I'll never forget the first time I saw Love and Rockets live. I was a teenager and the clash of psychedelia, black leather, loud guitars and pumping beats was as sexy as it was cool. I'll also never forget the last time I saw Love and Rockets live. A new album was out but the feverish energy seemed such a thing of the past. They felt like they were reluctantly performing their older songs. The closing remark will always stick in my mind: "Buy our albums so we can keep doing this." Maybe the band thinks that Lift was some of their best material, but they haven't convinced me yet.
Moving to Los Angeles often results in the band turning into crap (see: Skinny Puppy, Duran Duran, Sebadoh, etc,...) Compromising big hits like "All In My Mind" and "Motorcycle" or singles like "Waiting for the Flood" and "If There's a Heaven Above" for tracks like the boring album cut "Shelf Life" and crappy single "Holy Fool" makes me question the 'Best of' tag attached to the CD release. Best of collections are rarely for fans and often end up in somebody's collection who doesn't buy much music to begin with. "Oh I liked that one hit single they had with the girls with long legs," would probably be the common mentality. Fans already have all of these songs so as a real 'Best of,' I'd have to say it still truly doesn't exist for Love and Rockets (just buy Express).
The companion DVD collection, however, is a fantastic archive for fans to finally have in their grubby mitts. Sorted! is (almost) completely sorted with the entirety of the original VHS tape, The Haunted Fishtank and a bubble-load of extra stuff. It's a collection of nearly all of their videos and some audio tracks, including the wicked cool Bubblemen audio material, interviews, solo videos like David J's "I'll Be Your Chauffeur" and four from Daniel Ash. The only thing omitted that I can think of is the "If There's a Heaven Above" video but I'll live. I now have "The Bubblemen Rap" and don't have to play my beat up old 12" single any more!
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