower, Europa, She Blinded Me With Science and Urges so it was worth a bargain bucket purchase and I am sure it will satisfy any casual interest in the artist.
…But it has the few tracks I know and love on it such as Hyperactive, Windpower, Europa, She Blinded Me With Science and Urges so it was worth a bargain bucket purchase and I am sure it will satisfy any casual interest in the artist.
Published
Mostly I listen to Retrospectacle as a dip into my past rather than to hear great music. I don't know what I would think if I was hearing Dolby now for the first time, but as a part of my musical past I won't be looking to get rid of what I have got. Some of Dolby's stuff is amazing, some of it encapsulates the poppy electronica of the 80's.
His best known tracks, Hyperactive! and She Blinded Me With Science are amongst his weakest. Urges is at best OK.
But then you hear amazing things like One of Our Submarines, Leipzig and Windpower. If everything was like those tracks you could add another star to my rating.
His best known tracks, Hyperactive! and She Blinded Me With Science are amongst his weakest. Urges is at best OK.
But then you hear amazing things like One of Our Submarines, Leipzig and Windpower. If everything was like those tracks you could add another star to my rating.
Published
Hot Sauce from Aliens Ate My Buick does not make it to here, nor Airhead - boo hoo hoo! The last two tracks I find awful from this otherwise talented and, especially at that time, innovative artist. One of Our Submarines is so haunting. I have yet to work out if this is in chronological order.
Published
When Barry Andrews left XTC in 1979 Thomas Dolby wanted to replace him on keyboards. It wasn't to be, but Andy Partridge can be heard on some of the early recordings on this set. Time hasn't been kind to most of the early stuff. Of the first 7 tracks only "Leipzig" and "Airwaves" are still listenable in 2005, the rest is boring 80s synth pop. Once we get to the selections from _The flat earth_ everything improves with the great "Screen kiss", "I scare myself" and "The flat earth". After that it goes downhill again for a while. The album ends strong again with "Cruel" (a wonderful duet with the Fairground attraction's Eddi Reader), the rocker "Close but no cigar" (featuring Eddie van Halen on guitar) and the closer "I love you goodbye", on which Dolby's piano sounds like Bruce Hornsby. All in all a fine overview of the career of an often overlooked talent.
Published
Some odd selections, but worth it for "Leipzig" and "Urges," the two excellent songs removed from the U.S. debut in favor of the then-current radio hit "She Blinded Me With Science" and "One of Our Submarines."
All four are here.
A decent collection, actually, since Dolby has a real knack for melody and is an excellent shaper of sounds, but each of Dolby's albums have their own distinct feel and style, and are all worth owning, especially _The Golden Age of Wireless_ and _Astronauts and Heretics_.
All four are here.
A decent collection, actually, since Dolby has a real knack for melody and is an excellent shaper of sounds, but each of Dolby's albums have their own distinct feel and style, and are all worth owning, especially _The Golden Age of Wireless_ and _Astronauts and Heretics_.
Published
As a huge Thomas Dolby fan, I was very disappointed in this career retrospective. Dolby, at his best, is a talented and mature songwriter with a strong sense of the absurd. Certainly, most of his work is fun to listen to, but this collection is decidedly drab. I sense that the folks at EMI were trying to repackage Dolby as a sober songwriter for the late 90s and almost completely ignore his work as a pop comedian. Sure, the big fun songs are here like "She Blinded Me with Science" and "Hyperactive", but even more are missing, like "Airhead", "Hotsauce" and "The Keys to Her Ferrari". On the other end of the spectrum, a lot of very obscure but more sober tunes like "Budapest By Blimp" and "Pulp Culture" are included. They even include three tracks from the almost ignored but brilliant _Astronauts and Heretics_ album, which is extremely obscure. If the label was going for a more mature angle, then where is "Dissedents"? Even more perplexing is the inclusion of two rare demos, "Leipzig" and "Urges". This collection can't figure out what it wants to be and tends to misrepresent Dolby's work, even to the extend of rewriting history. Dolby is a pop culture cannibal and the listener would never get that from his meagre and disappointing album.
Published
ADVERTISEMENT
Votes are used to help determine the most interesting content on RYM.
Vote up content that is on-topic, within the rules/guidelines, and will likely stay relevant long-term.
Vote down content which breaks the rules.
Vote up content that is on-topic, within the rules/guidelines, and will likely stay relevant long-term.
Vote down content which breaks the rules.
Catalog
15 Sep 2023
27 Jun 2023
28 Dec 2022
3 Nov 2022
15 Jan 2022
27 Apr 2021
8 Mar 2021
27 Jan 2021
17 Dec 2020
12 Mar 2020
14 Oct 2019
23 May 2019
11 May 2019
7 Apr 2019
8 Feb 2019
Contributions
Log in to submit a correction or upload art for this release
- Be respectful! All the community rules apply here.
- Keep your comments focused on the release. Don't post randomness/off-topic comments. Jokes are fine, but don't post tactless/inappropriate ones.
- Don't get in arguments with people here, or start long discussions. Use the boards for extended discussion.
- Don't use this space to complain about the average rating, chart position, genre voting, others' reviews or ratings, or errors on the page.
- Don't comment just to troll/provoke. Likewise, don't respond to trollish comments; just report them and ignore them.
- Any spoilers should be placed in spoiler tags as such: [spoiler](spoiler goes here)[/spoiler]
Note: Unlike reviews, comments are considered temporary and may be deleted/purged without notice.