Search results: Real Dream

Review: .NOW's Yearbook series of quadruple CD sets reaches 1990, a year in which the currents of dance music's future dominance of the pop charts became stronger and more pronounced. Of course, this being a pop-focused collection, the musical story told is far more varied. So while there are suitably baggy, bowl haircut-sporting indie-dance numbers from the likes of Candyflip, Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses, as well as crossover club hits from the likes of The KLF, the Adventures of Stevie V and Dee-Lite, you'll also find synth-pop melancholia from the Pet Shop Boys (including 'Being Boring', arguably Neil Tennant's best song), boy band business from New Kids on the Block, a dash of Kylie Minogue, alt-rock hits from Faith No More and Bon Jovi, and a blast of Elton John.

Review: NOW's ongoing 'Yearbook' series reaches 1988, a year in which pop music was becoming increasingly influenced by the saucer-eyed rise of dance music culture. The four discs contain a wealth of chart-bothering hits from the period, dashing between 'imperial phase' period Pet Shop Boys ('Heart', 'Left To My Own Devices' and the Seventh Wonder gem they wrote and produced, 'I'm Not Scared'), Hacienda-inspired remakes of classics (New Order's 'Blue Monday '88'), manufactured pop cheeriness (Bros, Bananarama, Rick Astley and Jason Donavan), dancefloor classics (Inner City, S'Xpress, Bomb The Bass, Salt N Pepa), OTT rock and metal (Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi), pop-reggae (Aswad), novelty singles (the KLF's Doctor Who-themed outing as The Timelords), and much more besides.

Review: The NOW Series was a core part of the British music scene for many years from the 70s onwards. Its lovingly assembled compilations were a great wind into what was hot way before we all had access to every single bit of recorded music from the whole history of time all at the tip of our fingers. They continue to find relevance with their various collections and this one, Yearbook, focuses on the super sounds of the 80s, specifically 1988. It comes on nice translucent blue vinyl across six, yes six, sides. All the artists that you would expect are present and very correct.