"These remixes of great 1980s New Wave classics are disappointing. Unlike the Retroactive: Rare and Mixed series by the same publisher, these remixes are not 1980s remixes of 1980s songs, but are rather modern remixes of these old songs. Thus, you are not really getting a collection of 80s tunes but a collection of trance/house music loosely based on these great old numbers. Just not my cup of tea.
If you love 80s music and are looking for some rare tracks that bring you to back to the old days, this disc is probably not for you. Choose any of the great Retroactive: Rare and Remixed discs instead.
If you like the newer sound but also have some respect for music history, maybe this is up your alley."
Remixed, more like butchered!
B. D. Smyth | 11/21/2006
(1 out of 5 stars)
"As someone who enjoys remixs, generally I find the more enjoyable than the original, this is one set of albums that totally and utterly fails to deliver. It is not only amaturish, but painfully disappointing, more so since I had to pay to find that out. It is in short a total and utter waste of money and the people who produced it should be forced to appologise for delivering this rubbish to an unsuspecting public. Tracks are not remixed as much as butchered, cut, sliced, stired and stappled back together by someone who is undoubtably hearing impared. Avoid this like the plague, and if you do decide to ignore this advice then let me be the first to say .... I told you so. Utter and total botch job, and yes the same goes for the 2nd album in this collection, it actually gets worse, and trust me thats really saying something!!!!"
Worth the Price for 'Nova Heart' Alone
Anonymous | USA | 08/11/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I'm a big CD-single collector, and have many CDs from 'alternative' / 'new wave' bands.
However, I had never heard this 'Nova Heart' song before, and this Redanka mix is EXCELLENT.
After buying this CD, I went and bought the original Spoons CD, to hear the original version. It was a pretty good song originally, but this Redanka mix really takes the song to the next level.
If you collect rare music, you know that some CD-singles can cost 10 to 20 times the price of this CD, so buying a CD for one track isn't really that outlandish.
The other mixes on the disc are forgettable, in my opinion.
Buy it for Nova Heart Redanka mix, it's an excellent track."
W.T.F!!!!
M. Anaya | Antioch, Ca. USA | 09/10/2008
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I just received my copy of this Cd today, I pop it in, I start listening to it, I skip to the next song, (yeah I already have it), I get to the third song and Yaz is still playing on track three! I forward the Cd the song ends, small gap and then the third song begins. Again W.T.F.!!! This goes on with the remaining songs. Am I the only one who got a bunk Cd??"
Only 2 outstanding mixes
bdao | Richardson, TX United States | 08/20/2007
(1 out of 5 stars)
"i mainly bought this cd for spoons 'nova heart' (redanka mix) b/c i couldn't find it anywhere else. i have oh l'amour (matt darey) on vinyl, so bascially, those are the only 2 tracks that makes the cd worth even considering. the rest of the songs are just as mentioned by other reviewers MODERN MIXES OF RETRO SONGS. to me, they were too heavy with emphasis on club beats and not the subtle-but-cool remixes that retro songs are known for. nothing can ever top the coliseum mix of 'the promise' and if you want a better mix of 'shout' you MUST check out the jakatta mix. overall, this cd was a HUGE disappointment considering that the other retro active cds have a solid tracklist. if you're considering collecting all retro active cds, i think you can DEFINITELY live without this one."