(Ministry Of Sound)

Suitably anthemic, minus some puzzling omissions

Depending on your perspective, this three-disc compilation is either perfectly-timed or hideously out-of-date. It’s timely because, as the success of La Roux demonstrates, unashamedly ‘80s-influenced electropop is no longer just the concern of niche indie dance producers; on the other hand, I think that had someone told Larry Tee in 2001 that in eight years’ time some reheated Yazoo stylings would be racing up the charts he might have pulled the plug on the whole electroclash caper. In any case, two questions arise: how does Anthems: Electronic 80s define an electronic ‘80s anthem, and are its selections the best of that delimited genre? Things initially look good for this compilation as it opens with Ultravox’s Vienna, a track that is an anthem, electronic, and bona fide ‘80s. There are some treats, like the full 12-inch version of Soft Cell’s Tainted Love, which segues into an excellent cover of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s Where Did Our Love Go. But things start to look poor once we hit Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart – hardly electronic (unless having keyboards is all that’s required), and not strictly ‘80s as it was a staple of Joy Division’s live sets in 1979. Worse is the inclusion of M/A/R/R/S’s execrable house track Pump Up The Volume, and the omission of anything by Depeche Mode. So, like the eighties themselves, Anthems: Electronic 80s is a mixed bag. While a concept as nebulous as a decade can’t exercise restraint and good taste, Ministry Of Sound can, and it’s a shame they didn’t.

**½

CHAD PARKHILL

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