Bananarama - Greatest Hits Collection [Bonus Tracks] (CD)

All Music Guide

There is honestly no reason for this collection to exist. Released in 1999 as the first fruit of a revised distribution deal following the shuttering of the London label, this collection is exactly the same as the 1988 compilation The Greatest Hits Collection plus three pointless, uninteresting remixes of "Venus," "Preacher Man" and "Love in the First Degree," the last stretched out to a numbing nine and a half minutes. Everything else, from the track selection to the unimaginative sleeve art, is exactly the same as before. This isn't even the best starting point for the casual Bananarama fan, who would be much better served by 2002's The Very Best of Bananarama. Though the tracks range from guilty pleasure (the aforementioned remake of the Shocking Blue's "Venus") to sublime pop masterpiece ("Shy Boy," "Robert DeNiro's Waiting," "Cruel Summer"), they're all available on much better compilations.

- Stewart Mason, All Music Guide