The result of this chance event was the chart-topping Beat Box.
They called in their friend Anne Dudley to "provide the melodic and harmonic interest". Jeczalik and Gary Langan had finished working on Yes's album 90125 and decided to put the studio to their own use for once. A similarly covered CD, only in pink (and released two years later), is also called 'The Best Of' but focuses more on the group's album tracks.The Art of Noise is an unusual group, not only because of it's music but because it's members have come from behind the scenes careers in the music industry. The vinyl version contains the (sometimes preferable) single mixes the CD and cassette contain 12' remixes, good for the collector, bad on the patience.
But soon, after their break with ZTT and joining China Records, it wasn't long until they were parodying themselves and trying to score pop hits with a recognizable 'sound.' Singles featured older pop stars trying to score a hit again (Duane Eddy on 'Peter Gunn,' Tom Jones on 'Kiss'), current celebrities riding their own popularity wave (Max Headroom), or cover songs gussied up with a few more car starting sounds (the made-for-hire 'Dragnet '88,' used in the regrettable film remake). It was like Dada had invaded the charts, circa 1984. The 1-2-3 rush of 'Beat Box,' 'Moments in Love,' and 'Close (To the Edit)' make this CD worth the money already - at the time of their release, these singles swiped electronic music back from America (by way of Germany) and cut the whole thing up with ridiculous samples (a car starting, the omnipresent orchestral hit) and enjoyable art school posturing.
As an overview of Art of Noise's brief output, this best-of can't be beat, though it does inadvertently track their slide from forerunners to recyclers and cultural panderers.
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