Track Listing

1. This Waiting Heart
2. Don't Pay The Ferryman
3. Much More Than This
4. Sailing Away
5. The Lady In Red
6. Borderline
7. Say Goodbye To It All
8. Spanish Train
9. Fatal Hesitation
10. Ship To Shore
11. Missing You
12. Diamond In The Dark
13. Tender Hands
14. A Spaceman Came Travelling
15. Where Peaceful Waters Flow
16. High On Emotion

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5440 in Music
• Released on: 1998-02-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 68 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A fine introduction to de Burgh's own inimitable, hopelessly romantic (some might say maudlin), windswept musical style--and more comprehensive than Best Moves. Songs like the overly dramatic "Don't Pay The Ferryman" and tear-streaked "Missing You" have had many a starry-eyed fan weeping in her boudoir. Then there's 1986's million-selling "The Lady In Red"... a song that came 10 years too late to inspire punk, but certainly would've done given the chance. Note there are two versions of this collection--the German and English. The UK one is slightly superior, containing as it does de Burgh¹s epic tale of playing cards against the Devil, 1976's "Spanish Train". The title of the final track says it all: "High On Emotion"; this is music for emotion junkies. --Everett True

Customer Reviews

amazing!
i bought the us/canada release of this for my dad's birthday i was expecting it to be some old crap that i wouldnt like but when he played it i was blown away by the amazing songs on it and how powerful they effect you, i can remember i was about 12 and he played "patrica the stripper" and i used to sing a long word by word, but my favourite song ever by him was " don't pay the ferryman" its totally a rock ballad and has such power and its an addictive song it always reminds me of me n my dad singing along in the car *memories*, if anyone hasnt bought it yet i suggest you do because it's worth more than what you pay for it! XX

can you handle THE EMOTION????!!!!!
Wow! How many times will this man reinvent music? De Burgh is De Lightful in this, yet another stonking collection of earth-shaking, bowel-clenching explorations into the soul of man. In "This waiting heart" he paints a moving picture of what it is like for a heart having to wait (something I imagine we can all relate to). "Don't Pay the Ferryman" offers sound advice for holidaymakers, and "Borderline" shows that he can even take a Madonna song and put his own stamp on it.

If there was an elected council of music, I would definitely vote for Chris de Burgh to be head music guy, because he truly understands it. He knows how to take a song and caress it delicately like a velvet flower. Such sensitivity in this age of MTV and "Spliffy" jackets is rare, and something to be treasured. Thanks again Chris, for showing that there is light at the end of the tunnel!

What, no 'Patricia'?
Chris de Burgh is one of my favourite songwriters. In theory, this collection covers the whole gamut of the first 9 albums' worth of his musical output. Unfortunately, it doesn't succeed all that well.

The vast bulk of the album is taken up with de Burgh's romantic ballads. Now, granted these are his biggest earner these days, and far more people know "The Lady in Red" than, say, "Patricia the Stripper". But in my opinion the whole point of a compilation album is to introduce listeners already familiar with the famous songs to the highlights of their back catalogue, not just to rehash what is overly familiar. So on this compilation, the absence of "Patricia" (and indeed anything much from de Burgh's superb back catalogue of quirky folktales, protest songs and murder ballads) is simply inexcusable - particularly when songs like "Much More than This" (filler if ever there was filler) merit an appearance as album track 3!

There are a few saving graces. The album opener, "This Waiting Heart", is a fantastic piece of uplifting singalong pop; "Don't Pay the Ferryman" shimmers, as it has always done, with eerieness; and the new vocal recording on "A Spaceman Came Travelling" is sublime. The pairing of "Borderline" and its sequel, "Say Goodbye to it All", is a token favour to long-standing fans, and the inclusion of "Spanish Train" is certainly welcomed, although its deranged narrative jars completely with the soporific easy-listening style which otherwise dominates the album.

The album merits two stars because de Burgh's songwriting, when not over-indulgent in the love department, is always very good, and the glimpses of the great back catalogue offered here should hopefully get people wanting more. But really, the producers could have done much better. Little thought seems to have been given to substance, musical quality or true representation of the artist's work. Fortunately, there are at least 9 good albums from which the listener can discover the real highlights.