AMG Review of Essential Bangles

Andy Kellman
All Music Guide

For all intents and purposes, The Essential Bangles acts a replacement for 1990's Greatest Hits, as it features remastered sound and 90 percent of the same material. Like Greatest Hits, the disc contains 14 songs; the difference selection-wise is that "Live" (an All Over the Place album track) and "What I Meant to Say" (the B-side to "Eternal Flame") are included instead of "Where Were You When I Needed You" and "Everything I Wanted." This slight difference is of no substantial consequence. The disc strikes a good balance between the group's most popular moments and their brightest, with their range -- from "Going Down to Liverpool" to "Hazy Shade of Winter" to "Walk Like an Egyptian" (the unfortunate novelty hit) -- put on display. You are strongly encouraged to verbally throttle anyone who refers to "Manic Monday" as anything less than pure bliss.