Paul Oakenfold – Greatest Hits & Remixes

Paul Oakenfold – Greatest Hits & Remixes / 2007 Ultra / 20 Tracks / http://www.pauloakenfold.com / http://www.ultrarecords.com /

When it comes to electronic and dance music, Paul Oakenfold is right up there (if not exceeding) individuals like the Pet Shop Boys and The Chemical Brothers. This album marks an interesting premise for a “greatest hits” compilation. Rather than just having the songs originally penned by Oakenfold (“Starry Eyed Surprise”, “Ready Steady Go”, “Dread Rock”, “Faster Kill Pussycat”, and “Southern Sun”), the “remixes” section of this disc features the retooling of other bands’ hits by Oakenfold. These remixes mark different periods throughout Oakenfold’s time as a remixer; tracks from the Happy Mondays, Massive Attack, Justin Timberlake, David Arnold, Radiohead, U2, and Hans Zimmer are just a fraction of the 20 tracks on this album.

In regards to sheer value, “Greatest Hits & Remixes” is well worth the ducats that individuals drop for the disc, as nearly 80 minutes of music confront listeners. While the average music fan will be familiar with some of the singles that were remixed by Oakenfold (Timberlake’s “My Love”, Dirty Vegas’s “Days Go By”, and U2’s “Beautiful Day”), there are quite a few songs that individuals may have missed the first time around (Olive’s “You’re Not Alone”, Mark Ronson’s “Stop Me”, and Hans Zimmer’s “Jack Theme Suite”). The presence of these two groups of songs allows individuals both to compare Oakenfold’s versions to the originals as well as to be left in the dark for some of the lesser-known tracks. Undoubtedly, individuals that are always on the dance floor will be familiar with most of the songs on here, but the average music fan will be able to stumble upon quite a few tracks that for whatever reason didn’t chart highly or their popular period was a few years in the past.

The greatest hits side of this disc represents a solid core of hits by Oakenfold, many of which did crossover to the pop charts; who can forget hearing “Starry Eyed Surprise” or “Ready Steady Go” ad nauseum on pop radio a few years back? The different styles of songs, whether it be the goth rock of The Smashing Pumpkins, the rock of U2, or the alternative stylings of Happy Mondays (to say nothing of the countless dance tracks present), makes for an interesting mix that will keep individuals on the dance floor for almost an hour and a half. Give the disc a go if you have any love for the dance genre; you will not be disappointed by Oakenfold’s mixes here.

Top Tracks: The Smashing Pumpkins / Perfect, Underworld / Born Slippy Nuxx

Rating: 7.2/10