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On the plus side, since the group was never a "Top 40" producer of hits and exemplified the anti-pop bands of their time, this collection is spared the excessive "fluff" which often plagues the greatest-hits compilations of more mainstream, popular bands. This greatest hits compilation is an excellent introduction to The Band's music, exhibiting the strengths and weaknesses associated with any such anthology. Omitted are a few of the best live versions of songs, including several of those from The Last Waltz. If you are a fan of The Band and you wish to introduce a friend to one of the best groups they've never heard, share this CD with them. If they like it, then give them a copy of "The Last Waltz" and they'll be well on their way.
The best known songs are here ("The Weight," "Up On Cripple Creek," "The Night The Drove Old Dixie Down") as well as a few choice selections, like their cover of Dylan's "When I Paint My Masterpiece." I would guess that since "The Last Waltz" was on a label other than Capitol, that explains its exclusion from this set, but nothing from the live "Rock of Ages" seems a bit odd. They embraced American mythology even though they were primarily Canadian, maybe even more so than some of their US Counterparts.
In the days of free-form FM radio, slow-jam workouts like "Tears of Rage" would have filled the airwaves as a sort of musical education; these days it sounds almost archaically hippiesque. For a group of musicians that started out as sidemen to become a musical institution in their own rite, The Band are difficult to pigeonhole.
The Band often pulled together strong elements of various styles (gospel, Memphis Soul, folk, rock) into the same song, like "I Shall Be Released" or the well known "The Weight" to synthesize these elements down to a sort of elemental beauty. Given that maybe "Up On Cripple Creek" even plays on classic rock (if any of The Band gets played at all), this best of serves as a profile to one of the world's most influential groups.The Band never really "rocked" in the sense that, say, a Deep Purple did, but they bent the musical talents that ventured around them to their peculiar gravity.
When folks like Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and even Neil Diamond are following your lead, you know you're wielding a pretty powerful force. And when you added Garth Hudson's organ, you had a sound that no-one else was creating at the time.As one would expect, this single set leans heavily on the seminal first two albums, and on guitarist Robbie Robertson's writing.
Overall, a solid eighteen songs if all you want is a quick The Band fix.
Don't waste your money. Very poor. Producers do not do justice to this group's talent.
The Band didn't "decline". The Amazon reviewer, Andrew Bartlett, claims that the music on this CD "declines rather steeply on the final tracks" including "Acadian Driftwood"; however, "Acadian Driftwood" is one of the Band's most beautiful, heartfelt and moving songs.
I've always thought that this is done in an attempt to get you to buy other of the groups' CDs. But if you want to own only one compact disc by the Band, then this is an excellent choice, although I'd recommend the Band's two-disc compilation, TO KINGDOM COME - THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION, even more.
There are a lot of "best of" and "greatest hits" compilations out there that exclude at least one or two essential tracks. But the other sixteen are just about the Band's best sixteen.
Of the eighteen tracks, I would have not included only two: "Time to Kill" and "Ain't Got No Home". Instead, in their place, I would have included "Mystery Train" and "Daniel and the Sacred Harp".
It's a personal favorite, and I'm sure it's a favorite of many of you out there. Music changed but, thankfully, the Band stayed the same.
No matter what album/compilation these guys were one of the most inventive groups of the 60's and that is saying something.
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