The Greatest Hits [Sire] (CD - 1997)

London's Greatest Hits opens up with a 2001 remix of "Electric Avenue," which signals that it is targeted at a younger, newer audience. The rest of the record simply serves up a first-rate, albeit non-chronological, overview of Grant's peak years of the late '70s and early '80s, containing many of his British and American hits. Perhaps it would have been better if it had been more logically assembled, but this has the hits and is quite entertaining, thereby serving the needs of most listeners. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Prior to his 1983 breakthrough with "Electric Avenue," Eddy Grant's only brush with success in the U.S. had been in the late '60s as a member of the Equals. Therefore, little of the material on this 1996 compilation will be known to listeners only familiar with the irresistible "Electric Avenue" or the breezy "Romancing the Stone" (both are included). However, most of the songs were hits in the U.K. and Greatest Hits is an interesting introduction to Grant's pleasant mix of dance, rock, funk, and reggae (although maddeningly out of chronological sequence). "Walking on Sunshine" is a percolating, Caribbean-flavored dance number and "It's Our Time" is slinky fun. Grant shows a socially conscious side on the rollicking, wonderful "Gimme Hope Jo'anna." Most fans will probably be content to pick up "Electric Avenue" on one of the many '80s compilations, but, as a sampling of Eddy Grant's work, Greatest Hits is engaging and often infectious listening. ~ Tom Demalon

London's Greatest Hits opens up with a 2001 remix of "Electric Avenue," which signals that it is targeted at a younger, newer audience. The rest of the record simply serves up a first-rate, albeit non-chronological, overview of Grant's peak years of the late '70s and early '80s, containing many of his British and American hits. Perhaps it would have been better if it had been more logically assembled, but this has the hits and is quite entertaining, thereby serving the needs of most listeners. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize