8

Nearly men as usual.

Woah...woah, woah, woah, woah!

Perhaps The Charlatans were unsure of what type of remix they should release for their new best of album. The band probably spent time thinking should it be techno, should it be cheesy, should it French house and you know what, they seem to have settled on having the lot. This remix is all over the shop and even after repeated listens, it's hard to come out with a definitive feeling about it, as there is just that much going on.

From kicking off like a funkier All Saints song moving into one of the speeded up hits you hear on the television advertising the Euphoria albums, the first minute of the remix doesn't necessarily fill you with confidence, but then some massive drum thumps appear and the track takes a turn for the better

Tim Burgess's Mick Jagger on disco biscuits vocals still remain though and are the heartbeat of the new version, particularly as the song moves to the end.

So, it's a curiosity and worthy of novelty value but should it be the lead track for a single collection? In a way, it almost is perfect for The Charlatans because there cant be many bands who have always seemed like one step away from being massive before bad luck, wrong decisions or misfortune takes them away from the main stage. Everyone likes The Charlatans, but no one really loves them, those who do clearly haven't heard enough bands as The Charlatans are good but lack that inspiration of brilliance.

Running through the tracklisting of the album, there are at least 11 tracks that would benefit from being released again to a new public but no, someone decided a busy remix would be the best way of selling this album to all the non-believers. Yet again, the curse of The Charlatans strikes again and the nearly men remain just that.