New born eyes always cry with pain, at the first look at the morning sun...

The first thing I could say about Chris Rea is that an analogy of a “poor man’s Eric Clapton” can be said. Second thing is that he’s a “poor man’s Eric Clapton in his wussy My Father's Eyes years”. The Best Of Chris Rea: New Light Through Old Windows is like a studio “hits” concert, with re-recordings of Rea’s past hits as well as some new songs. Released in 1988, it really sounds like it’s from 1988 (in my mind, 1988-1989 were the worst years in pop music ever. Worse than the bathwater-safe early 60s.). His one major hit, “Fool (If You Think It’s Over)” is here, though in a safer, smoother arrangement. The comforting ode to getting over a young love is a winner in any form, but it would've been nice to hear the original on here. The rest of the album for me was kind of a bust, almost like listening to Dire Straits outtakes. There’s a couple of OK tracks on here, like the pseudo-rocking “Working On It” and the totally dentist-office-by-the-beach breeziness of “On The Beach”, while most of the collection is kind of dated and stale, from the Knopfler-aping “Let’s Dance” to the raspy “I Can Hear Your Heartbeat”. “Shamrock Diaries” and “Stainsby Girls” attempt the nostalgia route without interest, though Rea comes through in the end with “Steel River”, with does capture the workingman theme without too much cheese. There’s been better compilations of his spotty output since then, but the only thing that really stands out is searching for the original “Fool”.

Grade: C-
Best Cuts: “Fool (If You Think It’s Over)”, “Steel River”
Weakest Links: “I Can Hear Your Heartbeat”, “Ace Of Hearts”, “Stainsby Girls”

The Best Of Chris Rea: New Light Through Old Windows hit #92 in the US and #5 in the UK.
"Let's Dance" hit #81 pop US and #12 in the UK.
"Working On It" made #73 pop, #1 rock, and #53 in the UK.
"Ace of Hearts (original)" made #78 in the UK.
"Josephine (original)" hit #67 in the UK.
"On The Beach" hit #9 adult contemporary and #12 in the UK.
"Fool (If You Think It's Over) (original)" made #12 pop, #1 Adult Contemporary, and #30 in the UK.
"I Can Hear Your Heartbeat (original)" made #60 in the UK.
"Stainsby Girls (original)" hit #26 in the UK.
"Driving Home For Christmas" hit #53 in the UK.

To Listen: "On The Beach" (link)

To Buy: You can go to websites like here and here.

and here's a clip of Chris Rea performing the original version of "Fool (If You Think It's Over)"...



Here's the video for "On The Beach"...