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Smash The System : The Best of St. Etienne

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Smash The System : The Best of St. Etienne

~ Saint Etienne

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Price:	�12.69 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

Audio CD (17 Sep 2001)
Number of Discs: 2
Label: Columbia
ASIN: B00005NB0I
Other Editions: Audio CD

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 55,112 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Disc: 1
1. Only love can break your heart
2. Kiss and make up
3. Nothing can stop us now
4. Spring
5. Can't sleep
6. Filthy
7. Join our club
8. People get real
9. Paper
10. Avenue
See all 17 tracks on this disc
Disc: 2
1. Like a motorway
2. Cool kids of death
3. Process
4. He's on the phone
5. Angel
6. Shad Thames
7. Wood cabin
8. Sylvie
9. Lose that girl
10. Bad photographer
See all 17 tracks on this disc

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Smash the System is a 34-track best-of compilation following the UK trio's remarkable progression from suave masters of post-rave dub soul into protagonists of ironic pastiches of cheesy 60s pop. Producers Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs even acquired bouffants to match their retro fetish, and their twee-voiced singer Sarah Cracknell dressed as if she'd just stepped out of a mini for a David Bailey photo shoot. For a time they smartly blended guitar pop with the emerging dance scene but like other bands formed by music journalists (Gay Dad take note) they became too clever for their own good. Smash the System kicks off with "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", St Etienne's most accomplished piece of work. It was their debut cut, remixed by Andy Weatherall, and was instrumental in pioneering the indie-dance crossover genre that hugely benefited groups such as Primal Scream, the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays in the early 1990s. But St Etienne continued on a different curve, veering into quasi-comedic records such as "He's on the Phone" which pokes fun at Kylie Minogue's early career and the Sandie Shaw-like "The Bad Photographer". They later recaptured their early dancefloor swagger and had a top 10 hit ("Tell Me Why") in conjunction with Paul Van Dyk. Unfortunately this doesn't appear on this collection. Going through 10 years of their work you can see the dub and breakbeat influences diminish in direct proportion to the influx of silliness, which is probably why St Etienne are still regarded as one of pops great underachievers. The remix album Casino Classics probably does them better justice. --Jake Barnes

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

5.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb retrospective of 11 years of pure pop heaven..., 11 Oct 2001

By	ed.jones@gofaster.co.uk (York, England) - See all my reviews

Anyone with the slightest interest in pop music, or simply anyone with a soul, should get this double album quick sharp. A kaleidoscope of shiny pop nuggets - literally not a duff track in sight, and a far more fitting tribute to Sarah, Pete and Bob's work than "Too Young To Die".

All the best bits are here - bona fide ALL-TIME masterpieces (Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Like A Motorway, He's On The Phone....need I go on?) together with lesser known, but equally precious jewels (Mario's Cafe, Saturday, Wood Cabin).

The cover also looks like neopolitan ice-cream, which is reason alone to purchase.

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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The singles and more !, 20 Jul 2001

By	"jamiouse" - See all my reviews

Saint Etienne have always been one of those bands that have never really reached there true potential. They have the lyrics, the tunes, the melodies, the charming front women in the form of Miss Cracknell. But for some reason they've never had a number one, why ?

While the band are hard at work on the follow up to 2000's Sound Of Water they release this compilation. It's a kinda repackaged greatest hits, it has the singles ranging from Only Love Can Break Your Heart to Sylvie and The Bad Photographer. Saint Etienne are famous for there b sides, they are often the off cuts from there lastest album. With this package we get some of the best b sides and album tracks that should of been singles, like Spring and Angel. We also get some tracks that have previously only been on Japanese releases, Jack Lemmon and Shad Thames.

All in all this is a very valuable item of music, if you bought Too Young To Die you should still think about getting this. If you never bought Too Young To Die get this, you won't be disapointed !!

It's what Saint Etienne do best, beautiful music.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Feel Good!, 22 Sep 2004

By	Coucho (London, UK) - See all my reviews

Saint Etienne were a band that I heard bits of during the 90's but I only got round to buying one CD - So Tough, which was very good. This is an excellent compilation that I bought a few months back and it its still in the car now. Its best described as feel good pop. Its musically clever, interesting and catchy, whilst lyrically, clearly made by a band who aren't taking themselves too seriously. Nothing on here is too challenging, but that's not the point. It covers a wide range of styles - some songs have clearly never been near a real instrument - but its all kinda good. And like the other reviewer says, worth buying for the neopolitan ice cream cover alone!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Music to fall in love to.
St Etienne did not descend into silliness as the Amazon review seems to imply ;-). They merely found their groove in a gentle remaking of a 60's pop sound for the end of the... Read more

Published on 12 Jul 2004 by Paul

5.0 out of 5 stars Saint Etienne are Excellent and Superb!!
Wow, this group is absolutely fab!! Where do I start? Well, only heard of one of their songs, which was featured on The Classical Chillout Album 2, then I thought, this song is... Read more

Published on 6 Oct 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb-double collection...
I'd forgotten how good Saint Etienne were- like bands such as Cocteau Twins,Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys and Pulp- they were taken for granted in their pop-genius... Read more

Published on 6 Oct 2001 by Jason Parkes

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