One Way Records Inc
2000
L/Freeze Frame
About This Album
The obvious lack of remastering notwithstanding, this two-for-one gathering of Godley & Creme's best-known albums -- which rounds up the cult hits "An Englishman in New York," "This Sporting Life," and "Sandwiches of You" -- should be considered generous, although it doesn't actually provide any easier entry into their bizarre musical world than any other of the duo's releases. Yet there's a cranky compulsiveness to both albums that not only renders them ideal companions in their own right, but also reminds listeners why they were such an important force on the pre-new wave landscape, long before the duo traded in instruments for video cameras. L opens the show in brutally uncompromising style. Indeed, with "This Sporting Life" to guide you in, with its open invitation from the Bad Samaritans (played with nauseating greasiness by DJ Paul Gambaccini) and a step-by-step guide to committing an entertaining suicide, L itself might well rank among the best bad-taste albums of the late '70s -- and one of the most enjoyably obtuse. Godley & Creme, after all, never disguised their admiration for Frank Zappa's most painfully artistic elements and, from the instrumental "Foreign Accents" to the relentless "Business Is Business," L meanders down avenues at least as overcrowded as its cover art. Freeze Frame is friendlier (just), but possesses its own idiosyncrasies, as the odd sentiment of "I Pity Inanimate Objects" and the decidedly off-kilter flame of "Brazilia" will readily inform you. If you're searching for an economic gathering of the duo's most tuneful recordings, this package is not what you're looking for. But if you've seen the kicking robots of Herbie Hancock fame and want to know what kind of minds could conceive such a thing -- walk this way. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide
Track List (try tracks 1,2,5,8,9,13 and 14)

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