The Band - Greatest Hits
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Free Music Notes for Greatest Hits
Free Music Review: Buy the early albums instead.
Hit: 3 Stars
The Band is by all accounts seminal, legendary, and awe-inspiring. What else would you expect from a group that could get away with naming itself "The Band"? For some reason, however, the great songs just haven't yet been sequenced in a coherent "hits" package. Maybe it's just not possible. To those unfamiliar with The Band, the individual songs on this CD will probably not seem drastically different in approach and style. To those people, I'm sure, it all sounds vaguely like what is categorized these days as "Americana". For those who have had a chance to wade deep into the aural landscapes of the albums, this effort at plucking songs for a retrospective probably isn't any more satisfying than previous compilations.
If you really want the most accurate retrospective, I'd suggest "The Last Waltz", which is the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's film documenting a final concert at which the Band invited old friends and mid-70's highlighters to join them in one last shebang. Mavis Staples singing in "The Weight" on that album is an astonishing vocal performance.
Don't get me wrong; these selections are all worthy, and those who put them together did an admirable job in trying to incorporate the popular hits with those that struck a chord primarily in Band junkies. But if you're a close listener, I just don't think this selection, or any sampler of this band's oevre, can ever be as satisfying as listening to "Music from Big Pink", or "The Band", without adornment.
I will say, though, that those who bought earlier "greatest hits" compilations should be happy to know that "Acadian Driftwood" is included on this CD. That song shone like a jewel in the otherwise leaden "Northern Lights - Southern Cross".
For those not familiar with the Band but have been hooked by hearing "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down" or "Up on Cripple Creek" on the radio, buying this CD should not be a disappointment. The men who comprised this group are each among the finest, most creative, most emotive artists that have ever played rock music. But there's a case to be made that this group's great albums, like the aforementioned "Music from Big Pink" and "The Band", are so cohesive and powerful standing alone, that a greatest hits effort can only seem haphazard and spotty in comparison.
Free Music Review: A valid effort, but true fans will want the remasters.
Hit: 3 Stars
There is no question that The Band are musicians best appreciated and understood by taking the time to listen to their albums individually. That is the only way to experience the impressive creativity and diversity of their music, and to see the occasional near perfection - as well the occasional clunker -in their truly original body of work. That said, if you are not such a purist that the mere thought of a "Best Of" makes you shudder, this is a valid effort at bringing together a retrospective, and quite frankly, I'm glad to not have put in Cahoots just hear the the two songs I like off of it. All fans will miss something here and may take issue with some choices (I immediately noted the absence of a "Ring Your Bell" from Northern Lights Southern Cross and "Jemima Surrender" from The Band, and question if "Saga of Pepote Rouge" is the best representation from Islands). The thing I liked best about this CD is the liner notes, which include great descriptions of the instruments, and the techniques used to play them, on certain songs. The notes also give due credit to Robbie Robertson, not only for his highly skillful, miminmalist guitar style but for his songwriting abilities. At his finest, no one has written better narrative folk/rock songs than Robertson. The other great thing about this CD is the sound. I also got the remasters of Music from Big Pink and The Band when I got this album, and my old CDs of NLSC and Islands sounded so flat and sad in comparison I think I will wait for those remasters before listening to them again!Free Music Review: It's All About the Music
Hit: 3 Stars
The Band has been rather mercilessly packaged and re-packaged since its breakup in the late 1970s. This greatest hits collection faces a rather daunting task -- collect the best moments of one of the greatest of all American rock groups.Capitol's re-packaging of the Band's monumental first two albums and their less stellar followups deserves some praise; this one seems much more like a moneymaking ploy. Four tunes each from "Big Pink" and "The Band" anchor this compilation, with the remaining 10 tunes scattered from "Stage Fright" to "Islands."
Still -- it's all about the music, and you can't go wrong with selections like "The Weight," "Tears of Rage," "Up On Cripple Creek," etc. "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" doesn't usually make it to these compilations so it's nice to see it here. Likewise with "Acadian Driftwood."
The re-mastering job sounds much better on the later tracks, particularly "Life Is A Carnival." To my ears, the tracks from the first three albums had a bit of a pronounced tape hiss. Too bad "The Last Waltz" is on another label -- it would have been good to hear some of those selections (particularly "Evangeline") here.
A greatest hits package could probably serve most bands (KISS and Foreigner come to mind) but not The Band. If any of these songs interest you, skip this and head for the original albums. This is just for the first-timers.
Free Music Review: Five star music, three star compilation
Hit: 3 Stars
While this compilation does an okay job of presenting a fairly decent cross-section of the classic lineup Band's recordings, there's several caveats that make it much less than it could have been. Firstly, the track listing misses out a great many essential Band recordings. Granted that one disc was never going to tell the whole story, there's still some curious omissions (although I'm delighted by the presence of Ain't Got No Home from the sorely underrated Moondog Matinee, and Acadian Driftwood, the last great Robertson song). Secondly, the sound has been sonic-reduced and gussied up, but it also seems to have taken some of the guts out of the music. There's something rather thin about the sound of Danko's bass, and the drums are often far louder than they were on the original recordings. Thirdly, the title: 'Greatest Hits'? How hackneyed can you get? And if there was one thing the Band never were, it's hackneyed. All in all, if you want the 'hits' (defined as 'Those Songs They Always Play On Radio'), okay; but you'd probably be better off buying Big Pink or the brown album and diving in head-first, since once you hear this music you'll want to own it all anyway.Free Music Review: A decent effort, but not an adequate collection
Hit: 3 Stars
This album is good start for those who have not heard much of The Band's work before (also the Brown Album is a good start too). But this collection will not satisfy fans like myself; let me list just a few songs missing: "This Wheel's on Fire", "We Can Talk", "Unfaithful Servant", and "Don't Do It". It would have been much better if this collection would have been expanded to two discs.