Album Description: Blondie defies definition. The legendary band is a little bit punk, a little bit reggae, a little bit rock, a little bit new wave, a little bit pop, a little bit hip-hop and a lot of downtown attitude. Already gold in Europe, Blondie: Greatest Hits--Sound & Vision was released March 7 by Capitol/EMI, one week before the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. The new CD/DVD package contains 20 audio tracks and 16 video clips, including the band's biggest hits and previously unreleased remixes. "Rapture Riders"--a mash-up of the band's "Rapture" with the Doors' "Riders on the Storm"--and its accompanying UK music video make their release debut on the new collection.
Blondie's influence on today's artists is undeniable. Debbie Harry and Blondie have been a major influence on superstars like Madonna, Garbage's Shirley Manson, and R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, among many others. They were one of the first groups to emerge from New York's new wave/punk renaissance with an album (1976's Blondie); the first to chart a #1 single, a revolutionaryblend of punk and disco ("Heart of Glass"); and the first to top the charts with both a rap song (1981's "Rapture") and a reggae tune ("The Tide Is High"). And now Blondie have added to their legacy by being selected for induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Sex Pistols, and Miles Davis, as one of two first-time nominees (Davis is the other).
"This is a tremendous honor for us," said the band's lead vocalist Deborah Harry, who is celebrating Blondie's 30th anniversary this year. "We're proud to take our place alongside some of our own idols."
CD/DVD with 20 audio tracks and 16 videos, including Blondie classics: "Heart of Glass," "Atomic," "Call Me," "Rapture," "Maria"; previously unreleased remixes of "In the Flesh" and "Good Boys"; and special bonus audio and video tracks: "Rapture Riders"--Blondie vs. the Doors (debut release of the new mash-up of the band's 1980 hit "Rapture" and the Doors' "Riders on the Storm").
DVD includes 13 music videos spanning 1977 to 1982, including groundbreaking conceptual clips for "Denis" and "The Tide Is High," as well as their most recent productions for "Maria" and "Good Boys," plus the new music video for the "Rapture Riders" mash-up.
Album Description: Featuring every classic track from their outstanding career, 'Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision' is a superlative CD & DVD collection of blondie's finest moments. The CD charts their astounding success from the mid 1970s through to the late 90s when they stormed back to the top spot with amazing comeback single 'Maria'. It also includes the bonus track, 'Rapture Riders', a mash-up of Blondie's 'Rapture' VS 'The Doors 'Riders On The Storm'. The DVD (PAL/RC-0) features the accompanying single video clips (in 5.1 surround sound), available together for the first time ever including the uk version of 'rapture riders' which is not featured on the uk release! released in the UK with the title 'Sight & Sound' - featuring a slightly different tracklisting.
Album Details: Featuring Every Classic Track from their Outstanding Career, 'greatest Hits: Sound and Vision' is a Superlative CD and Dvd Collection of Blondie's Finest Moments. The CD Charts their Astounding Success from the Mid 1970s Through to the Late 90s When They Stormed Back to the Top Spot with Amazing Comeback Single 'maria'. It also Includes the Bonus Track, 'rapture Riders', a Mash-up of Blondie's 'rapture' Vs 'the Doors 'riders on the Storm'. The Dvd (Pal/Rc-0) features the Accompanying Single Video Clips (In 5. 1 Surround Sound), Available Together for the First Time Ever Including the UK Version of 'rapture Riders' which is Not Featured on the UK Release! Released in the UK with the Title 'sight and Sound' - featuring a Slightly Different Tracklisting.
Disc 1:
Heart Of Glass
Sunday Girl
Atomic
Call Me
The Tide Is High
Rapture
Maria
In The Flesh Remix
Rip Her To Shreds
Denis
Picture This
Fade Away (And Radiate)
Hanging On The Telephone
One Way Or Another
Dreaming
Union City Blue
Island Of Lost Souls
Good Boys Blow-Up Mix
End To End
Rapture Riders Blondie vs. The Doors (Bonus Track-previously unreleased)
Good Collection, Though It Helped Me Learn I'm Not A Real Blondie Fan. I enjoy female vocalists and bands with female vocalists. I also liked other bands of the Blondie era like Berlin, Missing Persons, the Go Gos and the Bangles. I thought I liked Blondie, but the more I learned, the more I realized I didn't like them as much as the other bands.
Blondie fit the new wave movement. On one side, it was progressive, paving the road for the typical '80's sound. On the other side, it was nostalgic, borrowing from the '50's. Blondie captured both sides.
"Call Me" is one of my favorite songs, and I always enjoyed "Heart Of Glass". Other songs left me cold. Part of the problem was the 50ish sound of those songs, and part is the lyrics. (For example, while I love the sound of the verses and chorus of "Rapture", I despise the silly rap segment.)
There is a DVD, and that is good nostalgia, but they didn't do much for me. It was not as developed as most MTV videos.
Still rockin' with Blondie in my sixth decade I was quite impressed with this DVD/CD. I actually bought the album just for one song-Riders/Rapture. The young ones look and listen to Debbie Harry as their Grammy, but those of us who started with Bill Haley and the Comets find that she and Blondie "still" have it. The very fact that "Riders on the Storm" goes with "Rapture"s music is mind boggling. Blondie's tunes allow me to work at my computer even with intense work on my part. For a greatest hits album this is a great album even if the youngsters think it's not contemporary with the rap songs. Where I grew up we'd call Blondie a wicked, hot band. Thanks to the person who put the "Riders/Rapture" DVD on YouTube. I wouldn't have known nor stumbled on it.
Missing a few but a solid collection
This collection contains most of Blondie's best with a few exceptions, most notably, "X-Offender" and "I'm Always Touched by Your Presence, Dear." Hardcore fans have noted different versions here, but the casual fan will be satisfied with this set. Blondie has always been about style over substance, but definitely has influenced such artists as Madonna and Gwen Stefani. The range of music they cover from rap to reggae also demonstrates rock's amazing ability to encompass many different sounds and this demonstrates Blondie's impact on popular music. The DVD has a different effect. While the music has a timelessness that will hold up, the videos are like a time capsule showing how much this art form has changed and now ends up being a curiosity. For the most part they are lip sync performance clips with a few very dated effects. You'll watch it once and then forget about it.
Fantastic, but far from perfect... Blondie is my favorite band and I have all of their albums, so I was curious to compare this collection with their first hits collection, The Best of Blondie (1982), and their other Greatest Hits album from 2002.
Sound & Vision is much better than The Best of Blondie, with vastly improved sound quality and a bigger selection of songs. The only songs that The Best of Blondie contains that this collection does not are "(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear" and the original version of "In the Flesh"--the version of the latter on Sound & Vision is an awful remix with brand new vocals by Debbie Harry, and it sounds NOTHING like the original. Sound & Vision is certainly preferable to The Best of Blondie, though, no matter how you look at it.
However, when compared to the 2002 Greatest Hits CD, Sound & Vision doesn't fair quite as well, not taking into account the bonus DVD with music videos. Greatest Hits has nearly every song from this collection--it does NOT include "Good Boys" or "End To End" from The Curse of Blondie, released in 2004, nor the "Rapture Riders" mash-up, but makes up for it with the inclusion of "(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear" and "X Offender", two of Blondie's best songs. It also includes the original version of "In the Flesh" in lieu of the pointless remix. Those factors alone, along with the fact that Greatest Hits is quite a bit cheaper than this collection, make Greatest Hits worth getting instead of Sound & Vision.
So, how does Sound & Vision hold up on its own? It is a decent collection of Blondie's most popular songs, but they are mostly radio edits and not the full album versions. They even dared to chop off the openings of "Heart of Glass", Atomic" and "The Tide is High"! The remix included for "Good Boys" is decent, and much MUCH better than the remix for "In the Flesh", but the album version is still the best. The remastering is swell, but in some cases I prefer the remasters of the original album versions (for example, "Union City Blue").
If you're a diehard Blondie fan like me, you will want Sound & Vision for the bonus DVD, which includes some of Blondie's best music videos. These are not traditional music videos because they were all produced before MTV, but rather they are performance videos of the band lip-synching to the studio versions of the songs. My personal favorite of the videos is "Rapture", but "Heart of Glass", "Denis", "Hanging on the Telephone", "Dreaming" and "The Hardest Part" are favorites as well. The worst of them by far is "The Tide of High"--love the song, but the video is T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E.
Most casual listeners will not be concerned with the things I am nitpicking about here. But unless you must have the videos, you would be better off purchasing the 2002 Greatest Hits collection because of the cheaper price tag. Thankfully, I found this collection for $12 used, or else I would have bought Greatest Hits, too.
MUST HAVE If you are a Blondie fan, this is a MUST HAVE! It will definitely become one of your favorites. On a scale of 1-5 for this review, it is a 10!!!
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
