MCA
Pop, 1991

Ah, Nik Kershaw. He’s one of my prime guilty pleasures, what is the 1980s without his The Riddle and Wouldn’t It Be Good? There’s no way I’m telling my friends that I’m listening to this, Mr Kershaw’s greatest hits compilation, too often for my own good, but dang if The Collection doesn’t bringing on the fine nostalgia.

My favorite is Wouldn’t It Be Good, surely an anthem for the frustrated and disenfranchised, really, followed closely by The Riddle. But the real gems are tracks from Nik Kershaw’s late 1980s albums that flopped worse than fish beached on the Sahara. One World and One Step Ahead are actually pretty cute tracks, a departure of his admittedly samey-sounding  formula.

Since most of the songs here sound the same, I doubt this album will be any use to people who know Mr Kershaw but are not really fans. Most of his repertoire doesn’t stand up with the passing of time, but I’m all for the nostalgia.