Compilation Album Review: "1990 All The Rage"

Compilation: 1990 All The Rage
Released: 1990 – EMI
Number of tracks: 15
Number one singles: None
Top ten singles: 3
Best track: "The Power" by Snap!
Hidden gem: "Got To Get" by Leila K with Rob N' Raz (although I'd heard bits of it on the Megabass album, I hadn't heard the song in full)

Here's a compilation I have no recollection of when it came out – it sure wasn't an attention-grabber with its minimalist artwork and only three top ten singles on it. It's not bad though – there's a fair bit of stuff that's worth a repeat listen, notably Snap!'s barnstorming first single which put a new slant on dance music and proved themselves serious contenders in their genre, mostly down to the rapping talents of one Durron Maurice "Turbo B" Butler.

The highest-charting single on here is left till second-last, but it's a good'un. "Heart In Danger" by Southern Sons was a song that didn't grown on me till decades later, and it holds up well. Speaking of Oz Rok™, we have 1927. I actually think "Tell Me A Story", the lead single from their second album, is a better song than their biggest hit "If I Could" which somehow epitomizes late '80s pop-rock. And guess what, it is. It only charted at number 17 and the album's follow-up singles pretty much sank without trace, so this really is an under-appreciated song.

The rest of the stuff on here didn't really trouble the upper reaches of the charts, but who cares? You've got Black Box's third single "Everybody Everybody" which didn't do as well as their first two, and Electronic's "Getting Away With It" which only got to number 40 despite featuring that dude from Pet Shop Boys and possibly some dude from New Order. It pretty much sounds like a Pet Shop Boys single and they seemed to do well on the Australian charts, so what gives?

The aforementioned Leila K (pre-drugs) actually serves up a good house number and there's also The Chimes doing a U2 cover which ain't bad. The opening song "Show No Mercy" by Mark Williams is also pretty good – it got to number 8, one place higher than in his native New Zealand.

If you have good memories of the music of early 1990 – and I do – then you could do worse than giving this a spin.

Rating: 6/10