Review

Babe: The Collection is a UK compilation album that surveys Styx' A&M years. It's song selection is an eclectic mix of songs that contains some of Styx's most recognizable songs of the career including UK top ten hit Babe, international favorite Boat on the River, the rockers Renegade and Blue Collar Man, with the song that placed Styx on the map, Lady. The collection also includes second tier favorites of The Best of Times, Lorelie, Snowblind and Rockin' the Paradise along with pop favorites Mr. Roboto and Come Sail Away.

Unique to this compilation is the notation of the origin of most of the songs. Twelve songs are noted as "Album Version" cuts and one (Come Sail Away) is noted as the "Single Version" cut of the song. This cut alone is worth the price for the CD for avid Styx fans. With compilations becoming the way of life for many bands of the 70s and 80s, hardcore fans are looking for something they haven't had access to before and in this collection, Come Sail Away is it. One can only hope that more chestnuts like this make their remastered way to CD, sooner than later.

The only criticisms I have about this collection are the song selection and the sequencing of the songs. Band staples like Grand Illusion, Miss America should have found their way onto the CD, even at the expense of some of the deeper cuts of the band. The sequencing of the songs is also an issue as it ends with A.D. 1928 and Rockin the Paradise - two songs by lyric that should have started the compilation, not end.

However, as a compilation CD that clearly tries to give fans at all levels something that is unlike other compilation CDs, it clearly succeeds with songs that represents the band's career. Fans at all levels will find a number of songs they recognize and will be happy with those they are not.