Search - Bangles :: Glitter Years: Rarities & Gems

Five Stars for the actual music

Hoffsteele | Long Island City, New York United States | 11/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love the Bangles, so i couldn't rate them less than 5 stars, the songs themselves are great, but the title is a little misleading.....



Glitter Years: Rarities and Gems has the following tracks:



Eternal Flame (single version)- Now this always bugs me....this is no different than the version we have on the album it originated from. So using the album title's designations, this must be a Gem.



Watching the Sky- Gem.



Walk Like an Egyptian(extended dance mix)-Now this is a rarity in this country, unless you are a major Bangles fan and own every import you've ever seen....(like me). In fact, I believe this may be the first CD release of this version of the song in this country.-Rarity.



Glitter Years-Gem.



Hero Takes a Fall(single version)- Yes, there was a different album version, so the designation is correct.....however, the original album version is now rarer than this mix which is on the Greatest Hits- Gem.



James- Gem.



What I Meant To Say(single version)- Um....yeah this was on a single, but it was a B-side that wasn't included on any album and didn't get a widespread CD release in the U.S. until 2004's "The Essential Bangles"-Rarity.



I Got Nothing- This one was from the LONG out-of-print Goonies soundtrack, while we did get this song on the previously mentioned "The Essential Bangles," this is the original mix of the song, which was inexplicably NOT on that disc, we got a remix of the other song that no one even knew existed. This version of this song hasn't been released on a CD in the U.S. since 1985/6, so....Rarity.



Everything I Wanted- Only released in 1990 on the "Bangles Greatest Hits", then left off of "Essential Bangles"- I guess if you don't have the 1990 release, then this = Rarity.



Some Dreams Come True- Gem.



Interesting to note that there are four potential "Rare" tracks on this disc, but if you have every US release from the band, including all the Greatest Hits collections, then you have all of these songs already. "The Essential Bangles" has two tracks that should have been included on this release, which are "Getting Out of Hand" and "I'm In Line." What would have REALLY been nice for this CD would have been the remaining four Bangles EP songs and the B-side to "Getting Out of Hand." This could have been a great companion to the Essential Bangles with a different track list. Even extended versions of Manic Monday, Hazy Shade of Winter, etc. would have been welcome.



So...I recommend this to those who just have to have EVERY Bangles CD(like me) or to a casual fan who doesn't own every Bangles album.



"

A quick way to get your hands on some rarities.

Somewhere in Texas | Planet Texas | 01/19/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For a cheap-o compilation I almost passed over, this is a easy way to pick up some hard to find and out of print Bangles rarities from their CBS days. The rest are tracks from "All Over The Place" and "Everything".



The single mix of "Hero Takes A Fall" adds some nasty slapback echo/delay to the lead vocal. I used to play the 45 as a college radio DJ and always thought it was annoying, and not an improvement over the LP version on "All Over The Place".



"What I Meant to Say" was the flipside of "Eternal Flame" and wound up the 45, the cassette single and on a super rare 3 inch mini CD here in the USA. I always liked it, to me it and "Everything I Wanted" could have easily replaced some of the weaker tracks on "Everything".



I will have to dig out my LP of the Goonies LP and compare the mixes of "I've Got Nothing", right now they sound very similar.



As for the Dance Mix of "Egyptian" its fun, but kind of boring for sit-down listening. I kind of wish Columbia would have dug up the dance mix of "In Your Room" and added it. Its not a bad comp, just try to get it cheap. I just wish Sony would have dug some more vault digging and made a nice comp of everything the Bangles didn't put on their 3 Columbia albums.



And I wish Sony or another company would get the rights to reissue all the early Bangles Faulty Products/IRS material! We need to have this stuff back on the shelves!

"

Rare, really?

B | NC | 01/22/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, I'll admit off the bat that I'm a collector of the Bangles material, and pretty much own everything one could want as far as music collectibles go.



So, when I heard this CD was coming out, I was very excited, because some of the songs in my collection came from scattered sources including CD's, vinyl, and a bit of swapping over the internet. I thought, maybe FINALLY, the rare tracks would be on one CD to provide a companion to the main releases.



Nope. What you get here are only a couple of items of interest, well documented in other reviews. But some of these, like the remixes, are really only novelties and for the hardcore collector only.



Far more important and interesting would have been inclusion of the songs from The Bangs single, before they had to change their name, and the songs from the Bangles EP, released prior to their first LP. These 6 songs added to the other few rarities on this album would really have made a GREAT collectible.



2 stars for content as we collectors go...this was a wasted opportunity."