Track Listing

1. Come Home
2. Sit Down
3. She's A Star
4. Laid
5. Waltzing Along
6. Say Something
7. Born Of Frustration
8. Tomorrow
9. Destiny Calling
10. Out To Get You
11. Runaground
12. Lose Control
13. Sometimes
14. How Was It For You?
15. Seven
16. Sound
17. Ring The Bells
18. Hymn From A Village

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #865 in Music
• Released on: 1999-06-18
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds
• Running time: 71 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Riding on the powerful wave of Manchester's early 1990's musical renaissance, James' intellectual and improvised approach complemented a dance heavy scene and catapulted the seven-piece in to the limelight. "Come Home" and "Sit Down"--James' most lucrative singles--commence this 18 song Best Of collection. Elsewhere, the equally commercial "She's A Star" from 1997 and 1998's satirical "Destiny Calling" prove that James have consistently carved out new territory for themselves and their listeners. Gradually drawing away from the brittle bones of their 1980s incarnation as a provocative but marginalised indie four-piece--as evinced on 1995's "Hymn From A Village"--1991 saw a strengthened James refining their musical designs to the point of subtle perfection on the epic "Sound". Writers of pop songs, devotees of producer Brian Eno's spirit of adventure--and occasionally unwitting victims of singer and lyricist's Tim Booth's sanctimonious and heavy-handed manner--James are a true enigma. Their Best Of is an island of musical intrigue and possibility. --James Littlewood

CD Description
JAMES: THE BEST OF is an excellent sampling of the late output of the band that was almost too happy for Manchester. Culled mostly from James's albums from the 1990s, the 18 songshere include the smash hit "Laid", and several other UK hits that were US sleepers, including "Come Home", "Sit Down", "She's a Star", and others.
Sadly, JAMES: THE BEST OF provides only one example of the band's earlier work on FactoryRecords. Nevertheless, the compilation attests to the wonderful pop sensibility that characterised the James sound, as well as to the lyrical depth that helped the band develop the dedicated following that enabled its survival long after the Madchester scene had floundered. James's phenomenal staying power is well documented on JAMES: THE BEST OF.

Customer Reviews

Those who find themselves ridiculous...
This collection has exactly the effect any Best Of should. You start off by skipping to the songs you know and love by one of the most underrated bands of the last 20 years. Underrated despite a long list of hits. Whether it's Destiny Calling, She's A Star, Laid or the monsterous crowd anthem and all-time-great Sit Down, there will be something you know the title of. But then you start listening to the rest of it, and you realise how good James are.

From start to finish there are brilliant tracks. For me, the stand-outs (as well as those above) are the magical tantra-like Walzting Along and the sudden move down-tempo to the sad Out To Get You. Throughout though, are excellent tracks that you will almost certainly enjoy.

James are a band that produced plenty of classics in their 20 or so years together, and plenty more that should have been classics. The only problem is that since this compilation was released they have released two more albums, so there are some great songs that were too late to make it on.

The greatest of all James albums (well of course, doh!)
This album has resided in my cd collection ever since it's release and takes the top position as my all-time favourite cd. Occasionally I am distracted by some other classy albums but this is one I always come back to and always will.

It seems ridiculous to assume that this won't be James' greatest album, but it's a sad fact that many bands just do not have the back-catalogue of high quality material to fill 70 mins of a 'best of...' cd.

I can honestly say that this is one of the few albums where I will listen all the way through without skipping a single track. In fact, lately I have come to realise that the most well-known and successful tracks on the album are not necessarily the best by any means.

For the first few years of owning this album I never really listened to it in it's entirety and always assumed 'Sit Down' and 'She's a Star' to be the best tracks.

Then within the last three or four years I slowly came to realise the quality of the less well-known tracks - 'Sometimes', 'Tomorrow' and 'Ring the Bells' to name but a few. My favourite track is 'Sometimes' - I have never heard such a powerful and moving ballad as this one.

I remember when it was played in my school's sixth-form common room and I sat with my mates, proud in the knowledge that they and most of the other guys in the room at the time had never heard the song before, and I was one of the few to immediately recognise and appreciate it.

This album sits higher in my estimation than Millionaires and Pleased to meet you (though I haven't yet listened to that one in it's entirety either!) It's a testiment to a band who have never been mainstream or very well-known but have not let this stop them creating some of the most original and melodic tunes of any group in the last 20 or 30 years.

What an album!!
Wow what an album, there are many many hits here of which most of you willhave heard most of the songs. Thats a good sign for an album, how manyalbums have we heard that states "best of" only to be disappointed witheither the choice of songs or that laughably that they release the albumat all. Well this really is a best of. This album is a really goodchoice for a pre night out belter. There are some fine belters here likeSit Down, She's A Star and Born Of Frustration, but the best of all is theFlood Mix of Come Home. There are also a few mellow songs the best beingOut To Get You. If you are a massive James fan you will already havethese songs, however if you are a casual fan buy this then buy the rest oftheir back catalogue, well what are you waiting for, you too can besinging How Was It For You.