Life of Surprises: Best of
Though each of their studio albums is worth seeking out, this "best of" collection is a neat shorthand way of experiencing the technologically perfect, intellectually stimulating pop music Paddy McAloon and his cronies from Newcastle, England created during the second half of the 1980s. Two tracks, "The Sound of Crying" and "If You Don't Love Me" are previously unreleased. Since they have had little chart success, the rest are somebody's idea of what makes a great Prefab Sprout song. "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" has a lilting bounce; "Wild Horses" benefits from producer Thomas Dolby's computer wizardry as sounds pop up and out of the mix instantaneously; "We Let the Stars Go" is McAloon at his most emotionally sincere. --Rob O'Connor