 Saint Etienne The only album that this disc can be accurately compared to is Morrissey's Bona Drag, another great singles compilation that does a great job of presenting an artist's best side. In both cases, an argument is made for the artist being much more consistent and pop-friendly than they really are if you consider their entire output. In both cases that output has gotten a bit diffuse (Morrissey moreso than Saint Etienne), but these albums offer the "all killer no filler" approach. For fans of Saint Etienne, pretty much every release will be satisfying, and in fact this one may seem a bit beside the point, but for those that haven't followed the band, hearing this disc will likely be a tremendously eye-opening experience. I predict such people will be moved to exclaim: "What the hell?! Where has this group been doing all this marvelous stuff I've never heard before?! Where have I been?! Fetch me my pipe, bowl, and fiddler's three! My jesus, someone get me a candy bar!" In the context of the original albums, these tracks are standouts amid a lot of atmospheric noodling (which I love), and it's nice to have the singles assembled this way so that anyone who thought Saint Etienne was too spotty will be given something to cry about. Fourteen tracks, all good, ranging from the pre-Sarah Cracknell era ("Only Love Can Break Your Heart," vox by Moira Lambert, and the awesome "Kiss and Make Up," vox by Donna Savage) to the 1995 British hit "He's on the Phone" (a popped-up treatment of "Weekend (Acident a Rome)" from the Reserection EP by Saint Etienne Daho. In between there are early 90s club anthems like "Nothing Can Stop Us" and "Join Our Club" to more trancey offerings like "People Get Real" and "Avenue." My favorite stuff is the straight-ahead pop like the masterful "You're in a Bad Way" (still my favorite Etienne song, featuring some of Cracknell's best lyrics and most effectively cool delivery), the gut-wrenching ballad "Hobart Paving" and the dark, underrated "Like a Motorway." Listening to a lot of this stuff from ten years ago, you begin thinking that maybe Saint Etienne was just too far ahead of their time – a lot of the dance-pop that's become trendy of late (Lemon Jelly, Air, Cornelius) sounds less fresh when you compare it to old-school Etienne. Ironically, Etienne has moved on to a more sheeny disco sound that is probably just too confusing for the club kids of today. Although they've always been pretty successful in Britain, it seems like they've never really gotten their due, probably because it's impossible to peg them (the phony game-show band photos in the liner notes to the CD are a perfect example of the band's willful smarm). But ultimately, a decade on, they're still putting out great music long after the likes of Deee-Lite and Sunscreem have been relegated to the "early 90s" bins (by the way, I'd love to find a store that categorizes "early 90'" music separately. I'm DESPERATELY trying to complete my EMF collection) (That WAS a joke). Hearing "I Was Born on Christmas Day," a 1993 single from Tiger Bay, you see how groundbreaking this stuff actually was, in spite of its being so of-the-moment at the time – the arrangement is almost completely the same in Madonna's Ray of Light. This best-of hasn't been issued in the US, but it's well-worth picking up even if you have the albums on which all these songs appear (there are no songs exclusive to the disc, though a few mixes are different). It's the only disc that really demonstrates how kick-ass Saint Etienne are at their best, and makes the albums all the more enjoyable to go back to.
Review by Lightfoot Lemonbarre |