Above all, Squeeze were a great singles act -- among the finest of the era -- and Singles 45's and Under offers proof of that fact, giving a chronological survey of their biggest hits from their early, pre-breakup period. Most of the songs can be found on the actual albums, aside from the slightly different single version of "Goodbye Girl" and the new "Annie Get Your Gun," but with a perfect collection like this, even those with the albums should purchase this one as well. ~ Chris Woodstra, All    [ read more ]

CD $9.45

CD $16.13

Another year, another Squeeze compilation. With the oversaturation of Squeeze greatest-hits compilations currently available on the market, it can be quite trying to a casual listener to figure out which anthology best represents the group. This edition of the 20th Century Masters series is essentially a song-for-song re-creation of the outstanding 1982 Singles anthology release, and documents chronologically the band's greatest hits. For those looking to have just the best of the bunch without    [ read more ]

CD $13.28

Rebounding after a difficult debut, Squeeze hunkered down with producer John Wood -- the engineer of U.K. Squeeze -- and cut Cool for Cats, which for all intents and purposes is their true debut album. More than U.K. Squeeze, Cool for Cats captures the popcraft of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, while also sketching out a unique musical territory for the band, something that draws deeply on '60s pop, the stripped-down propulsive energy of pop/rock, and the nervy style of new wave.    [ read more ]

CD $16.13

Where Cool for Cats marked a great leap over the debut, Argybargy improved at least that far over its own predecessor. Still a distinctly British band, Squeeze compensated with an incredibly catchy batch of songs that, despite the subject matter, spoke the universal language of bright, bouncy, instantly endearing pop. The acute observations of the British working class were even more vivid -- none so poignant as the classic "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)," which offers a series of detailed   [ read more ]

CD $35.13

East Side Story was originally planned as a double album with each side produced by a different "hot" producer -- Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, and Paul McCartney were the proposed lineup. And while only Elvis Costello (along with Roger Bechirian) ended up doing the job, save for one track by Edmunds, Costello's push for decidedly un-Squeeze-like material and sympathetic production style resulted in not only the band's most diverse but also their most creatively rewa   [ read more ]

CD $12.33

One of Squeeze's most mature and thoughtful albums, 1991's Play might be a bit pretentious in spots -- the liner notes are written out as a theatre script, with the songs laid out as dialogue -- but it's probably Squeeze's best post-reunion album. Shorn of the misguided experiments of Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti and the naked chart ambitions of Babylon and On and Frank, Play is a simple and low-key collection of songs charting (loosely; this is less of a concept album than many reviews claime   [ read more ]

CD $15.18

Released in England in 1992, and reissued straight-up nearly a decade later in America, the 20-track collection Greatest Hits is a very good collection that captures Squeeze at their best, even if it doesn't contain all of their best moments. This contains pretty much everything on the 1982 collection Singles: 45s and Under -- every one but one of the 12 tracks, with the sublime "If I Didn't Love You" down for the count, but supplanted by the terrific "Labelled With Love," so it's a draw -- a   [ read more ]

CD $13.25

CD $12.33

Over the course of Squeeze's 25-year career, an inexplicable number of greatest-hits compilations have surfaced (seven, to be specific), and nearly all of them have suffered from a serious flaw, whether it's the exclusion of important hit singles or the inclusion of mediocre album cuts and B-sides. The only two worthwhile compilations -- 1982's Singles 45's & Under and 1994's Greatest Hits -- both suffered somewhat by not covering the entirety of the band's career. Big Squeeze is the attempt to    [ read more ]

CD $33.23

Over the course of Squeeze's 25-year career, an inexplicable number of greatest-hits compilations have surfaced (seven, to be specific), and nearly all of them have suffered from a serious flaw, whether it's the exclusion of important hit singles or the inclusion of mediocre album cuts and B-sides. The only two worthwhile compilations -- 1982's Singles 45's & Under and 1994's Greatest Hits -- both suffered somewhat by not covering the entirety of the band's career. Big Squeeze is the attempt to    [ read more ]

CD $27.53

East Side Story was originally planned as a double album with each side produced by a different "hot" producer -- Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, and Paul McCartney were the proposed lineup. And while only Elvis Costello (along with Roger Bechirian) ended up doing the job, save for one track by Edmunds, Costello's push for decidedly un-Squeeze-like material and sympathetic production style resulted in not only the band's most diverse but also their most creatively rewa   [ read more ]

CD $16.13