The first in another long-running series of Italo disco round-ups from Germany's ZYX label, this set -- like most of the volumes that followed -- consists of three CDs that are, to be fair, spotty. The selections are presented in full, unmixed form and they add up to a mixed bag of hits and obscurities, most of which were released during the mid-'80s, after Italo's 1982/1983 creative apex. Among the tracks included on this first volume are
Cyber People's "Polaris," Life Movies' "Love Me Now,"
Ken Laszlo's "Hey Hey Guy," Patrick Colby's "Mandrill," and the 1986 "DJ version" of "Jabdah,"
Koto's loving ode to Jabba the Hutt. ~ Andy Kellman