James: The Best Of

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!)   February 16, 2002
 24 out of 31 found this review helpful

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.