A rather poorly assembled best-of from Martha and the Muffins' first three albums, released on DinDisc/Virgin. In fact, it's just the Metro Music release, with seven added tracks from Trance and Dance and This Is the Ice Age, and the latter is poorly represented, so it's not even a good overview of the band. The music is excellent, with tons of great songs and great memories ("Echo Beach" one of the finest singles released in the '80s), but it is the overall packaging that is particularly disturbing. The liner notes do not provide much information, and at times the notes appear almost insulting. With the exception of the odd but interesting "Insect Love" (previously only available on a single), there are no rarities or interesting oddities. With the wealth of material available to Virgin from the first three albums, this could have been a great, well-thought-out package. Martha and the Muffins deserve much better than this. Still, the music is top-notch, and fun to listen to once again.
© Aaron Badgley /TiVo