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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The many faces of Pop, 24 Mar 2004
For some reason known only to the record company, the tracks on this compilation are not in chronological order. The album thus opens with 1979s synth-rock track Atomic and then moves back one year for the equally electronic but far more catchy Heart Of Glass, the pop and dance classic. Track 3, Sunday Girl, also comes from the excellent Parallel Lines album, whilst Call Me (theme from American Gigolo) is another electronic dance track that has not aged well because it lacks a good tune. Next comes The Tide Is High, a lilting reggae number from 1980s Autoamerican. Denis takes us back to the brilliant 1977 album Plastic Letters, whilst Dreaming and Union City Blue come from 1980s less than inspiring Eat To The Beat album that also contains Atomic. Plastic Letters and Parallel lines remain Blondie’s best ever single albums, as demonstrated by the beautiful ballad I’m Always Touched (By Your Presence Dear), the snappy pop song Picture This and the dreamy, experimental Fade Away And Radiate. X Offender and Rip Her To Shreds from their 1976 debut show the raw punk promise that was to develop into their delicious take on pop in the aforementioned Plastic Letters and Parallel Lines. Atomic concludes with two interesting remixes of the title track. Blondie made original and intelligent pop music that encompassed hypnotic synthesizer textures (Call Me, Atomic, Heart Of Glass), melodic ballads (Denis, Presence Dear), rap (Rapture), reggae (The Tide Is High) and punk rock (X Offender, Rip Her To Shreds). This is a great compilation album, like The Complete Picture (20 tracks) or Greatest Hits (19 tracks), and it is difficult to choose between them.
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