AMG Review of Runaway Boys: A Retrospective '81-'92

Richie Unterberger
All Music Guide

An exemplary best-of, this has 25 tracks from throughout their career, leaning heavily on the earliest and best material. It also contains a few tunes that were previously unreleased in the U.S., the B-side cover of the Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love," and all three non-album songs from their 1983 double-45 "(She's) Sexy + 17." Those who prize authenticity might continue to scorn this rockabilly revivalism. But now that the debate over whether the group were poseurs or not has become irrelevant, it's a surprisingly solid guilty pleasure, even if it's more or less reheated Gene Vincent.