Customer Reviews

20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of Chuck Berry

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've always looked at "greatest hits" albums as "starter" albums.
A great way to sample the artists work, then decide whether you want to further explore (ie purchase)more from their body of work. This collection from Chuck Berry serves the above premise to some degree. It is decent way to sample Chucks's music, especially for someone on a budget. But, only 11 tracks? Each logging in at about two minutes, on a medium that can hold 80 minutes of music. I'll let you do the math to see where this collection really comes up short, literally. My recommendation for single disc Chuck Berry compilation is "The Great Twenty-Eight" album, obviously containing 28 songs.
However, if you can afford a few extra bucks, I would highly recommend the "Anthology 2" album over "The Great Twenty-Eight".
And, if you can upgrade even further, opt for the Mount Olympus of Chuck Berry compilations, "The Chess Box", which boasts over 70 tracks on 3 discs.
****July 2006 Update. The release of "Definitive Collection" with it's 30 tracks makes it the definite single disc compilation of choice.****

If all you're looking for is an inexpensive sampling of this seminal Rock 'n Roller, then this slice, that features flawlessly re-mastered cuts, may be for you. But seriously, what is a Chuck Berry collection without "Little Queenie" or "Almost Grown"? Spend the extra bucks and get the two volumne collection, or wait for the upcoming "Anthology".

t's a shame that Chuck Berry is not universally recognized as one of the greatest rock lyricists and most innovative figures. This CD will convince even skeptics of his brilliance. Without Chuck Berry, there would be no Beatles, Rolling Stones or Kinks, or at least in the forms they eventually took.

This CD contains all of Berry's original recordings, pristine and beautifully remastered. Who can deny that his way with words was umatched: "He never, ever learned to read or write so well, but he could play a guitar just like a-ringing a bell..." It's a tragedy that most people have grown up listening to inferior musicians do paltry cover versions of the songs Berry wrote and performed better than anyone else.

This set is an absolutely essential component of any collection, of any genre. Chuck Berry was a pioneer with words and music and his influence is sorely underestimated today. Had Chuck Berry been born white, he would be regarded as a rock God instead of being neglected and virtually forgotten in many circles. The only problem is that 11 songs just doesn't begin to cover his catalogue. This is a great sampling, but incomplete.

A Chuck Berry collection with only 11 songs on it!?! There are some with as many as 28. Buy those instead.

Too few Chuck Berry songs on this CD. Better to get His Best Vol 1 & 2 or Great 28. This series is not useful or economical.

The thing about MCA's 20th Century Masters Series is that you have to find the compilations that include most the artist's key tracks. Many compilations in this series are missing key tracks. I feel that this series is not only a way for the record company to make money but also a way for those who are only minorly interested in a particular artist to get some good music cheaply. The remastering is exceptional on most of these compilations, and that makes buying them a plus. Chuck Berry is the perfect compilation because it has most of his key tracks, that means his hits, and that's all it has for a cheap price. I am not a huge Berry fan, but I feel I need to have his music in my collection seeing as he is one of the founding members of rock and roll. So, if you are a collector, but don't want to have every single Berry recording, this is an excellent cd to own. I think this is a must have for any rock collector.

The music is certainly great, not to mention groundbreaking, making Berry an essential entry in any music collection. However, there are so many other compilation albums to get before this one. The problem with skimpy single-artist compilations like these is, while they do serve a proper introduction, that after you begin liking the artist you have absolutely no use for the compilation. Almost every song here can be found on both "The Great Twenty-Eight" and the Chess "Anthology" release, two superior (and superiorly compiled) introductions to Berry's work. The songs on here are great (with the exception of "My Ding-A-Ling"), but honestly - way too brief. There is about twenty-five minutes worth of material, and a CD can hold up to eighty. A used copy of "The Great Twenty-Eight" probably costs less, get that instead.

I'll make this one quick.

Chuck Berry is a rock legend, no questions asked. At the age of 84, he is still touring regularly and still has the charm that made him great almost 60 years ago. That's why '20th Century Masters' is such a dreadful compilation.

Look, Chuck Berry deserves SO MUCH better. 11 songs? REALLY?!? Forget this. Seek out 'The Great Twenty Eight,' 'Rarities,' 'The Definitive Collection,' and if you want to hear what Chuck sounded like in the '60s, buy 'Golden Hits,' in which Chuck rerecords some of his classics, but with surprisingly great results. The recordings were made in 1967, and they sound surprisingly fresh.

The two positives? The sound quality is superb. And all 11 songs on here are classics. That's about it, though.

Seek any of those out. And go for the great Chess box set too. But avoid this like the plague.

NOT RECOMMENDED.

I'm irate. This disk doesn't have enough music on it. How dare someone market a disk that doesn't take up the full capacity of the medium! Especially as part of a group set of classic artists and most of the others have about 10-12 songs per as well. How dare they? I've almost a mind not to buy it. That'll teach'em.

But at least now there's a forum for people with hair trigger tempers, a gross sense of entitlement, and diahorrea fingers such as myself to unload himself, and thereby cleanse their soul, from this crass, corporate, greedy attack on my psyche. People better start doing things my way or else. Has anybody written their Congressman? All this Government Force lying around and someone gets away with putting out a CD with 31 minutes on it? The Feds better get their priorities straight.

The music is pretty good too, but Cousin Marvin was better....

As one of rock n' roll's forefathers, all of Chuck Berry's influence cannot be summed up onto one disc. We all know that. The Millenium Collection Series is just meant to give people who are not familiar with certain artists a taste of what they did.

Berry's playful singing, classic '50s guitar chugging, and wholesome credible look at adolescence is greatly showcased here. Songs that everyone knows like "Rock n' Roll Music", "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Johnny B Goode" will get your head bobbing even today. The songs are a product of that wonderful by-gone era of maltshops, drive-in movie theaters, and souped-up hot rods... Carefree and fun rock n' roll.