REVIEW: Various Artists, VH1 Storytellers (Interscope)
- Scott Hudson
VH1's Storytellers series has been enormously successful, so it was certainly no surprise when the fine folks at VH1 released VH1 Storytellers, a compilation CD extracting best-of performances from the show. What was a huge surprise, if not a downright disappointment, was that the disc contains no stories. Let's face it, the allure of the show are the stories that inspired the songs, told by the artists in their own words, in their own voices. So if it's stories you want, you'll have to pull out the booklet that accompanies the disc and read them.
The disc does feature some fine performances from artists such as David Bowie, James Taylor, Stevie Nicks, The Bee Gees, The Pretenders, Counting Crows and Elvis Costello. But without the stories, there is nothing that sets this disc apart from any other big-time compilation disc you may find in your local record store. To VH1's credit, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of VH1 Storytellers will benefit City Of Hope programs in pediatric oncology, as well as other forms of cancer.
One can only hope that VH1 will learn from its mistake. And with recent installments to the show featuring such artists as The Stone Temple Pilots, Pete Townshend and Steely Dan, a second compilation disc could be rather interesting not only because of the great music, but the inspiring stories behind them.
As for this disc, the only story that was told, was the one VH1 told you when they packaged this disc and stamped VH1 Storytellers on the cover.
