|
Library - Reviews
Reviews of The Best Of M People
[music365]
M PEOPLEThe Best of M People
(M People/BMG 74321 61387 2)
The best chart action from one of Manchester's most succesful dance acts.
M People may not look it, but along with New Order they're one of the last vestiges of Manchester's influential early '90s dance culture. With the closure of the Hacienda, the implosion of Black Grape and the failure of Deconstruction Records we're left with 3 guys and a girl with 10 Top Ten UK hits and a reputation as dance music's Marmite - loved and hated in equal measure.
With tracks such as 'Movin' On Up' and 'One Night In Heaven' they've come to represent house music's most accessible point of entry. But with mainstream acceptance comes underground resistance and M People are vilified by the clubbing fraternity. This schizophrenic reaction is further engendered by lead singer Heather Small's voice, an operatic foghorn that can stop oil tankers at a hundred feet and that's particularly imposing over the quasi-ballads 'How Can I Love You More' and that staple of unimaginative sports TV programming, 'Search For The Hero'.
This album demonstrates that, like UB40 and Puff Daddy, M People have turned a "difficult" music into a mainstream phenomenon - something for which they should be applauded. It's also probably why they're still around and most of their northern contemporaries (808 State, MC Tunes, MC Buzz B) are still on the shelf. ****
Jake Barnes
Reference: music365 (http://www.music365.co.uk/autocontent/review_000121.htm)
[Nöjestidningen Meny]
Även om jag alltid gillat just M People så känns inte denna samling speciellt spännande. Men okej, den är ju klart mer aktuell än till exempel 80-talsbandet Level 42:s "nya" samling. Här finns hur som helst massor av svängig snygg och slagkraftig popmusik. Problemet är väl egentligen bara att det mesta låter väldigt lika, oavsett åldern på materialet. Och det gör detta lite trist. Ska detta band ha en framtid måste det hända något drastiskt.
STEFAN LINDKVIST (1998-11-13)
Reference: Nöjestidningen Meny (http://nojestidningen.meny-meny.nerikes.se)
[Panorama Musikk]
Etter fire album har M People funnet ut at det er dags for en "best of plate". Bandet har
mye å by på, men det blir kanskje litt tidlig spør du meg. Men pengene rår vet du., og
det hersker ingen tvil om at en slik utgivelse er god butikk!
Anført av Heather Small og hennes særegne og flotte stemme, serveres det her
sytten spor som det nærmest er umulig å ikke like. Dette er nemlig kvalitetspop fra A -
Å. Dere har sikkert hørt drøssevis av platens utvalg på radioen de siste årene.
Bl.a. finner du Search For The Hero, Moving On Up, One Night In Heaven, Don't Look Any
Further, Testify, Just For You, Itchycoo Park samt en rekke andre M People-klassikere på
platen. Min personlige favoritt må bli Angel St.
Det har blitt standardvare med CD-spillere i bilene på dagens marked. The Best Of
M People vil også gli inn som standard i min bil. Det er noe med dramaturgien i låtene; tenker da først og
fremst på refrengene og rytmen som gjør dette til en god ingrediens på landeveien. Det ligger an til
en del "fingertromme-soloer" på rattet ja!
Kvartetten fra England har greid å selge millioner av plater, og det er ikke uten grunn. Deres
karismatiske popmusikk holder et høyt profesjonelt nivå. Salgbar og god musikk skal være enkelt,
fengende og nynnbart. Akkurat det har M People greid å få til. De gir seg forhåpentlig vis ikke
med dette. Her er det mange gode år og utgivelser igjen!
Thomas Andrésen,
Panorama Musikk © november 1998
Reference: Panorama Musikk (http://www.panorama.no/plater/anmeldelser/K-O/MPeopleBest.htm)
[Q Magazine December 1998]
Six million Brits aready own most of these songs. Now they've a chance to own them again.
From humble beginnings in Manchester clubs - the kind where white stilettos dominate the dancefloors - to award-winning hitmakers, M People's ascent into chart ubiquity cannot fail to impress and they remain unparalleled when it comes to happy house, creating songs like Moving on Up, Renaissance and the marvallous One Night in Heaven, which sound like a thousand people all smiling at the same time. *** Nick Duerden
Reference: Q Magazine (http://www.tsef.com)
[Undercover]
M People - The Best Of M People
The Undercover Review
Although M People's fame factor diminished greatly by their last album, they have still managed to clock up an impressive number of hits over the course of their catalogue. The trouble with their last album was that they veered too far from their formula. However, their first few releases were standard UK pop.
Moving On Up will most likely go down as their staple song. All the other major chart hits are here including Search For The Hero, Sight For Sore Eyes, Open Your Heart and the cover of the Small Faces hit Itchycoo Park. Another cover, a soulful version of The Doobies What A Fool Believes is also included here for good measure.
Australian fans receive a bonus collectors disc with the inclusion of a live enhanced CD with the limited first edition.
Reference: Undercover (http://www.undercover.net.au/urmpeople.html)
|
