Hot Potatoes : The Best of Devo

This is slightly disappointing. The songs from the first album are terif, "Jocko Homo" and "Mongoloid" with their herky-jerky beats, atonal vocals and minimalist arrangement. In their second and third albums, the sound becomes a bit more refined and not at all that different from other New Wave stuff out there. Still, their covers of "Satisfaction" and "Secret Agent Man" are excellent, and sheds some new light on the actual meaning of the lyrics. The last few songs "Beautiful World" and "Big Mess" are fine, though, but the remix of "Whip It" is a throwaway dance number. Oh and is that Geddy Lee's vocals on "Gates of Steel"?

The Specials : Singles

Another childhood favourite. But this comp is not all that good, the debut's singles are too similar sounding and "Nite Klub" is a pretty dire ska workout. The songs from "More Specials" are also not really convincing forays into psyche, reggae and funk. "Ghost Town" is tops, though, being eerie and melancholic. In any event, it makes me want to check out the rest of the 2-tone roster, such as Selecter, Bad Manners and The English Beat. The icing on the cake here are the Special AKA (a later line-up of the same group) tracks, such as the phenomenal Township Jive "Nelson Mandela" and the loungey novelty "(What I Like Most About You is Your) Girlfriend". One more thing - the PC lyrics are grating, and songs such as "Racist Friend" incurs inverse racism, with images of pakois beating up skinheads.