Search - Men Without Hats :: MEN without HATS Collection

You can dance if you want to?

Si Wooldridge | Chippenham, Wiltshire England | 04/24/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ivan and the crew burst onto the music scene from Canada with the Safety Dance. In the UK we heard the 3 minute version, while the US heard the 12" version as the norm. The former is definitely the more fun and bouncy (and shorter) version although the latter is very good as well. Both are gathered here on this collection of songs from the group. While in the US MWH had sporadic hits, the UK missed out with only Safety Dance hitting the charts. The problem in the UK seemed to be the release of the english/french speaking I Got The Message, which in one music mag was slated by Heaven 17 (ironically MWH were previously called this until the UK group got to keep the name). There were better songs on the first album to follow up with, but alas hindsight is a wonderful gift...The 11 songs collected here (plus 3 12" versions) are gathered from the Folk Of The 80's EP, and the albums Rhythm Of Youth, Folk Of The 80's Pt III, Pop Goes The World and Adventures Of Men And Women In The 21st Century. The only letdown on this collection is the dreary Hey Men which is a very PC song about being in touch with your feminine side. All the rest have the bouncy keyboard and guitar sound that Men Without Hats were well-known for at their peak.Particular favs of mine are Where Do The Boys Go?, Moonbeam and a particularly snazzy version of Roxy Musics Editions of You (Ivan gives a pretty good imitation of Bryan Ferry on this track too...). Anyone who wants to know what good 80's electronic music sounds like should add this to his or her hitlist. I Got The Message, do you want to hear it?"

Good, but incomplete.

Si Wooldridge | 02/22/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album has several great tracks from their previous albums, but Collection barely skims the surface. I'd recommend spending the bucks on the available full-album imports through Amazon, or get the double-cd of Rhythm of Youth/Folk of the 80's(Part III) at Canada's 'Cheap Thrills' online record store."

Good Party Tunes, Mindless Dance Music?

J. McAndrew | USA | 01/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wild party music, Oh memories of the early 1980's....this was an interesting group to listen to. The title track and "Messiahs Die Young" are the best songs.

The music remains fresh and fun even 20 years later. :)



Like the group The Godz, this group is not to be taken too seriously."