China Crisis - Diary-A Collection (1992)

Released by EMI in the U.K., Diary: A Collection is a rather different summary of China Crisis' discography compared to Virgin's China Crisis Collection, released in 1997. China Crisis Collection contains seven songs not featured here, including "Working With Fire and Steel," the group's only U.S. hit. That will likely be an instant deal breaker for casual stateside fans. Even without considering that miscue, Diary is inferior, favoring a handful of lesser album tracks over smarter selections -- such as "Arizona Sky," "It's Everything," "No More Blue Horizons," and "Best Kept Secret," none of which are included. It does present a suitable representation of the group's work, but it's far from the best one that could've been assembled.