Quite a few Toyah Best-Of CDs have been released, but whilst all previous compilations concentrated on her hugely successful "Safari Records days", this is the first career-spanning CD from 1979 to 2003, including all the hit singles as well as key album tracks and some rarities.
CD 1 features the obvious top ten singles "It's A Mystery", "I Want To Be Free" and "Thunder In The Mountains" alongside essential album tracks like "Blue Meanings", "Jungles Of Jupiter" and "Angel & Me".
CD 2 moves on from 1985 to 2003 with a few more hit singles like "Don't Fall In Love (I Said)" and "Echo Beach", but mainly album tracks, simply because Toyah did not release any singles from the albums that followed. You find tracks from her progressive "Prostitute", the collaboration with husband Robert Fripp and another member of King Crimson on tracks from "Ophelia's Shadow", the excellent demo of the unreleased and brilliant "Angel" and two tracks from her latest offering, the mini-album "Velvet Lined Shell". Musical styles vary from pop to experimental/ industrial, from progressive to rock. Quite a lot to discover for those unfamiliar with Toyah's album history.
And although this is a budget CD, it sounds and looks like a high quality product with quite a lot of pictures in the booklet, displaying old record sleeves and featuring more recent photos of Toyah.
A well compiled Best-Of for fans to enjoy and for everyone interested to discover Toyah's rich back catalogue and stunning history of creativity.
