The Greatest Hits - Happy Mondays

Pills and alcohol were always going to mean that the Happy Mondays had a limited career and who would have thought that the manic dancing of Bez and years of chemical abuse would set him up just right to win Celebrity Big Brother, just goes to show that you never can tell. This Greatest Hits album is the only one that I own of The Happy Mondays bought after seeing them perform on the festival circuit and a memory of some good danceable anthems ringing in my head the actual album was slightly disappointing as to be honest they never really produced enough material to make a Greatest Hits album and there is a huge gap on this album between the good stuff and the ...  Read the complete review

So bawled Shaun Ryder at me and several thousand others at the GMEX or some other gaff many moons ago. Bez was flying about on the stage in his usual dysfunctional style. The crowd was really up for it, and hey these boys were only the warm up for the main event (New Order). To be honest I have always followed them with interest, and if I was asked to sum them up in one (albeit hyphenated) word it would have to be "self-destruct". An unreal talent, created by the madness in their collective heads and also detroyed by that exact same passion... The album - well I am glad to have it in my collection, it sums up so much, along with the Roses, the ...  Read the complete review

This 1999 compilation may just be a poorly disguised cash-in for the manic Manchester lads and there are plenty of turkeys in the pile, but the gems are there and serve as a reminder of just how brilliant the flawed genius of Shaun Ryder is. For most people 'Step On' is the track they most associate with The Mondays (memorable video with Shaun climbing over a giant 'E sign') but the outrageous 'Kinky Afro', the phat grooves of '24 hour party people' and the downright sexy 'Judge Fudge' makes you want to dig out the bell-bottoms and floppy caps and re-live the halcyon days of the early 90s all over again. There is garbage too - ...  Read the complete review