Search - Chris De Burgh :: Best Moves

De Burgh's early career

CGC | Los Angeles, CA USA | 01/22/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Of all the "Best Of" compilations released by Chris De Burgh over the years, this is the only one that does justice to Chris De Burgh's early career, when he presented himself as more of a storytelling bard than an adult contemporary pop star. No accident of course, since this compilation was released in 1981, before the successes of songs like "Don't Pay the Ferryman" (from De Burgh's brief period as more of a straight-up rocker), "The Lady in Red," (his soft-rock smash) and "Missing You" (more soft rock).In the 1970s, however, De Burgh favored acoustic and orchestral arrangements, and his songs would often evoke pastoral imagery and/or period moods, with some religious-themed supernatural elements thrown in for good measure. The best known songs from this period are "Spanish Train," "In a Country Churchyard," "The Traveller," the Christmas-themed "A Spaceman Came Travelling," and the jokey "Patricia the Stripper."To properly represent this period, any compilation of this period must include "Crusader" (an epic but grossly historically inaccurate art-rock suite). The song is nine minutes long, however, and its inclusion takes up a lot of room on an LP-length collection, which is limited to 40 or 45 minutes. Throw in two new songs (one of which, "Waiting for the Hurricane," fails to leave any impression whatsoever), and that means that a lot of excellent material was crowded out. A perfect collection would have included "The Tower" from "Spanish Train," "Sailor" from "Eastern Wind," and "Carry On" and "The Girl with April in Her Eyes" from "Crusader."But, even without those songs, this is still an excellent collection, with the added bonus of a live version of "Broken Wings" that is slightly superior to the studio version. A delightful listen for fans of this kind of music, and the only option for anyone wanting material from De Burgh's early career, but not wanting to spend a fortune on five expensive import discs."

A solid hits album.

M. Zemel | Westchester, NY | 07/26/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, so if you know anything about Chris de Burgh, you know all the words to "Spanish Train", and you can bawdy down with a boa and a high-volume version of "Patricia the Stripper" when you've had enough to drink. Maybe you even played "In a Country Churchyard" at your wedding. If you already are, or applying to be, a CDB fan, then this album is a must for you. It's got enough to get you moving in the right direction, at least, since there are so many to collect if you are a die-hard. Buy this and turn it up in the car -- at least the cop who pulls you over for speeding to "Spanish Train" will be impressed."