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CLASSIX NOUVEAUX The Very Best Of

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I’ve never really liked reading reviews of ‘Best Of’ compilations. The reason for that is that shamefully often reviewers fail to pay attention to the fact that greatest hits compilations aren’t meant to be artistic, solid or even united wholes. Therefore some critics seem to feel that they’re entitled to slate these albums – it wouldn’t be very critic-like to appreciate them anyway, would it? I’ve always felt that if one runs any bands compilation down, one runs their whole career down at the same time. How would you feel if someone told you that all your greatest hits are only worth of two stars out of five? Now back to ‘The Very Best of Classix Nouveaux’. I think it’s great. (What else can I say really after this explosive demonstration?) This album is an excellent encapsulation of their brief career. What people usually remember of Classix Nouveaux, is the songs ‘Is It A Dream’ and ‘Guilty’, and the “Nosferatu-like bald guy”. Luckily, Classix Nouveaux was much more than that. They were not quite like the other New Romantics; their more guitar-heavy sound with their punk underground influences separated them from the mostly synthetic rhythms of the New Romantics. Still, their “stylish” fashion and danceable keyboards were easily adoptable. Classix Nouveaux could never really rise from their cult status and made only three albums – three smooth and high quality albums, as it seems. There’s basic pop songs (‘Guilty’, ‘Tokyo’, ‘Where to Go’) as well as dramatic and powerful synth rock songs (‘Inside Outside’, ‘Forever And A Day’). But what made Classix Nouveaux special, was their singer Sal Solo. His voice varies from a sudden low to extreme high, and from terrifyingly gloomy to happy bright. Not that many bands have as versatile a lead singer as Classix Nouveaux has. The songs are also very all-round: ‘Because You’re Young’ starts like the title song of some horror film and soon turns into a nice and uplifting pop song. Then there’s ‘No Other Way’, a song that could be taken straight from Miami Vice – it’s that sort of song that you would expect to hear in a scene where Don Johnson is just about the solve the crime, when all of a sudden, something dramatic happens. The most surprising songs come in the end: ‘The Robots Dance’, ‘Nasty Little Green Men’ and ‘Tokyo’ are precisely what their names augur – three totally and utterly adorable and funny songs that put you in a really good mood. But the nicest thing is that Classix Nouveaux still sounds fresh and exciting. ‘Is It A Dream’ and ‘Guilty’ work very well even today and the other songs are great too. Classix Nouveaux truly had a sense of drama and knew exactly how to use it too. ‘No Sympathy, No Violins’ is the perfect example of that: there is a dreary synthesizer, a catchy bass-line, throbbing background noises and Solo’s unique voice – it’s almost opera-like. And maybe that’s what Classix Nouveaux were; a New Romantic opera. After saying all this, I have to admit, it’s hard to describe their music, really – you just have to hear it yourself and make your own conclusions.

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