Singles collection...not greatest hits. - I think this is a great cd for introducing someone to the JAMC. The mary chain are all about noise covered pop songs and that rebel without a cause attitude. From the speaker killer of upside down to the epic and beautiful darklands, this is a very good album. It isn t a best of so there are plenty of equally awesome songs missing. If you like this, i suggest Psychocandy without a doubt. Some of the songs are on both but it is worth it for the ones that aren t. Also Darklands has some great songs on it. I played this cd for the past year or so, i think it was a good buy.
Really Legit - As a person who, for a long time, opposed any sort of Greatest Hits amalgamations, I was at first apprehensive to buy this disc. I always thought it was better to buy every single album by a band, and celebrate the great songs with the songs that perhaps weren t so great. Couple the fact that I didn t know much about this band (except for the songs Snake Driver, Just Like Honey, and Head On), with the fact that I was broke, this purchase seemed a bit more feasible than my original philosophy.Needless to say, I was completely blown away. Upside Down is by far one of the most original pieces of music I ve ever heard, given it was 1984. Intentional feedback, muffled and growling vocals, loud electronic drums, all made for one truly adrenaline inducing 2 minutes and 59 seconds. The next two tracks, Never Understand and You Trip Me Up echo this sensation.The Next two tracks Just Like Honey and Some Candy Talking, show a more melodic side of J&MC. In Just Like Honey, a really beautiful chord progression, and really ambient male and female vocals create a perfect combination. Same goes for the next track.The latter tracks on the disc cover the band s more professional sound, if you will. Better, cleaner production, and a full band, created a new face for the band. Far Out and Gone, features equal levels of drums and percussion, guitar, and vocals. It s a rather upbeat song, to say the least. Snake Driver is seemingly a regression back to simpler means. No fancy studio tricks, no back up percussion, just two or three chords, their trademark distortion/feedback, etc.Let s jump to the last track, I Love Rock N Roll. A very upbeat tune about loving Rock N Roll. The highlight is about 50 seconds in, a horn section kicks in in the background of a guitar solo. It was perfect. As far as the track listing, it too was perfect that this was the last track.This is by far one of the best CD s I ve bought in years. This sounds kind of corny, but this is a CD that branches out to different atmospheres. Parties, walking around, Day Driving, Night Driving, Early Morning Driving, etc. It s the perfect disc for any occasion. Get it today.
Highly addictive: like musical honey - In a league bordering The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, Joy Division and Velvet Underground, but without the success of any of them, Jesus & Mary Chain is one of those acts you can pride yourself to have found out about, whether through word of mouth or through their track Just Like Honey from the eclectic soundtrack to Lost in Translation.Jesus & Mary Chain pushes an addictive musical fluid into your system. This compilation of 21 of their best works until they disbanded in 1999 may go unnoticed under the radar the first time, but after a couple of times you will not be able to stop listening to it. With a sounds that evolves from what could be deemed as guitar noise, to the most perfect brit pop you could ever wish for, 21 Singles is bound to hook you and get you coming back for more musical honey .
Just a stunning collection of great songs - If someone were to rush up to me and hold a gun to my hand and insist that I recommend one and only one Jesus & Mary Chain album to someone completely unfamiliar with their music with the proviso that it be THE album that would bring that person the most enjoyment, I would be in a complete quandary (though why some insane person would be wielding a pistol in such a nutty undertaking I won t speculate about). On the one hand, PSYCHOCANDY is unquestionably their masterpiece, not merely a great album, but one of the great precursors of the emergence of alternative music in the nineties. Yeah, alternative went pop when Nirvana hit it big with NEVERMIND in 1991, but the Jesus & Mary Chain had already copped all the right attitudes and struck all the right chords with PSYCHOCANDY in 1985. With that album they go down with the Velvet Underground, Television, and Big Star as bands that wield an influence vastly in excess of their collective record sales. But as great as PSYCHOCANDY is, I m not sure that 21 SINGLES: 1984-1998 doesn t have better songs. The collection of singles pulls together not merely the very best songs off PSYCHOCANDY, but a host of great songs off other albums that either weren t as good or weren t very good at all, but nonetheless had a couple of great individual cuts. For instance, back when I was collecting Jesus & Mary Chain discs, I stopped with PSYCHOCANDY, DARKLANDS, and BARBED WIRE KISSES, two albums and an anthology. This means that I missed out on some really great cuts that are collected here. For instance, I was completely blown away by Head On the first second I heard it, but because I didn t get AUTOMATIC, it was completely new to me. Same thing is true of Blues from a Gun, the very scary Reverence, Sometimes Always (with guest lead vocal by Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star), and the wonderful pair of cuts from MUNKI, I Love Rock N Roll and I Hate Rock N Roll. These are just great songs, and they really make me regret that I stopped my collecting of their music when I did. So, I truly hope gun-toting maniacs stay away from me, but if saner, more everyday folk want who are unacquainted with one of the great bands of the eighties and nineties want to dive into their music, I would strongly recommend both PSYCHOCANDY and 21 SINGLES: 1984-1998. This music is as crucial as anything that arose during the period.
get barbed wire kisses too - Oh how I loved the JAMC. I bought all their albums and went to their shows and even bought their t-shirts and wore them enough so that they got all grayish. They rocked, yeah. This album reminded me that I still love them. And wherever they are, they probably still rock.This album made me wonder, though: why wasn t Some Candy Talking on my Psychocandy? Another odd thing: some of the song versions here are a little different from the originals. I don t think it s my imagination. Rollercoaster is tweaked somehow and Come On has extra bits. They sound good.People will say get Psychocandy and I agree. Of course their other albums are good too. But I especially like Barbed Wire Kisses...it s got some songs with sweet open vocals, as well as some harder trippy stuff. The Sound of Speed is good too, for that matter...Long live JAMC. May they come back and rescue us.