The Very Best of Imagination

AMG Review of The Very Best of Imagination

Andy Kellman
All Music Guide

This compilation, released in 1998 by BR, is an adequate survey of Imagination's often clubby urban pop, including such highlights as "Music and Lights," "Just an Illusion," "Body Talk," "Changes," "Flashback," and "In and Out of Love." They were appreciated more in their native Britain than in the U.S., and it's a shame that they didn't have more success away from home. Yeah, most of these songs sound like they were made in the '80s; perhaps that makes Imagination less "timeless" somehow, but can't you just as easily pinpoint what decade a classic Motown record was released? This compilation shouldn't be confused with another disc of the same exact title that was released by Music Club in 2000; the later disc has its advantages over this one.