Upstairs at Eric's
Artist: Yaz
Community Score: 4.75

Vince Clarke can claim involvement in two stunning debuts in only two years: Depeche Mode's Speak and Spell and Yaz's Upstairs at Eric's. While Speak and Spell is, by far, the more consistent record, Upstairs at Eric's is wholly more satisfying, beating the Depeche record on substance and ambition, and is light years ahead in emotion. "Don't Go"... Read More

Best of Yaz
Artist: Yaz
Community Score: 6.00

The Best of Yaz does an excellent job of summarizing the synth-pop duo's singles, containing such hits as "Only You," "Ode to Boy," "Nobody's Diary," "Midnight," "Don't Go," "Mr. Blue," "Tuesday," "Winter Kills," and "Goodbye Seventies," plus a couple of rarities -- the American 12" mix of "Situation" and Richard Stannard's 1999 remix of "Only... Read More

Out of the Blue
Artist: Donnie Iris & The Cruisers

Based on the quality of Donnie Iris' infectious power pop, he deserved to be a star, but things didn't quite work out that way. The Pennsylvania native (born Dominic Ierace) first hit it big with the Jaggerz's "The Rapper" in 1970 and another decade passed before Iris and his band the Cruisers signed with MCA Records and shot up the charts with... Read More

The Best of Split Enz
Artist: Split Enz

Chrysalis Records handled the band's non-Australia/New Zealand releases from 1976-1977 -- an extremely low point in terms of sales. Not surprisingly, Best of Split Enz focuses a little too heavily on this early period to truly give the casual listener a representative collection of the band's better-known period. The big A&M/new wave-era hits... Read More

Return to the Valley of the Go-Go's
Artist: The Go-Go's
Community Score: 10.00

Of all the various best-ofs and compilations that have come out over time that cover the Go-Go's career, this one is the clearest winner, by a long shot. Though by default it doesn't tell the full story, appearing as it did in 1994, in terms of containing both the famous hits and a slew of rarities and unreleased tracks, Return to the Valley of... Read More

1980-1984: Rear Enz
Artist: Split Enz

This Australian-only box set covers the period of the band's peak in popularity (1980-1984). Beginning with True Colours and ending with their swansong, See Ya Round, it shows the band in perfect pop form. While this is too ambitious for the casual fan, the devoted will find this essential for considerably improved sound and the bonus disc of... Read More

1973-1979: Oddz & Enz
Artist: Split Enz

This Australian-only box set covers the band's more experimental beginnings (1973-1979). From the light acoustic demos of Beginning of the Enz and the art-rock of Mental Notes, to the edgy-pop of Frenzy, the listener gets a strong sense of the band's pre-popularity evolution. With over an hour of non-LP tracks on the bonus disc and improved... Read More

Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings
Artist: The Police
Community Score: 7.00

Despite their legendary status, the Police only released five albums during their brief reign from 1978-1983. In addition, the trio had amassed a healthy amount of both studio and live B-sides, plus songs that only appeared on soundtracks. For the 1993 four-CD box set Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings, every single song the Police ever... Read More

You and Me Both
Artist: Yaz
Community Score: 4.75

Perhaps a more consistent collection overall than the first album, this one demonstrates that the duo was anything but played out. While both have gone on to successful careers, you can't help regretting that this is the end of Yaz. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide Read More