The main reason I picked up the Electric Dreams soundtrack shortly after seeing the film in July 1984 was for the Culture Club song "Love Is Love". We profiled Electric Dreams back in 2013 and I was reminded about it as I was researching today's post which is all about synth-pop compilations with the title Electric Dreams. And yes, each featured album has the theme song ("Together In Electric Dreams") from the film Electric Dreams by Giorgio Moroder & Philip Oakey.
The oldest Electric Dreams compilation here in the HERChives is from 1993. It was originally issued in Germany and it set the standard for the other Electric Dreams collections that would follow. It is a single disc with eighteen tracks with three tracks that are noticeably different from the other fifteen. First, the included Heaven 17 track is the 1993 Brothers In Rhythm remix and sounds a little too modern alongside the other vintage tracks. Second, check out track 17. Great song, right? I suppose it fits the theme of the album if you squint your ears but it falls short of the vibe. There's a reason we have not come across this particular song on any other synth-pop compilation. Third, the disc's final track is from 1990 and is more of a throbbing dance floor cut than an Eighties synth-pop classic. In the end, Electric Dreams (1993) is a solid ⭐⭐⭐maybe a lightweight ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Moving forward chronologically, we have the double-disc set Electric Dreams (1995) from the UK. We like this one a lot as it features a great track selection (some obvious, some deeper cuts) and is mastered well so it sounds fantastic. Gotta give it bonus points for kicking off with "Blue Monday" though, like the album above, there are a couple tracks that throw me off. "Heart Of Glass" is a big favorite here at The Hideaway but for our intents and purposes, there's too much guitar and drums to consider it a synth-pop song. Of course, your mileage may vary and we're not trying to yuck anyone's yum. The same goes for XTC's "Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me)" near the end of disc 2. In between those two tracks is a great run of twenty-seven synth-pop songs, truly the stuff of electric dreams. Electric Dreams (1995) is ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
There is quite a bit of overlap between the tracks on the previous Electric Dreams compilation and this one from 2005. Electric Dreams also features thirty-eight tracks spread across two discs and we cannot find any tracks that don't fit. While listening blind (without the liner notes nearby), we were pleasantly surprised quite a few times while listening to this compilation. There are a few more big hits on this compilation which might alienate some listeners but we really enjoyed it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ but with just a few tweaks and track swap-outs, Electric Dreams (2005) would be a classic ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and the only synth-pop compilation we'd ever need.
Released in 2017, this Electric Dreams compilation features sixty tracks across three discs and manages to somehow ever so slightly improve upon the track selection of 2005's Electric Dreams though if we'd had our druthers, we'd replace half a dozen or so tracks. Or tighten it up and whittle it down to a solid two-disc set. Our dislike for any version of "Blue Monday" that is not the original 1983 version is well-documented but we also question the choice of Art of Noise, Steve Winwood, Yello, and The Cars tracks. Didn't check but we'd be willing to wager they were all big UK hits. And, while we love Howard Jones and believe him to be a true synth-pop pioneer, why include two of his songs? The only other ding we'd give this Electric Dreams compilation is the lack of uniform mastering which seems to be the norm for multidisc compilations over the past ten years or so with the otherwise decent Now Yearbook series being the biggest culprit. Taking all that into account, we're going to award Electric Dreams (2017) ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
You didn't ask us to but we looked it up and there are 28 instances of "Together in Electric Dreams" here in the HERChives on vinyl and CD. Six of those versions are the extended version and 9 of the 28 versions are on NOW branded compilations.
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