One of the first of the blissed-out rave acts to storm the charts, and also one of the longest lasting,
the Future Sound of London deserved a good singles compilation, and fortunately they get one with the Virgin retrospective
Teachings from the Electronic Brain. Their highest moments were virtually always their singles, and short-form tracks offer a much easier path to understanding the music of
Brian Dougans and
Garry Cobain than their occasionally bloated LPs.
Teachings from the Electronic Brain neglects nothing of real value, beginning with their first chart hit ("Papua New Guinea") and grabbing the best tracks from their albums
Accelerator ("Expander"), Lifeforms (the title track), the live-in-the-studio
ISDN ("Far-Out Son of Lung and the Ramblings of a Madman," "Smokin' Japanese Babe"), and
Dead Cities ("We Have Explosive"). Best of all, licensing requirements prevented the addition of material from 2002's half-baked
The Isness. ~ John Bush