or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime free trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn more
More Buying Choices
Leisurezone Ltd Add to Cart
£7.79
soulsearchi... Add to Cart
£7.85
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Available to Download Now
 
Buy the MP3 album for £7.99
 
 
 
 
A Life of Surprises
 
See larger image
 

A Life of Surprises [CD]

Prefab Sprout Audio CD
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
Price: £3.69 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.
Only 3 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want guaranteed delivery by Friday, June 1? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
Buy the MP3 album for £7.99 at the Amazon MP3 Downloads store.

Jubilee Offer: Patriot Classics for £2.50

Jubilee CD for £2.50
Join in the celebration with Diamond Jubilee: A Classical Celebration, featuring rousing classics like "Land of Hope and Glory", available for just £2.50 on CD until Wednesday.

Shop now


Amazon's Prefab Sprout Store

Image of Prefab Sprout
Visit Amazon's Prefab Sprout Store
for all the music, discussions, and more.

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this with Our Town: The Greatest Hits £4.19

A Life of Surprises + Our Town: The Greatest Hits

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Product details

  • Audio CD (12 Jan 1998)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Sony Music CMG
  • ASIN: B0000245SK
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Mini-Disc  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,298 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. The King Of Rock 'N' Roll 4:23£0.89
Listen  2. When Love Breaks Down 4:08£0.89
Listen  3. The Sound Of Crying 4:44£0.89
Listen  4. Faron Young 3:47£0.89
Listen  5. Carnival 2000 3:22£0.69
Listen  6. Goodbye Lucille #1 4:27£0.69
Listen  7. I Remember That 4:15£0.69
Listen  8. Cruel 4:18£0.89
Listen  9. Cars And Girls 4:26£0.89
Listen10. We Let The Stars Go 3:34£0.89
Listen11. Life Of Surprises 4:04£0.89
Listen12. Appetite 3:56£0.69
Listen13. If You Don't Love Me 3:43£0.89
Listen14. Wild Horses 3:41£0.89
Listen15. Hey Manhattan! 4:46£0.59
Listen16. All The World Loves Lovers 3:51£0.69


Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Though each of their studio albums is worth seeking out, this "best of" collection is a neat shorthand way of experiencing the technologically perfect, intellectually stimulating pop music Paddy McAloon and his cronies from Newcastle, England created during the second half of the 1980s. Two tracks, "The Sound of Crying" and "If You Don't Love Me" are previously unreleased. Since they have had little chart success, the rest are somebody's idea of what makes a great Prefab Sprout song. "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" has a lilting bounce; "Wild Horses" benefits from producer Thomas Dolby's computer wizardry as sounds pop up and out of the mix instantaneously; "We Let the Stars Go" is McAloon at his most emotionally sincere. --Rob O'Connor

From Amazon.com

Though each of their studio albums is worth seeking out, this "best of" collection is a neat shorthand way of experiencing the technologically perfect, intellectually stimulating pop music Paddy McAloon and his cronies from Newcastle, England created during the second half of the 1980s. Two tracks, "The Sound of Crying" and "If You Don't Love Me" are previously unreleased. Since they have had little chart success, the rest are somebody's idea of what makes a great Prefab Sprout song. "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" has a lilting bounce; "Wild Horses" benefits from producer Thomas Dolby's computer wizardry as sounds pop up and out of the mix instantaneously; "We Let the Stars Go" is McAloon at his most emotionally sincere. --Rob O'Connor

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Reviews

3 star
0
2 star
0
1 star
0
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Alan Burridge TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Audio CD
In this factory I worked in from 1981 to 1993, there was a staff restaurant with the social club bar adjacent to it. After eating, people would play darts or pool, or just sit and relax and talk. And every weekday for 6 months or more, this young kid would walk in, stick a 50 pence piece in the jukebox and the first record he'd play would be Prefab Sprout's 'The King Of Rock 'n' Roll.'
With it's laughably nursery rhyme / clever but throw-away lyrics, the track gradually became embedded into everyone's psyche, and it wasn't a bad tune, really. Feet would start tapping, I noticed, and it seemed to cheer people up. So, when the factory closed down, I happened to bump into this CD somewhere, (maybe here?), and I bought it just for track one on this compilation.
The balance of tracks are OK, easy listening and pleasant and ideal to have on as background music after the bombast and quirkiness when 'The King Of Rock 'n' Roll' has ended, of course.
Paddy McAloon may be remembered by his fans for many of the other tracks on here, as they are decent pop songs from the era, but for me, 'The King Of Rock 'n' Roll' will always be their 'Stairway To Heaven,' so that has to be a fair old doff of the cap, hasn't it. A corker!
Was this review helpful to you?
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
This album comprises all the originality produced by Prefab Sprout over their long and successful career. Lyrics such as 'Hot dogs jumping frogs' remain, to this day, a great achievement in songwriting. This album also includes such greats as Hey Manhattan, Carnival 2000 and Ice Maiden. The variety is both exciting and inspiring.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
a must have 10 Oct 2000
By A Customer
Format:Mini-Disc
"A Life Of Surprises" is the greatest hits album by one of the most underrated British bands of the eighties. With a style that was somewhere in the middle of the styles of the Smiths and the Style Council, the band had a few medium sized hits, but never really got the credit that their true brilliance deserved. Generally the album has two halves the first half featuring the more upbeat tracks they released in the eighties and the second half featuring the more mellow, dark and moody tracks they have released in the nineties. Overall the album is spectacular and includes their two biggest hits from their brilliant 1988 album "From Langley Park To Memphis", namely "Cars And Girls" and "The King Of Rock And Roll". The other highlights on this album include the brilliant "Life Of Surprises", "When Love Breaks Down" and "All The World Loves Lovers". Overall it's an excellent album and is highly recommended.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject




i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges