The Bangles : Releases >>

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Bangles : Greatest Hits >>

The Bangles' transformation from Merseybeat and garage-smart guitar band to near-definitive example of buffed-and-polished corporate popsters is one of the great rock mysteries of the '80s. What was up with that video for "Walk Like an Egyptian," anyway? Greatest Hits puts it all in perspective, tracing the curve from the post-Beatles group sneer of "Hero Takes a Fall" to the deadly earnest Susanna Hoffs showcase of "Eternal Flame." Shortly after that ballad hit No. 1, the group split. Now unfairly remembered as little more than space fillers on turn-of-the-decade airwaves, the Bangles here make a good case for their spirit, their own songwriting gifts, and, of course, those voices. --Rickey Wright

Manic Monday: the Best of the Bangles >>

Doll Revolution >>

They used to be seen as sex kittens, now on Doll Revolution, they look like the cast of Sex in the City. Yet 15 years after the Bangles' last album, Everything, the California power-poppers breeze back in looking and sounding as though they've been gone a mere 15 minutes. Eloquent, assured and sensual, Doll Revolution is measured yet mesmerising, considered yet colossal. This is one 80s comeback that really is a good idea.

So is this "doll revolution" some LA take on Girl Power? Or a glossy update on Riot Grrrl? Hardly. The Bangles never were ones for manifestos. Melodies are more their game, and these mostly self-penned songs display a beautifully developed sense of songcraft. "Something That You Said" is an exercise in sepia longing, while the sublime West Coast harmonies of "Stealing Rosemary" is a reminder that the quartet originally began life, 20 years prior, as Paisley Underground psychedelics named the Supersonic Bangs.

The gentle ballad "I Will Take Care of You" will have lighters aloft on the comeback tour, yet is also achingly intimate. And the yearning "Single by Choice", glancing back over a life half-done, is both a shoo-in for the soundtrack of the next Bridget Jones movie and also a knowing, experience-heavy poem that they simply couldn't have crafted the first time around. The Bangles have returned older but wiser and there is, as Doll Revolution amply demonstrates, simply no substitute for experience. --Ian Gittins

Different Light >>

The Best of the Bangles >>

Everything >>

Eternal Flame: The Best of the Bangles >>

Eternal Flame: The Best of the Bangles is a re-appraisal of their work following the success fellow girl band Atomic Kitten had with one of their finest works, "Eternal Flame". Who'd have ever thought they'd be grateful to Atomic Kitten, but if it means a return to prominence of one of the finest girl bands of the 1980s, then who's complaining. Looking at this compilation, it is quite surprising how many you actually know - of course there's the mega-hits such as "Eternal Flame", "Manic Monday", "Walk Like an Egyptian" and "Hazy Shade of Winter", but then there's also the not-so-huge-but-still-great tracks such as "If She Knew What She Wants", "Walking down Your Street" and "In Your Room". For Bangles fans this is an essential testament to the way they were; for Atomic Kitten fans, this is how it should be done. --Helen Marquis