Customer Reviews

Anthology

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This collection includes the best racks from Kozmic Blues, Cheap Thrills and Pearl, plus live versions of Down On Me, Bye Bye Baby, Get It While You Can and Ball And Chain, a song first made famous by Big Mama Thornton. My personal favorites include Piece Of My Heart, a juggernaut of a song with Big Brother & The Holding Company, To Love Somebody, her beautiful rendition of the Bee Gees song, Move Over, Me And Bobby McGee - these three from her masterpiece Pearl. It is interesting to trace the change in her vocal style from Kozmic Blues, through the Big Brother period and finally to Pearl where she found her true voice and to contrast the studio recordings with the raucous live versions of familiar songs. This album would suffice for anybody who just wants Joplin's most familiar work. For those who want more, I recommend the box-set for the full picture of this remarkable and tragic singer.

Janis Joplin was and still is a very accomplised artist and lyricist. However, I do have some issues with her lyrics. They are a bit meandering and she seems happy to be going on and on and that is not a good thing. Her vocals can be a bit harsh as well as if she had constant throat problems and she is not nearly as good a singer as other 60's artists. Yet, I do like her music and I do think that she could have used an editor that could have trimmed all the lines that are not needed and it would be perfect. This and some vocal training and it would perfetc. As it is, it is still good but not perfect so I give it 4 out 5 stars.