WILDE, KIM

Those who are into irony have to appreciate the fact that Kim Wilde, England's top female pop-rocker of the 1980s, enjoyed her first major hit with the anthemic "Kids in America" -- for someone who was born and raised in the U.K., she sang quite convincingly about American youth. But Wilde had a lot more than a taste for the ironic going for her in the early to mid-1980s; the singer was very much in her prime when the recordings on this CD came out in 1981 and 1982. At the time, Wilde's forte was synthesizer-minded new wave -- an approach that serves her well on "Kids in America," "Water on Glass," "View from a Bridge" and other melodic yet exuberant hits found on Greatest Hits. Other high points of this collection, which EMI put out in 1996, range from the ska-influenced "2-6-5-8-0" to the angry "Ego" and the gutsy "Words Fell Down." As much as Greatest Hits has going for it, however, it's far from the last word on Wilde; essential hits like "Love Blonde" and "Child Gone Away" are missing. Nonetheless, Greatest Hits can serve as a rewarding introduction to her Rak output of the early 1980s. Alex Henderson.

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