Producers: Mike Chapman, Giorgio Moroder, Richard Gottehrer, Craig Leon.

Compilation producer: Kevin Flaherty.

Recorded between 1977 & 1998. Includes liner notes by Steve Pafford.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Photographers: Adrian Boot; Ebet Roberts; Pieter Mazél; Armando Gallo; Bob Gruen; Duncan Raban; Fin Costello; Robert Roth.

Most devoted Blondie fans will already have the majority of the songs included on the first disc of this double-disc set. Alongside the band's biggest hits--"Heart of Glass," "Tide is High," "Call Me," and "Rapture"--GREATEST HITS also includes favorites like "One Way or Another" and "Sunday Girl" and lesser-known gems like "Picture This" and "Union City Blue."

But the real benefit of this package comes with disc number two, which features 15 videos of the band in its prime. For fans who never got to see Blondie back in the day, the "vision" portion of this SOUND & VISION set is invaluable, lending a filmic dimension to the band's glamorous blend of punk, new wave, disco, and irresistible pop.

Greatest Hits distinguishes itself from the other Blondie compilations (of which there are several) by adding a DVD that contains 16 (all?) of the group's videos. A couple inconsequential remixes appear where original versions or other career highlights should be present, but otherwise, the audio disc does a fair job, even though it's basically retracing the steps of the compilations that came before it. Most of the essential material is here ("Heart of Glass," "Rapture," "Hanging on the Telephone," "One Way or Another," "Dreaming," "Atomic"). Some of the most devout fans will be irritated by the idea of buying the hits all over again in order to get the DVD, and the studio albums were reissued in 2001 with excellent remastered sound, so they really won't have any desire for all the overlapping content. Despite these issues, this set remains one of the best (and best looking) Blondie compilations, even without considering the videos. "Rapture Riders," a very silly and perverse mash-up of "Rapture" with the Doors' "Riders on the Storm," is included as a bonus track. [This compilation was released later in the U.S. as Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision, but it does not include "X Offender" or "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear." Otherwise, the two titles are the same.] ~ Andy Kellman

Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision distinguishes itself from the other Blondie compilations (of which there are several) by adding a DVD that contains 16 (all?) of the group's videos. A couple inconsequential remixes appear where original versions or other career highlights should be present, but otherwise, the audio disc does a fair job, even though it's basically retracing the steps of the compilations that came before it. Most of the essential material is here ("Heart of Glass," "Rapture," "Hanging on the Telephone," "One Way or Another," "Dreaming," "Atomic"), but it's inexplicable that neither "X Offender" nor "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear" made they cut, especially when they are on the edition of this release that came out in Germany. Some of the most devout fans will be irritated by the idea of buying the hits all over again in order to get the DVD, and the studio albums were reissued in 2001 with excellent remastered sound, so they really won't have any desire for all the overlapping content. Despite these issues, this set remains one of the best (and best looking) Blondie compilations, even without considering the videos. "Rapture Riders," a very silly and perverse mash-up of "Rapture" with the Doors' "Riders on the Storm," is included as a bonus track. ~ Andy Kellman

If you consulted a Blondie discography in the fall of 2002, you would see a slew of compilations listed, and you might wonder why a new Greatest Hits was needed. But a closer examination would reveal that there really is a niche into which such a collection would fall: that of a full-priced, single-disc, CD-era hits compilation covering the band's entire career. Although still in print, The Best of Blondie is a 12-track release from the LP era, first issued back in 1981 in between Blondie's fifth and sixth regular albums. 1988's Once More Into the Bleach combines Blondie and Debbie Harry solo tracks. 1993's Blonde & Beyond is a rarities set. 1994's The Platinum Collection fills two CDs and is thus pricey. 1995's The Remix Project contains remixes. There have also been short, discount-priced collections and overseas compilations, but the niche remains -- and Greatest Hits fills it. It contains among its 19 tracks all ten of the band's U.S. chart singles as well as their major U.K. hits that did not chart in America. "X Offender," Blondie's 1976 debut single, is included, and so is "Maria," their 1999 comeback hit. By sequencing the album out of chronological order, the compilers emphasize the band's eclecticism. You don't get to hear Blondie's evolution from their early bubblegum punk style into the efficient power pop of the Mike Chapman productions and on into ersatz disco, rap, and Caribbean music; everything is all mixed up. The tropical 1980-1981 hit "The Tide Is High," for example, is followed by the belligerent "X Offender" from four years earlier, and the tough-talking "Rip Her to Shreds" gives way to the early hip-hop of "Rapture." Chronological order would have been better, but the hits are all here. ~ William Ruhlmann