British Invasion is awesome and affordable!!
587652
One of my favorite songs and videos from 1983 was "Come Dancing"  by the Kinks. I really loved the different kinds of instruments used in  that particular song. I recently heard it again on the radio during a  retrospective salute to the music of the 1980's. I decided to try and find  a CD that had "Come Dancing" along with some other '80's hits  from my youth. I discovered the album "British Invasion" and  purchased it right away. To my delight, the album had all original  recordings of those wonderful songs that reminded me of how I used to be a  huge MTV fan. The album was full of memories for me!! Besides "Come  Dancing," it has such standard early MTV artists like Duran  Duran(Hungry Like the Wolf), Billy Idol(Eyes Without a Face),and  Eurythmics(Sweet Dreams.) This a great album and I was really surprised at  the low price. You get twelve great songs for under $10!! The best part is  that all the songs are all the original recordings. Just like I remember  them.
1159464
No technical problems here, just amazing music that grabbed me after a few listens ( I bought it several months ago ) and hasn't let up yet.  This is British Folk at it's best.
4683763
The Brit Box has taken a beating from music critcs who have derided it for not being representative enough of the British indie scene, not including enough of the right songs, and not including some defining artists of the scene.  I'm not here to do that.  Instaed, I'll focus on the music that is on the box.  So let's break this bad boy down one disc at a time.

DISC 1:

A lot of good stuff here. This disc includes the classic Smiths song "How Soon Is Now," plus classics from the Stone Roses, The Cure, The La's, The Charlatans, Happy Mondays, and Echo & The Bunnymen. The Primitives' "Crash" was a great find for me, and "April Skies" may be the Jesus & Mary Chain's best song.  I'm not big on Inspiral Carpets, but that's just nit-picking.

DISC 2:

Also pretty good.  Aside from Ride, My Bloody Valentine and Teenage Fanclub being represented with some of their best stuff, I found some great tracks in Catherine Wheel's "I Want To Touch You," and Curve's "Coast Is Clear."  "Shoot You Down" by Birdland is classic, as is "Trip & Slide" by Bleach.  I don't like Thousand Yard Stare, but it wasn't enough to ruin the disc for me.

DISC 3:

Not as strong as the first two discs, but still worth hearing.  Disc 3 is front-loaded with great tracks by Suede, Swervedriver, New Order, James and Superstar.  Then it hits a bit of a dry spell, even though great tracks by Oasis and Pulp (plus "Speeed King" by These Animal Men) are in the middle.  The disc has Supergrass and Menswear towards the end, and it closes with a rampaging "Stutter" by Elastica.  Overall, I have few complaints here, except that I can think of four or five other tracks off Parklife that I would have chosen besides "Tracy Jacks."

DISC 4:

This is where it starts to come apart.  The Britpop scene was changing, and not as much great music was being made in that style.  Personally, I think the box set's producers should have limited this set from 1984-1996 instead of taking it through to 1999.  There was plenty of great music made during that time to fill 4 discs.

Anyway, about the music on disc 4: There are good songs on here, and they're mostly saddled at the beginning.  Ash's "Girl From Mars" is great, and so is Sleeper and Kula Shaker.  However, this disc drags after track 6, with very little to pick it up.  Silver Sun's "Service" is good, and there are superb tracks by Mansun and The Verve.  "Oh Jim" isn't a bad closer.  Yet after the high level of quality throughout discs 1-3, the last disc is a bit of a letdown.

I won't do much complaining about what isn't on here.  Apparently, the producers of this set weren't able to license Slowdive.  Apart from that, I think the biggest omission is Depeche Mode; some Violator-era tracks would have fit in nicely on this set.

Yes, the Brit Box could have been better.  But it's not as terrible as the music press has made it out to be.
4177676
I came across this live concert on YouTube by sheer accident and fell in love with it. Had to have it for my collection. If you're looking for rock music "the way it was in the day" when bands actually had talent and loved what they were doing, then look no further. This CD/DVD set is fantastic!!!!. I love every track and that's extremely rare for me. Thank you Bobby Barth, AXE and NEH Records for keeping rock alive and feeding my malnourished soul!!
4742847
I am finding it shocking!!! i got this album in the summer when i was in America for 6 weeks (from England). I listened to some tracks on a test thing n was like cool i may aswell get it seems CD's are nice n cheap in America anyway!!

It's really great like everyone else has said its kinda coldplay ish but i dunno with a little bit of loadsa other bands but also just them!!

But anyway i am gradually getting ppl from england into it even tho they cant buy it from amazon. CO.UK! hehe if your looking at reviews u must be interested so just buy it! its a good album!

:-)
2555374
Love the British Invasion. Short fun songs that get stuck in your head
3878667
First, I want to say that yes I am a HUGE Rush fan! I have everything they have done on both CD and DVD. Second, I will say that this set ROCKS!!! OK, the video for "Exit...Stage Left" is a little grainy, but as others have pointed out the footage is 25 years old and the whole DVD/CD set is priced around $30. Not bad for all these concerts. If you can get over the "Exit...Stage Left" grainy video, then you will love this set. The other 2 DVD's are AMAZING!!! It is great to finally have all of these in a medium that will last for a long time to come. My suggestion is buy these now and buy them while they are at a low price. They are more than worth the price. ENJOY!!!
1503458
I discovered this cd and didn't know what to expect. As the son of the famous James Taylor, Ben Taylor has created his own style. The rock theme to the disc blew me away and i became instantly hooked!!! I recommend this CD to any one who likes rock/punk!! This is definetly a good buy!!!
1750477
I won tickets to see Foreigner in concert. The show was a few days ago (April 24, 2015). I pulled out my old vinyl copy of 4 (an album I didn't like except for a couple of tracks and never really paid much attention to) before going to the show. I was surprised at how much I liked it. I used to have agent provocateur on vinyl but was even less impressed with it. That was the last time I'd heard new Foreigner until Can't slow down (which I think is a great album). I decided maybe I had not given post Double Vision a Foreigner a fair listen, so I decided to buy the Complete Atlantic Albums Collection. The first one I listened to is Unusual Heat. I agree with the reviewer who compared it to Holy Water Bad Company, but I must say (and I admit I'm only 2/3 through the first listen) but I'm liking it a lot! Someone complained about the lyrics, but IMO Foreigner has always been more about the rock n roll vibe than the complexity or even creativity of the lyrics. In the end I'm really glad I got this set. It's a very good price and I'm looking forward to checking out the other CDs that I never gave a chance to before. Can anyone speak to Mr Moonlight, the only cd other than Can't slow down not included in the set?
4168754
If you want to have a music library that demostrates the progressive rock group "Yes", look no further! From the late 60s to the late 80s it's all here!! Jon Anderson's voice combined with Rick Wakeman's amazing array of keyboard compositions-notably "Parallels"! Steve Howe's  guitar prowess  and the recently departed founding member Chris Squire and his thick base playing which always reinforced the "Yes" sound! tribute to a bygone period in music history!!!
1920277
Excellent value for money. Gives you the WB years of the Bunnymen at a budget price
which is great for everyone who only thought Lips Like Sugar is all they did. While
most serious fans will have the Crystal Days box set, every remaster, the RAH gig, etc, this is a great starting point for people who want to know more about this great band or just like "80s Brit pop/New Wave/Post-punk" (I hate having to try using labels to stick music into) get it.

Also look into EBTG's set in this series as it's also great value for money.
3765977
Here where i live (Argentina) is almost imposible that a band like this could tour. Even if they get together again on a world tour !!!. But to have this concert on a DVD is almost like that. Imagine yourself in Earls Court, on Oct 1994, play the DVD, put it loud in your HI FI system and fly !!!. To see the full performance of Dark Side of the Moon, the guitar solo on Comfortably numb and the "parafernalia" of ligths and sound worths it !!!

So, if u r a new fan of the band, or not even a fan, buy it, watch it, hear it and then tell me !!!.

If u dont't like it, i'll pay you the price !!!
4961828
Another great group from the UK, their music is so great, its so exciting to hear in the car, puts you in the best mood for the day. LOVE IT>
3646349
If you are a fan of early to mid 1960's British Invasion music, this is a great CD to add to your music library!. Gerry & The Pacemakers were in that top level of great British pop bands that defined the genre and the era.
The first wave of the early 1960's British music invasion featured such bands as:  Gerry & The Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits, Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas, The Searchers, The Hollies, The Dave Clark Five, and of course The Beatles.
Gerry & The Pacemakers had several big hits, all of which are on this great retrospective CD.
It was a time when a simple 4 or 5 piece band, with great pop /rock melodies, bright harmonies, upbeat songs, and lots of personality, made great music that changed the music world, and our lives, in the early & mid Sixties.
This CD will make you smile........get up & dance!
320372
GOD.. Personally I love EVERYTHING that comes from the UK. I'm a HUGE Fan of Coldplay, Radiohead, S Club 7, Atomic Kitten, Dido, Robbie Williams, and S Club 8 and this album just makes me love the Britpop even more!!!
The songs are really fresh and sensational. They are much better than the ones that were in Sunshine. They are more mature than before and the style is mature, too. There are a lot of upbeat songs and they just make you dance. I've watched the music videos several times and I'm learning how to dance like Calvin.. LOL
YOU SHOULD BUY THIS ALBUM!!!!!
and the next single, SUNDOWN REALLY IS THE BEST ONE EVER
2743761
An instant 1960 radio station - minus the commercials - all with great sound!

Boy did this set (one of three different four-disc volumes, each covering a four month period in 1960) bring back memories for me! These were my high school years and I was a go-fer for a local New Jersey radio station - where my interest in records really took place - and a substantial portion of the 118 tracks on this volume were the hits of the day. Some are common and I know I still have those 45s somewhere (do we ever get rid of our favorite records?) but some I haven't heard in 50 years. Almost half the records here were British singles which never made it to the US and therein lies the fun of this set for me. Lots of new stuff and sometimes different version of the same song.

The period covered here is three years before the "British Invasion" and rise of harder rock. So there are more of what were called "pop hits" here including teenage romance songs and themes from hit movies.  And then there are music hall songs like George Formby's "Banjo Boy" (a song which gets another reading by Valerie Master and AGAIN by Jan and Kjeld!) But these, mostly 2  minute, songs had something all their own and - for those who were buying 45s in 1960, there are lots of memories to be found in these sets.

Each volume contains a 32-page book of liner notes. A four-page essay putting things in perspective repeats in each of the three collections but then there are notes on each artist and their songs. When more than one record by an artist is included they are grouped together. I found this really helpful for the British artists I didn't know.

What constitutes the "British Hit Parade" is not quite defined - even in the notes. There were three British music publications and each had its own set of charts. There's no listing of what chart position a song reached and on which chart. But I'm not quibbling; just pointing it out.

The records all came from the collection of one record collector and the transfers all sound great. This is especially true because in 1960 we were listening to these songs on small speaker transistor radios. (Remember them?)

After playing the CDs through, this is a set you can play again, hitting the "shuffle" button and you'll transport yourself back to 1960.

A great concept! I only hope they will move forward (or even backward) through the years. As Dean Martin sang on that purple label Capitol 45 (that I STILL have), "Memories are made of this".

I hope you found this review both informative and helpful.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"
3623409
What surprised me first was the overall great sounding quality of this cd. With that said, the thing that you notice after listening through to all of the songs, just how exciting that time was for the music industry.  The british scene was exploding on its own, and Winwood and the Spencer Davis Group, along with many other great British acts, were clearly influenced by American R&B.  The song selections are great and the group gets the comprehensive listen that they deserve.