The Best of Foghat

Foghat

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B0000032AT
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,110 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Like so many other bands who formed in the early '70s, Foghat's sound was based upon the wails and moans of the blues guitar. Foghat took this basic structure and added a rowdy four-bar boogie feel to it, cranked the amps to 11, and unleashed a series of LPs that would achieve gold or platinum status. Best of Foghat captures the band's finer moments. "Slow Ride" with its funky-boogie bass line and guitar harmony leads was every air-guitarist's dream come true, and the long breakdown at the song's mid-point that finally erupted into scorching fret work epitomized the "big rock ending" of the 1970s. "Fool for the City" was another rush of rock and roll adrenaline, with its repeated chorus and steady straight four/four beat. "I Just Want to Make Love to You" also demonstrated singer Dave Peverett's bluesy growl, an influence that often seemed more prevalent in the band's guitar work. --Steve Gdula

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Foghat is great, but this collection has two major flaws., December 24, 1999

By	"[e-mail]" (Sacramento) - See all my reviews

For the average fan of Foghat, there are three songs in particular that they will buy this collection for. The three songs are, Fool For The City, Slow Ride, and I Just Want To Make Love To You. Unfortunately, both Fool For The City and Slow Ride are NOT the full length albums versions! This is a great disservice to the casual fan who doesn't want to invest in the albums. The shortened versions are simply not as good as the full-length versions, and the shortened versions are NOT the versions that the radio stations play. In order to get these two songs in their proper form, you will, thankfully, only have to purchase the Fool For The City album. But, I thought I'd warn anyone else out there thinking of buying this. Otherwise, this is an ok collection of their best songs.

(By the way, is it just me, or does Rhino seem to make a habit of putting shortened versions of hit songs on its compialations and greatest hits cds?)

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Here Come the Kings of Boogie, June 22, 2004

By	Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

OK we'll start off with the obligatory gripes.

"Slow Ride" is the single edit.
"I Just Want to Make Love to You" is the studio version and not the better known version from "Foghat Live."
And a whole bunch of great songs were left off this CD to be placed on a second Volume, which is inexplicably been deleted.

Everybody happy? Great. Now on to what really matters. Despite never getting the kind of praise that would have matched their peak popularity, Foghat were a people's rock band. Chances are pretty strong that, somewhere in America, a radio station is playing either "Fool For The City" or "Slow Ride" and someone is playing air boogie guitar nearby. During their glory run, from the albums "Energized" up to "Stone Blue," Foghat saddled up Chuck Berry, Al Green and Buddy Holly next to solid originals like the masters that they were.

The format was simple. Take a basic riff, turn it up very loud and boogie like anytime was party time. And don't be afraid to indulge in some hard core blues rock like "Take it or Leave It." Add to the mix that Lonesome Dave Peverett's distinct vocals were a cut above most basic rock bands and you had the winning formula for seventies rock and roll. This was such great party rock that I and a group of fellow senior classmates went to see Foghat rock out Hersheypark Arena in 1978 just days before graduation. (With Sweet opening on their "Love Is Like Oxygen" tour, no less...sigh!)

This 16 song anthology is a much better buy than the "Essentials" dozen, and if you really want some great rock, you certainly won't be amiss if you purchase "Fool For The City," "Foghat Live" or "Night Shift." But until someone decides that the out of print Volume 2 and this CD should be matched up and the single edits be replaced with their full length counterparts, remastered and given a decent set of liner notes, this will suffice as a not quite five star collection.

RIP Lonesome Dave....

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Where's the rest of SLOW RIDE?, December 3, 2005

By	njrobbo "Classic, Progressive, & Heavy" (Bayonne, NJ) - See all my reviews

Did you guys at Rhino think we've never heard it? It's the same as when you hear Light My Fire on some stations that cut it down to a little over 3 minutes. For that reason alone, I had to knock 2 stars off the record, not because of the record itself, but because of Rhino's gaff. You Rhino wizards thought enough to put all those extra tracks on the re-released Yes albums, how did you clowns botch this?