Despite creating some of the most definitive 80's synthpop tracks, the British Duo Yazoo, or 'Yaz' in America, had a sadly short lived career with only two studio releases. After these two releases, the lead singer Alison Moyet sought her own solo career, while keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously chief writer with Depeche Mode, went on to form the group Erasure.
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| Yazoo: Only Yazoo - The Best Of Yazoo |
This charming retrospective of the duo's fine output begins with their debut single, 'Only You.' Forgoing complex musical textures, this track, like most of the tracks featured in this compilation, consist of a few primary synthetic textures with Moyet's strong Soul influenced vocals. It is this approach which set the duo apart from their contemporaries and gave their music its distinctive naive charm. The next track, 'Ode To Boy,' illustrates a more experimental approach to sampling which was seen in the output of several bands at the time, given the rise in affordable sampling units.
Dispersed throughout the album are the bands best known work, 'Don't Go,' 'Situation,' 'Nobody's Diary,' the list goes on. It is truly to the duo's credit that just two studio releases spawned such a formidable portfolio of tracks in the days where record Companies were far less restrictive on musical content and merit.
The final 5 tracks in the album consist of remixes and alternative mixes of 'Situation,' 'Don't Go' and 'Only You.' This offers more material although some more contemporary remixes could benefit this tracklisting. Overall however, this is a fine example of synth pop at its best.
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