The requisite greatest-hits package that includes not one, but two versions of the title track (including "Send Me an Angel '89," the dance mix re-release that relaunched the band). But to call this the "Best of Real Life" is to completely miss the point of this underrated band. For starters, their best song, "Catch Me I'm Falling" appears only in its "single remix" with that annoying vocoder. And yes, there are "No Shame" and "Babies," but no "Heartland" or "Cathedral." Presumably for contractual reasons, there's also ...
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The requisite greatest-hits package that includes not one, but two versions of the title track (including "Send Me an Angel '89," the dance mix re-release that relaunched the band). But to call this the "Best of Real Life" is to completely miss the point of this underrated band. For starters, their best song, "Catch Me I'm Falling" appears only in its "single remix" with that annoying vocoder. And yes, there are "No Shame" and "Babies," but no "Heartland" or "Cathedral." Presumably for contractual reasons, there's also nothing off of Lifetime. Don't let the title deceive you -- this is more of a rehash of Send Me an Angel the album than it is the "Best of Real Life." The fact that most of their best songs off of "Heartland" and "Flame" are missing and that their best track is only available in its butchered form -- but that there are no less than two versions of the title track -- shows that this was assembled not by fans, but by the same soulless music "geniuses" who relegated the band to a "one-hit wonder" in the first place. Do yourself a favor -- find Heartland, Flame, and Down Comes the Hammer and experience the true best-of Real Life. (A humorous aside: in a 1998 tour, Sterry actually managed to do a mash-up of "Send Me an Angel" and "Stairway to Heaven" that served to ironically point out the ubiquitousness and burdens of both songs to their respective bands.) ~ Tomas Mureika, Rovi
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