The Cream of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel

The Cream of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
Compilation album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
Released	15 March 1999[1] 7 July 2008 (re-issue)
Genre	Pop, Rock
Length	69:23
Label	EMI Gold
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel chronology
More Than Somewhat – The Very Best of Steve Harley (1998) The Cream of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel (1999) Stripped to the Bare Bones (1999) Alternative Cover 2008 re-issue as "The Best of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel"

The Cream of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel is a compilation album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, featuring material from Cockney Rebel, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and Harley's solo career. The collection of sixteen tracks highlights the band's career spanning from 1973's The Human Menagerie to Harley's 1979 The Candidate album, as well as the non-album single "I Can't Even Touch You" from 1982. The album was released by EMI Gold on CD.^[2][3]

Background

The compilation, originally released in 1999, followed from another Steve Harley EMI compilation More Than Somewhat – The Very Best of Steve Harley, which had been released in 1998.^[4] The Cream of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel later entered the official UK Budget Albums chart during January 2006, where it reached #21 on 14 January 2006, and lasted within the Top 50 for four weeks.^[5]

The album was released in the UK only on CD by EMI Gold. On 28 February 2003 the album was made available as an online digital MP3 download.^[6] On 7 July 2008 the album was re-issued by EMI Gold for release in the UK and Europe as The Best of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel.^[7][8] This release featured new artwork, solely of Harley in front of a red background.^[9]

Track listing

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[10]

Dave Thompson of Allmusic wrote: "This 16-song compilation brings together an unchallenging but almost uniformly excellent roundup of Steve Harley's 1970s output. It brushes all of the expected high points - U.K. hit singles include the breakthrough "Judy Teen" and "Mr. Soft," the edgy "Mr. Raffles," the less palatable "Love's a Prima Donna" and "Here Comes the Sun," and, because no Harley collection would be complete without it, the chart-topping "Make Me Smile." The real meat, however, lies among the excerpted album cuts, as the compilers treat all seven original Harley/Cockney Rebel LPs with more or less equal respect - many fans would have drawn a line after the first three. But "White White Dove," "Roll the Dice," and the like all deserve a fresh hearing, and "The Cream of" emerges with almost unruffled consistency, and an overall impact that is all the more satisfying for being so unexpected."^[11]

Chart performance

Personnel

• Steve Harley - Lead Vocals, Producer (tracks 3-4, 7, 13, 15)
• Alan Parsons, Steve Harley - Producers (tracks 1-2, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12)
• Neil Harrison - Producer (track 14)
• Michael J. Jackson - Producer (track 10)
• Midge Ure - Producer (track 16)
• Artwork and design - P. Linard Marketing & Advertising Ltd.

References