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In hindsight, it’s eerie listening to this collection of INXS’s more radio-ready tunes, and it’s hard not to reflect - at least a little bit - upon the doomed falling star that was Michael Hutchence, the group’s lead singer. I’m not going to say that this guy is a fallen genius, but the world most assuredly lost an incredibly dynamic and charismatic performer when Hutchence’s personal demons overtook him.

But that’s all in retrospect, and this compilation predates those tragic events at any rate. If it’s an INXS song, and you’ve ever heard it on the radio, chances are it’s on this collection. The INXS Greatest Hits disc leans heavily in the direction of the group’s 1986 mega-hit Kick, from which damn near every song seemed to be a single at some point. The later X and earlier Listen Like Thieves, both worth listening to in and of themselves, aren’t represented quite as much. Basically, the Greatest Hits consist of roughly half of Kick with bonus tracks from other albums.

Personal favorites here include “Never Tear Us Apart”, “Suicide Blonde” (a song which seemed to roll off the assembly line bearing every sonic trademark of the band packed into four minutes), and, yes, “Need You Tonight”.

1. The One Thing (3:24)
2. Original Sin (3:46)
3. What You Need (3:36)
4. Listen Like Thieves (3:47)
5. Shine Like It Does (3:06)
6. Need You Tonight (3:01)
7. Devil Inside (5:11)
8. New Sensation (3:42)
9. Never Tear Us Apart (3:02)
10. Suicide Blonde (3:51)
11. Disappear (4:08)
12. The Stairs (4:55)
13. Heaven Sent (3:21)
14. Beautiful Girl (3:29)
15. The Strangest Party (These Are The Times) (3:55)
16. Deliver Me (3:50)

Released by: Atlantic
Release date: 1994
Total running time: 60:06

Far be it from Peter Gabriel to do anything conventional. Seemingly dormant since 1992’s Us, Gabriel has participated in various other projects and has released world music albums by other performers on his RealWorld label, but is long overdue for another release of his own. Actually getting to hear the man’s voice has been a rare thing over the past decade.

But in 1999, Gabriel was contacted to contribute to the musical theater presentation being planned for the Millennium Dome in London - a presentation Gabriel all but took over with the sprawling work presented on OVO.

To be sure, Gabriel’s voice is not prominent on this collection, and depending on which pressing you’re able to locate, OVO may not even be attributed to Gabriel except as composer. (He does, in fact, tackle the vocal duties on “Father, Son”, “Make Tomorrow” and “The Tower That Ate People”.) Other performers include Elisabeth Fraser, Neneh Cherry, and Ritchie Havens.

What kind of music is OVO? The answer is every kind. The first track segues from world music into rap in very short order, while the second is more ambient and quiet. Havens takes center stage on the lovely and contemplative “Time Of The Turning”, a song about death and rebirth and perhaps even evolution (one of the themes of the OVO stage show). With its gentle orchestral backing set to a world music beat, “Time Of The Turning” is easily the highlight of the album. The same tune returns two tracks later as a wild, Riverdance-style jig which again blends a full orchestra with the primal pounding of the Dhol Foundation Drummers, achieving a stunning effect unlike anything I’ve heard before. About one minute before that piece ends, there’s a euphoric burst of brass and percussion which always elicits a “Wow!” out of me - despite the fact I’ve probably listened to that track fifteen or twenty times. Eat your heart out, Paul Simon.

Gabriel follows this up with the heartfelt ballad “Father, Son”, which managed to get me a little misty-eyed every time I hear it. Again, brass comes into play here, with a sentimental minimalist backing which reminds me a little of the small brass band in the title track from Crowded House’s Together Alone.

The remainder of the album has a typically Gabriel sound, and the last track has an epic length.

I can’t rate OVO highly enough - nor can I wait much longer for Gabriel’s next solo album, which is supposedly right around the corner. If it’s as good as the material on OVO, then maybe Pete’s just now hitting his stride. And if it isn’t… perhaps OVO and Passion: Music For The Last Temptation Of Christ are indications that Peter Gabriel’s music may best be suited to some manner of visual experience…or, at the very least, his inspiration.

1. The Story of OVO (5:23)
2. Low Light (6:37)
3. The Time Of The Turning (5:34)
4. The Man Who Loved The Earth, The Hand That Sold Shadows (4:14)
5. The Time Of The Turning (reprise), The Weaver’s Reel (5:39)
6. Father, Son (4:56)
7. The Tower That Ate People (4:49)
8. Revenge (1:30)
9. White Ashes (2:35)
10. Downside-Up (6:04)
11. The Nest That Sailed The Sky (5:06)
12. Make Tomorrow (9:58)

Released by: RealWorld
Release date: 2000
Total running time: 62:22

Yet another slightly shady release of music from Doctor Who, this CD excerpts the scores from two portions of the 14-episode 1986 epic, The Trial Of A Time Lord. The music heard on this CD originates with Trial’s first four and final two episodes, sometimes known to fans respectively as Mysterious Planet and The Ultimate Foe, both scored by Dominic Glynn. Glynn also arranged the Trial Of A Time Lord season’s version of the classic Doctor Who theme music, and that arrangement is heard in its televised form here for the first time. In terms of presenting previously unreleased material, I have to admit to being impressed with this bootleg release, though the CD is not without other problems.

Of the CDs I’ve heard in this range of unauthorized releases thus far, Trial has the most mastering problems. The source tape was obviously not in the best of shape. I have occasionally complained about some warble and speed variation in the other releases in this range, but with Trial it comes close to ruining the whole experience. Much of the music, from about 1/3 of the way through Mysterious Planet’s score onward, has speed problems. Ironically, it couldn’t have happened to a better score. Most of the Mysterious Planet score is rather repetitious, the most impressive cue being the first piece of music heard in part one - the cue accompanying the dizzying flyover of the Time Lords’ trial vessel. I’m a little disappointed that the Ultimate Foe music also turned out to be warbled, as it’s rather more interesting than Mysterious Planet.

Overall, the music is an interesting addition to my collection, but only for its rarity and unreleased status. As with most of the other Doctor Who soundtrack bootlegs floating around, I’d take a proper BBC-remastered official release any day of the week.

1. The TARDIS Summoned (1:12)
2. Main Title (0:47)
3. There’s A Mystery Here (3:09)
4. Water Thief (0:11)
5. Requesting The Death Sentence (0:37)
6. Escape From Drathro’s Lair (0:24)
7. Glitz, Dibber and Peri Escape (0:10)
8. Multiple Chases (0:47)
9. Objection (0:26)
10. This Might Be The End (1:13)
11. The Doctor vs. The Valeyard (2:24)
12. The L-7 Attacks (1:58)
13. Katryca The Great (0:30)
14. Peri Grieves (2:15)
15. Storming The Castle (0:46)
16. Hunting The Doctor (2:00)
17. Merdeen’s Moral Dilemma (0:59)
18. Drathro’s Final Gambit (1:13)
19. Chain Reaction (1:19)
20. The Valeyard’s Identity Revealed (1:23)
21. Into The Matrix (1:38)
22. Hands From The Water (0:48)
23. An Uneasy Silence (0:14)
24. Life Preserver (1:20)
25. Irresistible Bait (1:38)
26. Disconnect The Matrix! (0:49)
27. The Fantasy Factory (0:32)
28. A Second-Rate Adversary (0:09)
29. The Doctor’s Sentence (1:11)
30. The Master Appears (0:46)
31. False Charges (1:08)
32. Star Witnesses (0:25)
33. Backpedal (1:22)
34. An Odd Waiting Room (0:39)
35. Mr. Popplewick Unmasked (0:24)
36. Disseminate The News (0:24)
37. The Threat (0:21)
38. Last Will (0:28)
39. Hands From The Ground (0:29)
40. Assassination Attempt (0:56)
41. Carrot Juice / Valeyard’s Escape (0:49)
42. End Credits (1:20)

Released by: ?
Release date: 2000?
Total running time: 41:35

One of the few bastions of the performance-art world to hit some level of critical mass in the eyes of the general public, Blue Man Group - consisting of three guys in black bodysuits with blue skin who create music with any number of invented musical instruments (including lots of PVC plumbing pipe) - has only just recently issued this, their first recorded studio performance.

Not having seen this trio of outcast Smurfs live, I can’t really offer any sort of qualified opinion on how Audio stacks up to their stage antics, but it’s intriguing and unique music in and of itself. Heavy, tribal-style rhythms permeate the entire collection, with a few doses of guitar and other instruments, though I suspect that some of the conventional-sounding instruments on here aren’t what we might think they are.

Audio won the Grammy this year for Best Instrumental Album, and justifiably so; it has a truly outstanding atmosphere of its own, loaded with the kind of compelling instrumentals that the Alan Parsons Project used to make once upon a time. I haven’t heard anything so weird - and yet so accessible - in ages. In case you’re wondering, these are the guys from the Intel commercials, and that is their music you hear (”Rods and Cones”, a particular favorite of mine, can be heard in the spot involving light bulbs and a vacuum cleaner).

This title is also available as an Audio DVD, but buyers beware: the DVD title is simply the same audio content as the CD, except in Dolby 5.1 Surround, with a slide show of stills rather than any full-motion video of the Blues in performance.

1. TV Song (2:09)
2. Opening Mandelbrot (3:14)
3. Synaesthetic (5:32)
4. Utne Wire Man (3:19)
5. Rods and Cones (5:59)
6. Tension (2:06)
7. Mandelgroove (5:50)
8. PVC IV (4:24)
9. Club Nowhere (4:51)
10. Drumbone (2:46)
11. Shadows (2:07)
12. Cat Video (2:21)
13. Endless Column (8:04)

Released by: Virgin
Release date: 1999
Total running time: 57:35