Yet another confusingly self-titled House of Love product (this one pictures all five members on the cover), this Rough Trade-through-Creation release pairs the Shine On and Real Animal 12" singles, adding a few extras. On the vinyl version, you get the six tracks from the two original singles plus "Welt" and "The Hedonist." The CD version adds "On the Hill" and "Loneliness Is a Gun." Due to its quite rare status (it was, however, reissued in 2001 as part of the 1986-1988 package), the compilation often gets overlooked for its quality; compared to the band's first studio album, this matches it in nearly every respect. "Plastic" and "Nothing to Me" are both prime House of Love, gracefully lulling and delicate. "The Hedonist" would later be re-tooled for the 1990 album on Fontana; instead of the loosely rocking version found later, the one found here is less realized and somewhat formative. "Shine On" is another one that received later re-modeling; though not as excellent as the smoother, more popular take from three years later, this one is interesting for its extremely generous use of reverb and rumpa-thump drum intro. "Real Animal" bombed on the British charts, which remains something of a puzzler. Probably the band's only true rave-up, the raucous tune would have fit nicely alongside the furious strummers of the Wedding Present, who were BBC favorites at the time. Other highlights include the instrumental "Love" and "Loneliness Is a Gun," which later wound up on Best Of. They weren't quite as focused at this stage, but the fragile beauty from the band's inception is undeniable.
(by Andy Kellman, All Music Guide)