Various Artists [Rock Moods] I bought this quite a while back, in the late Nineties, it's now something i wouldn't particularly consider, as i'm quite endeared to two disc sets, but this one has a high percentage of real gems on it, and has a very good mix of different well known hits, and yet is not so different that it loses a vague theme to it, and over the years i've been slowly endeared to this disc.
In listening to this disc today, i was very impressed with tracks 6, 9, 14 & 17, and i would like to give each one of these a little synopsis,
6 George Michael - Heal The Pain, a very acoustic song, strumming guitars and tambourines, and a nice bongo beat percussion, i like the way that on the chorus's George Michael interrupts himself on each line in overdubs, never really been touched by this song before, but today it really hit me, a nice breathy song.
9 Steve Winwood - Valerie, this is a tremendous song, however this mix isn't so strong as others i've heard, the keyboard synths are great [and the solo too 2:42+], and it's a song that never lets up, it's intensity keeps growing, the chorus is fantastic, notice the odd deep and loud beats every now and then, excellent.
14 Del Amitri - Nothing Ever Happens, this is Del Amitri's best song, a very thoughtful song as far as the lyrics go, a song against an auto robotic lifestyle, we're all so much on automatic pilot to really notice what really matters, the song slowly develops into a nice frenzy, very acoustic too.
17 Black - Wonderful Life, it's that constant and mesmerizing keyboard beat throughout that really does it for me [0:10+], and the marimba / steel drums sounds at the end of every chorus is great [1:23+], i just like the ebb and flow of things, it creates nice waves that really roll over me, and a sax solo too! [2:54+].
