Blondie

Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision distinguishes itself from the other Blondie compilations (of which there are several) by adding a DVD that contains 16 (all?) of the group's videos. A couple inconsequential remixes appear where original versions or other career highlights should be present, but otherwise, the audio disc does a fair job, even though it's basically retracing the steps of the compilations that came before it. Most of the essential material is here ("Heart of Glass," "Rapture," "Hanging on the Telephone," "One Way or Another," "Dreaming," "Atomic"), but it's inexplicable that neither "X Offender" nor "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear" made they cut, especially when they are on the edition of this release that came out in Germany. Some of the most devout fans will be irritated by the idea of buying the hits all over again in order to get the DVD, and the studio albums were reissued in 2001 with excellent remastered sound, so they really won't have any desire for all the overlapping content. Despite these issues, this set remains one of the best (and best looking) Blondie compilations, even without considering the videos. "Rapture Riders," a very silly and perverse mash-up of "Rapture" with the Doors' "Riders on the Storm," is included as a bonus track. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide