With the end of the year, labels always rush to release a flurry of greatest hits and other compilations designed to be the "safe" year end gift. Don't know what to get for that special someone? A greatest hits package!
Usually, they don't tear up the charts, and most reviews conveniently omit track listings - which is a pivotal reason to consider buying a compilation when having many of an artist's previous releases. Here's some of the recent reissue packages:
REVIEW: Iggy Pop, Nude and Rude: The Best Of (Virgin)
Iggy Pop had always seemed to remain in the shadows; often cited by others as one of the leaders of the punk movement from his time in the late 60's and early 70's with the Stooges, but never achieving much commercial success.
His longevity helped spawn his breakthrough hit "Candy" with the B 52s' Kate Pierson at a time when radio stations were looking for established artists with viable commercial songs, but even ignoring that one track, it's hard to encapsule 30 years of ground breaking music on one CD. Nude and Rude does a fairly good job of it, including four songs ("Funtime", "Nightclubbing", "China Girl", and "Lust For Life") co-written with the man who always seemed to overshadow Iggy, David Bowie: "The Passenger", with its hook that would never leave a rebellious youth's head, and classics such as "Search & Destroy" and "Real Wild Child". A solid summary of a nearly impossible task: capturing the history of Iggy Pop. TRACK LISTING: I Wanna Be Your Dog, No Fun, Search & Destroy, Gimme Danger, I'm Sick Of You, Funtime, Nightclubbing, China Girl, Lust For Life, The Passenger, Kill City, Real Wild Child, Cry For Love, Cold Metal, Candy, Home, Wild America
REVIEW: Huey Lewis & The News, Time Flies: Best Of (Elektra)
Combining 70's AM radio backup vocals with horns (sometimes the Tower of Power), some doo-wop and a bar band attitude, Huey Lewis & The News never garnered much critical praise, but satisfied the record buying public with albums such as Sports and Fore, which spawned a total of 10 Top 40 hits between them.
The band once refused to issue a greatest hits album by reasoning that it would "signal the end of our career". The four new tracks which buttress this compilation are unfortunately the weakest tracks on here; only the first single "100 Years From Now" comes close to approaching their stellar output during those hit filled years. It would have been better spent including more of their hits, including the curious omission of the #1, Lewis-Bruce Hornsby tune, "Jacob's Ladder". 1983 and 1986 seem so long ago... TRACK LISTING: The Heart Of Rock & Roll, Heart And Soul, Doing It All For My Baby, Do You Believe In Love, Trouble In Paradise (Live), The Power Of Love, If This Is It, Bad Is Bad, Workin' For A Livin', It's Alright, Stuck With You, I Want A New Drug, 100 Years From Now, So Little Kindness, 'Til The Day After, When The Time Has Come BEST SURPRISES: "Trouble In Paradise (Live)", formerly only on the U.S.A. For Africa collection; a-cappella "It's Alright" SURPRISING OMISSION: #11 Couple Days Off; #1 Jacob's Ladder, #3 Hip To Be Square, #3 Perfect World, 6 other charted singles
REVIEW: Grateful Dead, The Arista Years (Arista)
When Jerry Garcia passed away, adults grieved more than for any other rock star - with the exception of John Lennon - than anyone else star during the last 20 years.
And, until now, the only studio compilations of the Dead were complete only through the mid 1970's. With the release of The Arista Years, pieces of Americana fall into place as seen through the eyes of the most successful touring band in history.
Extensive and thorough liner notes by Richard Gehr and Blair Jackson help solidify this collection for even casual fans, but it's the music that takes center stage - from the 50's sound of "Alabama Getaway" to their actual, bonafide, top 10 hit of "Touch of Grey". And those aren't the radio edits that appear on The Arista Years, but the original full length songs in their unadulterated formats.
One Deadhead friend of mine said that "There is no way to truly capture the Dead from studio records". That might be part of the reason why 35 minutes of this double disc set comes from live shows, including "Eyes of the World" with an appearance by Branford Marsalis. Marsalis' appearance, which closes out the second disc, is representative of the different styles the Dead could play and how the band could seamlessly fuse rock, jazz and blues into not just a band, or an album, but a way of life.
A one disc set would have sold out the Dead's loyal fans who don't buy singles, but full albums and go to the live shows. A 4 CD box set would have scared away casual listeners of the group. This 2 disc collection is probably the perfect compromise to let fans see the Dead's achievements of the last 20 years. TRACK LISTING: Estimated Prophet, Passenger, Samson & Delilah, Terrapin Station, Good Lovin', Shakedown Street, Fire On The Mountain, I Need A Miracle, Alabama Getaway, Far From Me, Saint of Circumstance, Dire Wolf, Cassidy, Feel Like A Stranger, Franklin's Tower Touch Of Grey, Hell In A Bucket, West L.A. Fadeaway, Throwing Stones, Black Muddy River, Foolish Heart, Built To Last, Just A Little Light, Picasso Moon, Standing On The Moon, Eyes Of The World
REVIEW: Simply Red, Greatest Hits (East West)
Kick-starting the career with a cover of the Valentine Brothers' "Money$ Too Tight To Mention", the rock-flavored tinge of Mick Hucknall quickly gave way to a pair of #1 faux-soulful ballads, "Holding Back The Years" and a cover of Harold Melvins & The Blue Notes' "If You Don't Know Me By Now". Even with minor chart success from tracks such as "Stars" and "The Right Thing", this was all most American listeners heard from Simply Red.
European audiences graced Hucknall with numerous top 10 singles including "Fairground", which takes a background hook from The Goodmen's techno club smash "Give It Up" which took *its* hook from Sergio Mendes' "Fanfarra", and the one new track, a collaboration with hot group of the month, The Fugees, on a remake of Aretha Franklin's "Angel". Probably a good bet for Americans who are listening to the "adult alternative" stations. TRACK LISTING: Holding Back The Years, Money$ Too Tight To Mention, The Right Thing, It's Only Love, A New Flame, You've Got It, If You Don't Know Me By Now, Stars, Something Got Me Started, Thrill Me, Your Mirror, For Your Babies, So Beautiful, Angel, Fairground SURPRISING OMISSION: None for American fans. European fans could have gotten a double disc with all of Hucknall's success.
REVIEW: Fine Young Cannibals, Finest (MCA)
Numerous bands have compilations which should only have contained two albums worth of material. While recording their third album, Fine Young Cannibals grew dissatisfied with the results, called it a day as a group, and decided their greatest hits album would contain two albums worth of songs plus three new tracks that had been prepared for the scrapped third album.
Lead singer Roland Gift and his partners - David Steele and Andy Cox, both formerly of the English Beat - have hooked up the best of The Raw and The Cooked and their self-titled debut to form Finest, a fourteen song collection.
"She Drives Me Crazy" still stands the test of time today, as do the covers of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds" and the Buzzcocks "Ever Fallen In Love". New tracks include the soft "The Flame", which draws instant comparisons to another of their hits, "I'm Not The Man I Used To Be", and the slightly 70s soulful feel of "Take What I Can Get" and "Since You've Been Gone". A nice addition if you're not one of the more than 2 million Americans who purchased The Raw and The Cooked, and European buyers can seek out the limited second disc, The Rare and the Remixed. TRACK LISTING: She Drives Me Crazy, The Flame, Johnny Come Home, Good Thing, Suspicious Minds, Blue, Ever Fallen In Love, Don't Look Back, Tell Me What, I'm Not The Man I Used To Be, Couldn't Care More, Funny How Love Is, Take What I Can Get, Since You've Been Gone
