Customer Reviews

Best Of: Slash Years

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As great as it is to have the whole of the 1st album The Longest Day available at last on cd for this compilation it seems an opportunity lost not to have spread the selection more evenly over the first 3 albums. It's hard to call really because if they never release the 1st album on cd then this will be indispensable. Nonetheless this could only be a minimum 5 star review. The Del Fuegos were (please get together again guys)one of the most underrated bands ever and should have made it absolutely huge. They had everything you'd ever want from a rock and roll band but what set them miles apart from other bands of the time was their excellent songwriting (for a starter just listen to Backseat Nothing, I Still Want You and I Can't Take This Place). The 2nd album Boston, Mass. is my favourite of the 3 and it's criminal that they left off two of the best songs (Hold Us Down & especially the blistering Shame). The 3rd album is great,very underrated and although not as good as the first two it would have been nice to have had some more songs on the compilation such as Long Slide (for an out), Town Called Love and Name Names.
All this said, I can 100% recommend this album to anyone who loves rock and roll. They were an absolutely fantastic band and unbelievable live and let's hope one day all the albums are re-released on cd plus maybe a live cd and dvd (there must be stuff recorded - it doesn't hurt to dream). PLAY LOUD!

For anyone who spent even a little time "Left of the Dial" back in the 80's, you will know exactly what I mean when I say that it is a very disheartening state in music when bands like the Del Fuegos, Green on Red, Guadalcanal Diary and the Beat Farmers have so many albums currently out of print. Having suffered the unthinkable by selling back my vinyl in the late 80s with the intention of rebuying all of my favorite albums on CD, then putting it off and putting it off, I soon found myself without copies of many of these, simply put, incredible albums.

The Best of the Del Fuegos, The Slash Years was more than a pleasant surprise. Getting nearly all of The Longest Day and Boston, Mass. on one CD was a dream come true. Now my CD collection is one step closer to being complete.

Songs such as Coupe Deville, Don't Run Wild, Backseat Nothing, Have You Forgotten and Its Alright sound as fresh today as they did 15 years ago. This it the type of album that will make you feel sorry for today's teenagers because they have nothing that compares to this with current bands.

Gone are the days of flipping through thousands of records at the locally owned record store, looking at guest musicians, producers and bands mentioned in the "thank yous" hoping to find that next great band to wear out on your turntable. The Del Fuegos were one such band and this CD is definitely one to wear out on your CD player.

Don't let this one "Fade to Blue".

I've been waiting for "the longest day" to come out on cd forever. The only thing this album is missing is that original cover-LOUD and simple just like the band. Already have two or three Boston Ma. cd's and a couple of coffee stained tapes and two worn out albums. Only two songs omitted that were required-"Shame" and "Long slide for an out". Love the Fuegos, just wish the five years I lived in Boston were when they were in their prime. Now we need a live album from about the time I saw them-1985.

I don't think of this compilation as a best of disc,(though it is, definitely), but rather the first time to my knowledge that the brillant debut by the Del Fuego's "The Longest Day" is finally on cd. This compilation included the whole album which almost brought tears to my eyes. They then filled it up with all but a couple of songs from the equally good "Boston, Mass" and added my two favorite songs from their third album "Stand Up". What a great disc of great music. If you are unfamiliar with the Del Fuegos, but like good roots rock music, you will love this disc. Don't let this one pass you by!

This is a near perfect compilation of the 3 Slash albums by the Del Fuegos. Hearing it now it takes me right back to college when I first bought Boston Mass on vinyl. I have to resist the temptation to sit in a dimly lit room and crack a cold beer and listen peacefully.

Since the tracks aren't listed let me get to the point; The Longest Day is included complete. All but 2 songs (Shame & Hold Us Down) from Boston Mass and just 2 songs from Stand Up. My only complaint here would be that "Shame"; my favorite song by them is left off. You can't have everything I guess. Stand Up did get slighted but lets face it, it wasn't as good as the first two, but I am still surprised that only 2 songs (Wear it Like a Cape & I Can't Take This Place) are included. But then again I wouldn't want any of the others left off.

There was never anything fancy about the Del Fuegos but it still sounds great and it really changed the way I listened to music. They, along with a few others, got me off the pointless Journey/Triumph/Bon Jovi treadmill of top 40/AOR rock. Dan Zanes & company sounded like they meant every line of every song. So this is definitely raw 80's style garage rock at its finest and with lines like -I love the way you look in my fireman's hat- you know you can't go wrong. I am still sorry they broke up but this cd almost erases my disappointment. They will rock forever!

BEST OF THE DEL FUEGOS: SLAH YEARS is an oustanding anthology of this great lost Boston band, including all of their debut album (THE LONGEST DAY), most of their second (BOSTON, MASS.), and two songs from their third. It would have been even better, though, if the first two albums had been included in their entirety, along with five or six songs each from the third and fourth albums. Given the extra space available on a CD, or the possibility of a double-disc set, it could have been done. Still you can't argue with what IS here, especially the poignant, cautionary "Don't Run Wild", which was actually written as a warning to a young pregnant woman, but could be interpreted as a general warning against the road to ruin. Course Of Nature bandleader Mark Wilkerson and actor Freddie Prinze, Jr., the latter of whom lost his father to suicide at the age of ten months, must have heard it that way, because they kept their heads and ended up with, respectively, actresses Melissa Joan Hart and Sarah Michelle Gellar, thus proving that songs can seep into the consciousness many years after their initial release. When I do get to hear the song, it'll probably inspire me to hang up more pictures of SMG as a deterrent to self-indulgent behavior. Even so, it's not the only great song here, even if it's obviously the one that reached the most people and still gets played on some classic rock stations (most notably Portland, Maine's WBLM-FM). This CD belongs in any great roots-rock collection alongside Southern rock bands such as the Allmans, Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, and the Outlaws, as well as heartland rockers like Springsteen, Joe Grushecky, Tom Petty, Seger, and Mellencamp.

Worth getting for the entire first Del Fuegos' album. Almost all of Boston, Mass. is included and a sample of Stand Up. Great quality!

It's really incredible that one of the best american groups of the 80's was completely out of print. Fortunately for me, I conserve all my vinyls ready to play. And, fortunately, an english company has made the obvious: to edit on CD this false compilation (complete first disc, near complete second disc, and two songs from the third).

But this great band is from Boston. Some justice, please. Urgent reedition needed for the 3 first albums on CD. Complete and with their original sleeve...

Dont Run Wild and that is the kind of song you want to hear, no make that have to hear when your crusing in your ride and you look over at the car right next to you and in that car there is a great looking female that you're sure just checked you out a smiled.
You pray for no police to be within 5 miles of you and your on a stretch of road that has curves like the fine babe in the car and no stop signs like that ring on your finger has given you.
But ahhh that dont matter right at that moment because you start to hear the thumping of the guitar and the strains of, "Oh baby whats gone wrong, we dont have no fun like we use to"
Hit the gas and be cool once again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just buy it... can't image anyone not liking about %80 of whats presented here. There are a few songs that are flat out perfection. You won't regret this buy in the least. Very underrated band.