Customer Reviews

Collection

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

 

 

Made in UK in 2001, Serial# 544-429-2, Playing Time 79:17

This compilation lifts tracks up to BTO's 8th album, 1978's "Street Action".

The tracks aren't in chronological order, so you'll experience sonic differences while playing it. Like all "best of" packages, people will be satisfied/frustrated with the song selection.

Still, this disc presents a good profile of the band's music up to that point, from the jazzy "Blue Collar" through anthems like "Takin' Care Of Business", to their more direct and/or "brutal" approach like "Four Wheel Drive".

The disc is filled up to the max, and a nice intro to the stuff they created in the 70's.

OK, I have a confession to make. Firstly I'm not an aficianado of this band and therefore your not going to get an in depth analysis about how some track off their 1975 album should of made it on here blah blah blah. What you'll get is my overall impression of this CD from a long term hard rock fan who picked this disc up cheap to find out what the reputation of this classic rock band was actually based on.

The album cruises out of the blocks with mega hit and rock radio staple You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet which is required listening for anybody looking at the history of hard rock. It is perfect for parties, kicking back at home or long haul drives and if the whole album was this good then this would be a five star release - more in fact if such were possible.

Alas it's not all to the same standard. However we do get the hits - stuff like Takin' Care of Business and Lookin' Out for #1. Further there are the sorts of songs that make you want to check out a bands back catalogue which really is why you buy these things in the first place. There are tunes like Four Wheel Drive with its pleasant use of chorus, Welcome Home with it's sort of stop/start riffing and the second track, Roll On Down The Highway which is instantly infectious with it's good time hard rock fun.

Not all the tunes work however - particularly the mellower stuff like Flat Broke Love and Blue Collar ain't much chop either and the less said about the dreary and overly repetitive I'm In Love the better but taken as a whole this CD does work a certain consistent charm. Almost trucker music in its slow burn boogie and really, not much difference musically from electrified country, just with less adherence to country music subjects. In fact the one cross reference that came to me was that if the riffs of ZZ Top were less chunky they'd probably sound a lot like this with their blues based structures and down home philosophical delivery.

As the album drew to a close I knew, on first listen, that this was enough Bachman Turner Overdrive for me. But I also knew that since I'd picked it up cheap I still rated it as a good buy. And also that it would grace my stereo again in the future and that a few tracks off it would be plucked to adorn a personally burnt 'best of' disc of various artists for hanging out with mates, or just whiling away a lazy Sunday afternoon.

If you're going to do a 79 minute compilation of BTO from their 1970's stuff, "Let it Ride" absolutely MUST BE INCLUDED. It was their first hit- the song that "broke the band" and many people's favorite BTO song (mine too). It's very annoying when record companies deliberately leave off key cuts so that we have to buy another CD to get the basics. And for BTO, "Let it Ride" is as basic as it gets.
That said, what's here is fine. Some good choices were made in the album cuts that were included. However, if you're doing 10 minutes on BTO's best, let alone 79 minutes, include the basics.

BTO was formed from the remnants of The guess Who by Randy Bachman and CF Turner.This band though were Canadian but sounded more a band from the American south with their triple lead guitar attack and sounds similar to bands like the Allman brothers and Lynyrd skynyrd.This collection which I possess represents some of their best songs like YOU AINT SEEN NOTHING YET,GIMME YOUR MONEY PLEASE,LOOKING OUT FOR #1,FOUR WHEEL DRIVE,NOT FRAGILE,TAKIN CARE OF BUSINESS and HOLD BACK THE WATER.Very very highly recommended.