t.A.T.u. - The Best

Album Review

Given that t.A.T.u. only had two albums to their name when The Best arrived in the fall of 2006, it might seem like it was a little early for a greatest-hits album — which is both true and untrue. For most acts, such a quickly arriving hits compilation would be a little premature, but by 2006 the duo's lesbianism shtick was not only exposed as nothing more than a marketing gimmick, but they had also parted ways with their label, Interscope, which meant that their act was outdated and that they no longer had the support of a major label, so it was the perfect time to chronicle the half-decade where they were a Europop sensation. The Best does this exhaustively, offering up the hits — "All the Things She Said," "Not Gonna Get Us," "How Soon Is Now," "Friend or Foe," "All About Us," plus the new single "Gomenasai" — plus a bunch of remixes and some album tracks. Since a little t.A.T.u. can go a long way, it's best to get all the big hits in one place; the rest of the record might still be filler even on a hits disc, but at least it has all the big songs, which The Best certainly does, and that should satisfy any listener who considers the Russian duo a guilty pleasure.