Hits
	Previously released material (Track 1 produced by Mike Rutherford)
	Released on March 21, 1996
	UK CHART POSITION #3
	Find it at GEMM
R2 73194 cover [high resolution scan]

K ronomyth 5.0: HITS BETTER THAN I THOUGHT. “It would take another miracle for me to listen to this crap,” groused the Troll, and I had to agree with him. Mike + The Mechanics were the most commercial branch to grow from the great tree of Genesis, and I’d been meaning to take a tree saw to them ever since Silent Running. But with Phil Collins and Genesis no longer in the pop music picture, the middle-aged doughy white guy in me (and on me and over me) was secretly jonesing for the sweet stuff again. Enter Hits and with it a beggar’s dozen of arena pop songs that filled the little space in my heart normally reserved for Asia and Phil Collins. Now, you’re probably wondering where Mike + The Mechanics came up with thirteen hits. There’s “All I Need Is A miracle” (here re-recorded in a new version that sounds brighter and better than the original), “The Living Years,” “Silent Running” and then the memory goes a little foggy. In fact, the band had a number of Top 40 singles here and abroad, including “Taken In,” “Word of Mouth” (I still don’t know how that happened) and “Over My Shoulder.” The remainder mostly rattled around the lower rungs of the UK charts for a few weeks. Yet by picking the better fruits from their labors, Hits puts a positive spin on a band that heretofore only had me shaking my head. It may not be enough to make a fan out of you, and a re-recorded hit isn’t exactly a compelling carrot for collectors, but Hits hit my soft spot in a surprising way. Note that this compilation was re-released by Rhino in 2005 to coincide with 2004’s Rewired (the two were even packaged together briefly).

R2 73194 gatefold sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. ALL I NEED IS A MRIACLE '96    (Mike Rutherford/Christopher Neil)
2. OVER MY SHOULDER    (Mike Rutherford/Paul Carrack)
3. WORD OF MOUTH    (Mike Rutherford/Christopher Neil)
4. THE LIVING YEARS    (Mike Rutherford/BA Robertson)
5. ANOTHER CUP OF COFFEE    (Mike Rutherford/Christopher Neil)
6. NOBODY'S PERFECT    (Mike Rutherford/BA Robertson)
7. SILENT RUNNING    (Mike Rutherford/BA Robertson)
8. NOBODY KNOWS    (Mike Rutherford/Christopher Neil)
9. GET UP    (Mike Rutherford/Paul Carrack)
10. A TIME AND PLACE    (Mike Rutherford/BA Robertson)
11. TAKEN IN    (Mike Rutherford/Christopher Neil)
12. EVERYBODY GETS A SECOND CHANCE    (Mike Rutherford/BA Robertson)
13. A BEGGAR ON A BEACH OF GOLD    (Mike Rutherford/BA Robertson)

CREDITS

PAUL CARRACK -- vocals, keyboards
MIKE RUTHERFORD -- guitar
PAUL YOUNG -- vocals
Adrian Lee -- keyboards
Steve Piggot -- keyboadrs
Tim Renwick -- guitar, bass
BA Robertson -- keyboards
Peter Van Hooke -- drums
Gary Wallis -- drums
Simon Hurrell, nick Davis, Rob Eaton, Paul Gommersall -- engineers
Barrie Lee Thorpe -- cover illustration
Wherefore Art? -- design
Michael Muller -- portrait photography
Patrick Steel -- photography

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