Reviews: Chameleon | Fabrications HQ
Toyah – Chameleon : The Very Best Of
(3CD/ Blu-Ray Box Set)
Chameleon is certainly well named; it perfectly describes singer & actor Toyah Willcox’s ability, much like David Bowie (the greatest chameleon of them all) to evolve and change with the musical times, whilst still holding her own identity and artistry.
It’s also, courtesy of Cherry Red Records, her first ever all-encompassing collection, one that covers every era and musical slant of her four-and-half decade career, from her late 70s new wave/ punk beginnings to the ultra-successful 80s pop period and into the 21st century as an artist who remains relevant through her contemporary pop and rock stylings.
CD1 is collated to showcase the best of Toyah the band, from 1979-1983; it also, unsurprisingly, leads with the Top 10 trio of glossy, new-wave pop hits ‘I Want To Be Free,’ ‘It’s a Mystery’ and ‘Thunder In The Mountains.’
Other chart successes, such as the atmospheric ‘Brave New World,’ feature, but the selected album tracks are their equal; choice cuts here include the pop-punch of ‘We Are’ (from best-selling album Anthem), the slightly darker textures of ‘Dawn Chorus’ and the semi-theatrical, new wave stylings of ‘Angel & Me.’
There’s also space for tracks from the band’s debut EP Sheep Farming In Barnet, including the frantic jazz-punk of ‘Neon Womb’ and the spacey synth & guitar led ‘Danced.’ The live version of the band’s first ever single, punk-pop hybrid ‘Victims Of The Riddle,’ closes out the first disc.
• Continue reading at Fabrication HQ. See links to other Chameleon: The Very Best Of Toyah reviews here. Buy the album on 3CD/Bluray Boxset, 2CD & Double Vinyl at Cherry Red.
