Groove Armada - Greatest Hits (Album)
» Groove Armada - Palace Theatre, The (formerly The Metro), Vic - January 27, 2010
» Groove Armada - Hordern Pavilion, NSW - January 25, 2010
It’s hard to think that Groove Armada has been around for 10 years. Shit, is it that long!? Most bands that old are doing acoustic albums of their old hits or albums that really don’t cut it anymore, sounding very dated. However GA are one band that seems to have always been there yet do not have a sound that defines an era or a particular time in history. Unlike Nirvana who live and sound like a very particular place and time and Prodigy similarly so had their moment in the sun. It seems GA have managed to be popular enough and have good enough hits to keep them in the limelight without gaffer taping them to that hit for life. The Principality of GA has such grandness attached to it that it cannot be tainted.
Everyone knows Groove Armada, yet I doubt many can tell me a hit single. In fact, that’s what strikes me the most about this ‘best of’ collection. Having known GA for years and knowing that I knew songs of theirs I still could not for the life of me pick that one song that everyone should know. However upon listening to the CD there was not a single song that did not conjure up memories of late high school house parties and underage drinking or early uni parties, going nuts at clubs that I was just old enough to get into or magical summer afternoons chillin’ out on holidays. In fact, GA seem to have made a big impact on my life’s soundtrack without me even realizing it. There are songs such as “My Friends” that are imbedded in my memory walking home very early in the morning after being out all night and “At The River” that has made nearly every chill-out CD ever made that I can’t imagine my summers without it. There are your dance classics that I’d forgotten that made my eyes hurt, like “Superstylin,” that I remember hearing at the Metro the week after they got that giant laser that blinded everyone.
What I particularly like about this collection is that it isn’t pretending to be something greater than it is. This isn’t the hard-core dance fans choice of what’s best of GA.It’s not hand selected gems tried and tested by the band live, it’s simply the songs any old Joe who listened to the radio would have come across enough times to recognize. One excellent example of this compilation for the masses mentality is in their choice to include Fatboy Slim’s remix of “I See You Baby” which was by far the most frequently played version and the most radio friendly. This collection also includes the latest hits of the newest album; some probably not yet imbedded into people’s lives yet but, again, this is catering for the masses so, just in case you have been living under a rock and only just heard them this year, you still get the great songs you’ve just heard.
This CD is, essentially, for those lazy fans that just like hearing the songs they know. And what’s wrong with that? I thoroughly enjoyed reliving my memories of going to clubs back in the days when you couldn’t get in with sneakers, jeans and tee shirt. Of crazy uni parties with someone jumping on a table screaming out “I see you baby!” and having the whole party yell back “Shakin that ass!”. By the end of the CD I realized that GA have been there the whole time I grew up and still are creating music of my life’s soundtrack today with the new excellent material. To think I didn’t realize it. Shame on me. To GA, well done.
