Look Of Love: The Very Best Of Abc CD

UK compilation features nine of the eleven tracks on the closest domestic equivalent (the U.S. features 'Vanity Kills' (The Abigails Party Mix) (the standard version appears here & ' Theme From Mantrap ') but adds sevenadditional tracks, 'Night You Murdered Love', 'Peace & Tranquility', 'One Better World' (Edit), 'King Without A Crown', 'Ocean Blue', 'Real Thing' & 'Blame'. 17 tracks in all. 2001.

THE LOOK OF LOVE: THE VERY BEST OF ABC includes two new tracks.
ABC includes: Martin Fry, Mark White, Stephen Singleton, David Palmer.
Producers include: Trevor Horn, Martin Fry, Bernard Edwards, Garry Hughes, Mark White.
Recorded between 1981 and 2001.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
With a deeper and broader track listing than most ABC compilations, Look of Love: The Very Best of ABC more or less lives up to its name. Concentrating on the band's glory days, the album covers the highlights of ABC's first five albums, including de rigeur hits like the title track, "Poison Arrow," "When Smokey Sings," "Be Near Me," and "How to Be a Millionaire," as well as album tracks like "S.O.S.," "All of My Heart," and "The Night You Murdered Love." While some of the later inclusions, such as "The Real Thing," don't quite pack the punch of ABC's prime work, the 2001 track "Peace and Tranquility" fits in with the earlier material surprisingly well. Likewise, the somewhat random track listing might be somewhat annoying to anyone trying to track ABC's chronological development, but it does spotlight how consistent their brand of suave synth pop is. With a new song, a more diverse track listing, and no unnecessary remixes, Look of Love has a slight edge over Absolutely ABC: The Best of ABC as the group's definitive retrospective. ~ Heather Phares
LOOK OF LOVE: THE VERY BEST OF ABC skims off the tastiest cream by this early- 1980s synth-pop band. Drawing from old-school R&B, the New Romantic movement, and (for singer Martin Fry, in particular) the innovations of '70s glam crooners Bryan Ferry and David Bowie, ABC forged a stylish--and often danceable--brand of pop in which saxophones and synthesized drums peacefully co-existed. Lesser-known cuts like the exotica-tinged "S.O.S." and later work like 2001's mid-tempo groover "Peace and Tranquility" prove the ensemble remarkably consistent in sound and songwriting.
Of course, it is the group's chart hits that stand out here, and for good reason. The collection's title cut, and "Poison Arrow" (an early MTV video sensation) are near-perfect pop songs. Likewise, the lilting electro-ballad "Be Near Me," the Smokey Robinson homage "When Smokey Sings" (which appropriates the riff from "Tears of a Clown"), and the catchy bounce of "How to Be a Millionaire" push all the right pleasure buttons. A winner as both a hits collection and a comprehensive career overview, LOOK OF LOVE is the definitive ABC disc to own.