I originally bought the double cassette for this is the now defunct Woolworth's, these were the days when High Street shops actually had a selection of CD's, and i must have bought the double disc set in London i guess, there's definitely poorly chosen compilations, and then there's more inspired ones like this, disc one has a tendency to be Indie Rock, while disc two is more Classic Rock, i'm surprised how many of the tracks i really got into, there's a few duds, but on the whole it's crammed full of good rocking songs, a good variety and selection.
This compilation came out in 1997, the front cover is fairly hard hitting, i guess possibly artwork rather than a photo, but it's certainly realistic, the back inlay is great, i love it when each Artist and song are differentiated in coloured lettering, it makes it so much easier to read, plus it looks great.
The best tracks were 3, 5-6, 13, 15, 19, 22, 24, 27, 29, 31-32 & 36, now that's a lot of tracks, if i was pushed to whittle it down to just three to talk about, it would be 6, 24 & 29, and here's a detailed explanation as to why they really got me rocking,
6 Iggy Pop - The Passenger, a surprise inclusion, usually i think this song is fairly average, but today it just rocked, the constant chugging guitar actually works really well, the vocals sound as if they've been poorly recorded, but the whole thing has this 'trashy' feel to it, the song i guess is about a guy travelling as a 'passenger' throughout a city, and sees the underbelly of the bad side, seeing the city's 'ripped backsides', a good description, Iggy Pop gets quite intense towards the end, but it's that constant guitar chug that makes the song, i'm glad that i now don't find this an average song.
24 The Doobie Brothers - Long Train Running, a really funky track, excellent twangy guitar work, the band employ multiple guitars, and they're nicely layered, all working a different groove, but all unified into the song, and there's a nice bubbly use of bongos, the Vocalist [Tom Johnston] is so Bluesy, there's a central harmonica solo [also played by Tom Johnston], his solo is really quite intense and complex, building up quite a steam [1:30-1:53], a nice slice of funky Southern Rock.
29 The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary, for me the best of the three, and the track that hit me the hardest, a spacey intro, with delicious twangy guitar [0:04-0:17], so when the track explodes into action, it's a tremendous kick [0:17], now that's one of the most superb 'transitions' between an intro and the start of a song, it really gets me going, i guess it's a Goth track, and in that sense it's out of place, but it gives the album a real variety, Vocalist Ian Astbury has a certain angry delivery, perfect for the song, lyrics are fairly monotonous, there's no real story there, but it's the delivery that makes the song, a hard hitting simple beat on the drums, there's this gorgeous refrain near the end [3:03-3:17], where the instruments go quiet, so that the opening twangy guitar comes to the fore again, slightly sounding like a sitar, a great idea, the song ends not really on a fadeout, but on some more of that twangy guitar [4:05-4:17], getting nice and lazy, you know i really ought to get into some more of The Cult.
This compilation came out in 1997, the front cover is fairly hard hitting, i guess possibly artwork rather than a photo, but it's certainly realistic, the back inlay is great, i love it when each Artist and song are differentiated in coloured lettering, it makes it so much easier to read, plus it looks great.
6 Iggy Pop - The Passenger, a surprise inclusion, usually i think this song is fairly average, but today it just rocked, the constant chugging guitar actually works really well, the vocals sound as if they've been poorly recorded, but the whole thing has this 'trashy' feel to it, the song i guess is about a guy travelling as a 'passenger' throughout a city, and sees the underbelly of the bad side, seeing the city's 'ripped backsides', a good description, Iggy Pop gets quite intense towards the end, but it's that constant guitar chug that makes the song, i'm glad that i now don't find this an average song.
24 The Doobie Brothers - Long Train Running, a really funky track, excellent twangy guitar work, the band employ multiple guitars, and they're nicely layered, all working a different groove, but all unified into the song, and there's a nice bubbly use of bongos, the Vocalist [Tom Johnston] is so Bluesy, there's a central harmonica solo [also played by Tom Johnston], his solo is really quite intense and complex, building up quite a steam [1:30-1:53], a nice slice of funky Southern Rock.
29 The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary, for me the best of the three, and the track that hit me the hardest, a spacey intro, with delicious twangy guitar [0:04-0:17], so when the track explodes into action, it's a tremendous kick [0:17], now that's one of the most superb 'transitions' between an intro and the start of a song, it really gets me going, i guess it's a Goth track, and in that sense it's out of place, but it gives the album a real variety, Vocalist Ian Astbury has a certain angry delivery, perfect for the song, lyrics are fairly monotonous, there's no real story there, but it's the delivery that makes the song, a hard hitting simple beat on the drums, there's this gorgeous refrain near the end [3:03-3:17], where the instruments go quiet, so that the opening twangy guitar comes to the fore again, slightly sounding like a sitar, a great idea, the song ends not really on a fadeout, but on some more of that twangy guitar [4:05-4:17], getting nice and lazy, you know i really ought to get into some more of The Cult.
