The phrase at the top of the sleeve for
Pure 80's Love: The #1 Hits states, "18 Classic Love Songs From the Decade of Excess." With the existence of jokey compilations focusing on "mullet rock," who knows if UTV/Universal are being serious or ironic when they refer to these songs as classics? Regardless, this disc -- released just in time for Valentine's Day -- is based on romantic number one hits from the '80s. Most of the songs are ballads, including
Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time,"
Simply Red's "Holding Back the Years,"
Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is,"
Joe Cocker and
Jennifer Warnes' "Up Where We Belong," and
Lionel Richie's "Truly." The only song that doesn't exactly fit into the one-on-one scheme of things is
Christopher Cross' "Sailing," but it does fit right in from a musical standpoint. The stylistic range of the artists -- from adult contemporary to teen pop to hard rock to urban -- is quite broad, too. ~ Andy Kellman