Search - Icehouse :: Great Southern Land

Original recordings

Mr. Terrence H. Kemp | Perth, Western Australia Australia | 03/26/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A wonderful introduction to Iva's world. Each song is wonderfully written and recordrd and, unlike another review points out...these are the original versions and NOT re-recorded.
There are NO Man Of Colours tracks as Iva felt they were too new at the time and deserved to be heard as a set and not broken up for inclusion on a greatest hits package.Any Icehouse purchase is worth it."

Down Underated

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 09/25/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When Icehouse began showing signs of American commercial breakout, "Great Southern Land" appeared. Originally released in 1989, it collected 10 songs from Icehouse's hefty catalog and added one new cut ("Touch The Fire"). It's interesting to hear how the band went from being a rather basic 80's synthpop band ("We Can Get Together") to Iva Davies' solo collective ala Roxy Music or Steely Dan ("Hey Little Girl"). Davies' greeting card to his home continent, "Great Southern Land," is also much more interesting than the corny "Down Under."



The import version of "Great Southern Land" sports more cuts than the out of print US CD, and also replaces the overdrawn remix of "No Promises" with the album version, to the song's benefit. Fans of 80's music like Roxy, Fixx and Ultravoxx would do well to seek this CD out."

Great collection of Icehouse's early songs for overseas fans

H. Jin | Melbourne, Australia | 01/10/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First things first: this is NOT a proper Greatest Hits collection from Icehouse. Instead, it's like their version of the Chili Peppers' 'What Hits?': a compilation of the band's early songs released in the wake of their overseas success. Note that nothing from the landmark 'Man Of Colours' appears here, the focus is squarely on Icehouse's past, although there are two new songs.



What 'Great Sothern Land' demonstrates is that the pop perfection of 'Man Of Colours' was no fluke. Icehouse and Iva Davies had a great pop sensibility right from the outset. Their debut album spun off synthpop classics such as 'We Can Get Together', 'Can't Help Myself', 'Walls' and 'Sister'. Other highlights include the emotional slow-burn of 'Don't Believe Anymore', the sly 'Hey Little Girl' and the anthemic title track. New track 'Touch The Fire' is a strong song as well.



Since Icehouse's commercial success petered out in the 90's, and some of their early albums might be difficult for international listeners to get hold of, this collection plus 'Man Of Colours' are the essential purchases for overseas fans. Highly recommended....although Australian fans are probably better off starting with their debut album.



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