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"Greatest Hits"
The Boomtown Rats
Columbia Records
★★★★
It’s hard to imagine
calling a Boomtown Rats
album “Greatest Hits. ”
Despite 10 years of
popularity in England, the
band never cracked the
Top 40 in America. The
album ought to be called
“Greatest Songs.”
The Rats deserve a
good “Greatest Songs”
album for two reasons: 1)
They put out several great
songs, and 2) Those great
songs were surrounded
by several not-so-great
songs on the band’s
albums.
Forget about the
band’s publicity stunts,
like sending dead rats to
radio stations to inspire
DJs to play their records.
Forget about the band’s
flamboyant leader, Bob
Geldof. Look at the
band’s music. It was
spotty, directionless,
random, snotty,
pretentious and
obnoxious, but
occassionally brilliant.
With the exception of
1978’s “A Tonic for the
Troops” album, the band
never released a whole
album of worthwhile
material. Each album
contained a couple of
songs that shined like
diamonds in a garbage
heap. That’s why a
“Greatest Songs” album
was needed to take those
diamonds out of the
garbage and present them
in their full splendor.
“Ratrospective, ” a six-
song EP released in 1983,
was too short to do the
job properly.
Of course, “Greatest
Hits” contains the
masterpiece “I Don’t Like
Mondays,” from the 1979
“The Fine Art of
Surfacing” album.
“House on Fire,” from the
1982 “V Deep” album,
and the reggae-sounding
“Banana Republic,” from
n
the 1981 “Mongo
Bongo” album, are also
included. These three
songs mark the high
points of the Rats’ career.
The Springsteen-ish
“Joey’s on the Streets
Again, ” was originally
included on both “The
Boomtown Rats,” their
first album, released in
1977, and on the
American version of “A
Tonic for the Troops. ”
“She’s So Modem, ” a hot
and trashy dance number,
and the anthemic “Rat
Trap” also come from “A
Tonic for the Troops. ”
The playfully sexy —
and sexist — disco
number from the “V
Deep” album, “Skin on
Skin, ” would be awful if
taken seriously. “Never in
a Million Years,” also
from “V Deep. ” is a sweet
song uncharacteristic of
the Rats’ image. “Up All
Night” and “Elephants
Graveyard” stand
alongside “Banana
Republic” as the only
reasons to buy “Mongo
Bongo. ”
Now that all these
songs are on one album,
you don’t have to waste
money buying any
Boomtown Rats album,
except “A Tonic for the
Troops. ” The only thing
wrong with “Greatest
Hits” is that it doesn’t
include “Lucky” or “Hard
Times, ” the only good
songs from “In the Long
Grass, ” the Rats’ final
album.
—Review by Karl
Pallmeyer
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