Review by Ned Raggett
Supplanting the earlier Kaleidoscope World as a singles overview of the band, from early days to cuts from Soft Bomb, Heavenly is a great starting point for any Chills newcomer. The opening three songs alone make this a winner -- the title track, a shimmering pop gem, "I Love My Leather Jacket," a poppy Velvet Underground/Krautrockin' salute to deceased drummer Martyn Bull, and "Doledrums," a perverse celebration of collecting unemployment and killing time with a neat clock-chime opening. From there on in its one great highlight after another, sprightliness and beauty tinged with melancholy and gloom in equal amounts, not to mention the quick, brisk surge that colored so many of their tracks ("Oncoming Day," "Never Never Go" and the charging "Look For the Good in Others," presented in a remixed form). "Pink Frost," probably the band's most famous number, is unsurprisingly featured, but that's merely the tip of the iceberg, especially when it comes to the earlier songs like "Kaleidoscope World" itself and "Rolling Moon." Concluding with later winners like "Part Past Part Fiction" and "Male Monster From the Id," Heavenly Pop Hits is, indeed, just that.
|
