The Rich Kids - Best Of (CD)

All Music Guide

History has taught that the Sex Pistols didn't do themselves many favors by sacking bassist Glen Matlock in favor of public spectacle and heroin poster boy Sid Vicious, especially since it soon became obvious that without Matlock, the Pistols didn't have an especially strong songwriter onboard (or a bassist with a working command of his instrument). However, left to his own devices, Matlock wasn't in much better shape; after leaving the Pistols, Matlock formed the Rich Kids, and while he brought his knack for a hook with him, his new band wasn't nearly as exciting (admittedly a tall order). Featuring former Silk kid and future Ultravox frontman Midge Ure on vocals, drummer Rusty Egan (whose future resumé would include stints in Visage and Thin Lizzy), and guitarist Steve New along with Matlock, the Rich Kids had chops and enthusiasm, but a rather lopsided sense of direction, wavering between punk and glam without ever landing comfortably in either, and while the band managed a few stray tracks that worked -- most notably their self-titled debut single and the title cut from their sole album, Ghosts of Princes in Towers -- most of their output was goopy and overdone (Mick Ronson's production on the album didn't help one bit), with Ure's highly theatrical vocal style more than a bit irritating in large doses. Best of the Rich Kids collects practically everything you could want from this band -- it features the Ghosts of Princes in Towers album in its entirety (and in sequence), along with a dozen single tracks, live cuts, and unreleased tunes, which means you get the handful of career highlights along with everything else that cluttered up this group's catalog, all in cleanly remastered form. If you want a Rich Kids CD, Best of the Rich Kids is doubtless the one to get, but it's an open question how often you'll ever bother to listen to the disc all the way through after cherry-picking the three or four obvious gems and putting them on your homemade "punk also-rans" compilation.

- Mark Deming, All Music Guide