I take it snowbiardng and I don’t have to worry about my other iPod getting fudged up.

A lot fo people criticize the controls on the heaphones, but, i appluad APPLE for trying something new. It really does seem to make the shuffle that much smaller with no controls.
Rating: 5 / 5

Later it hurt since the music scene had essentially bypassed their relative sound by the time Raise The Pressure finally surfaced. Extensive research will show this album took years, not months, to write and complete as Karl Bartos, from Kraftwerk fame, slid into England as early as 1993 as this album’s equivalent of a Pet Shop Boys influence. Production possibly slowed or stalled since the release didn’t come out until three years later. Rumors abounded that Barney wrote the lyrics while under the influence of Prozac. I don’t know of any truth to this or if it would make a creative difference. The album still sounds like an amalgamation of opposites in opposition – a lot of good ideas running into silly ones and back again. By release date, any possible grip or influence on the charts for this album has already vanished.

I love their music but seldom play any in the company of others, especially the RTP album. Twisted Tenderness could have been great, and the initial eponymous Electronic album was, is, and shall remain. I still have the lot, and can’t figure why I would keep this stash. I have no interest in eBay auctions, sharing collections, and seldom listen to any of it.

Most of their more dynamic, best known material is here on this CD, but I’d personally choose a different song mix, selection, but that is personal squabble, not public bicker. For those unfamiliar or needing a reminder, this Best of collection is an excellent disc to get with the additional, and possibly unheard B-sides. Although I still lament that…..

Things in life never happen as you wish or expect. Electronic had a window in time once to be tremendous. Perhaps they were too busy enjoying the fruits and plenitude from their other endeavors to be bothered writing much music. Perhaps their lives were too rich. Most great music comes out of the darkness of need, the poverty of little, the excess of desire, and the naivety of it all. Perhaps they were living so large, essence, inspiration, ideas, and a sustained sustenance shunned them like a rare disease.

The bands they influenced have gone on to do this type of thing better, and the concept of this CD seems odd in it’s timing. It’s not like the market is clamoring for old Electronic material. This album smacks of certain commercialism the band once fought hard to keep at a distance. As the world spins further into a fuzzy madness I think the songs Time Will Time or Flicker (off their latter 2 albums respectively) could soundtrack this moment and confirm finality. It’s more akin to an obit or epitaph of a band. They were good, often sublime, and occasionally great. When inspiration struck, Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr could write the perfect pop song. I know they could have been so much more. Ashes to dust, there’s nothing more to get away with.
Rating: 5 / 5