Search - 10cc :: 20th Century Masters: The Best Of 10cc

Wimpy Collection of a Great Band, but...

allismile0 | Washington, DC | 05/26/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The remastering on this cd is great. I have the re-issue/remasters of the great 10cc albums and these sound a bit more full and crisp. If you've never heard of this band, and you come across this collection for 5 bucks, definitely check it out...



Overall, 20th Century Masters collections always seems to be a let down- they seem to consistently leave of some important songs from any collection I've noticed they put out.

What they succeed in doing though, is promoting bands like 10cc in the same breath as more recognizable names as Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, or The Who for instance."

Kind of a needless collection, but still...

Dave | United States | 12/21/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"10cc were an incredible band who wrote loads of splendidly tuneful/ catchy songs, & with their elaborate production, they were highly innovative as well. Now, I really don't have any hard feelings in general about Universal's "20th Century Masters Collection", but still, this 2002 installment into the series is indeed somewhat needless & lacking. In addition to not including anything past 1978, this disc doesn't even include anything from their UK Records years/ first two albums, meaning that classics such as "The Dean And I" & "The Wall Street Shuffle" are missing--instead, the disc starts off around the time where the band hit it big stateside in 1975. I don't think it was wise to open this collection with "Life Is A Minestrone", which is repetitive & annoyingly pompous, even though I know it's supposed to be humorous. However, things turn around with "Channel Swimmer" which is a rather strange inclusion in the sense that it was not a hit A-side, but actually the b-side to the single for "I'm Not In Love". It's accurate to say that this disc basically covers the period when 10cc were at their most popular in the US--1975-1978--that said, if you're an extremely casual fan, you might be perfectly satisfied with this disc, but the thing is, you really owe it yourself to explore this superb band A LOT more thoroughly than this disc. Certainly there's no arguing with the inclusion of "I'm Not In Love", "Art For Art's Sake", "Good Morning Judge", "The Things We Do For Love", "Dreadlock Holiday", & "For You And I", but indeed they are all available on more thorough collections. This IS a quasi budget-line disc, so to be fair, it's certainly not a terrible introduction to this terrific band, plus also to this disc's credit, the sound quality is really excellent, the liner notes are respectable (even though they're not 100% accurate), & by all means THEY GOT ALL OF THE SONGWRITING CREDITS CORRECT!! Also, they included here the version of "Dreadlock Holiday" that's a tad longer than the album version (the "Ultimate Collection" release also doesn't feature this longer version). Still though, this is a painfully incomplete portrait of 10cc--you can get a MUCH better feel for their consistent & varied brilliance with the highly recommended 3 CD set, "Ultimate Collection"."

Please Tell Me Why this Was Necessary

Lonnie E. Holder | Columbus, Indiana, United States | 08/19/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Once "The Very Best of 10cc" was released in 1997, it was the collection to have. That collection included 15 tracks that spanned 10cc's career, ending with the Godley and Creme hit "Cry." So why would this CD be released, especially since the only thing it offers over the prior CD is "Channel Swimmer" and "Don't Hang Up?" Buy the CD "How Dare You" and "The Very Best of 10cc" and you will have three times the music you have on this CD for only twice the price. An unnecessary addition to the 10cc portfolio."