Customer Reviews

Look What I Did (Anthology)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As with most anthology's, there's bound to be a few tracks missing. We all have our favorites, which sometimes miss the cut. "Confessor" is inexplicably absent, and there's no "Eagles" stuff here. All of that would require a third CD. No, J.W. is the number one attraction in all of these songs, as the collection highlights Walsh's tremendous, unmistakable guitar work, and lyrical creativity. One of the bright spots includes a full length version of "The Bomber". This 2 CD collection also includes a simple song - by - song review, in booklet form, by Joe himself, that is quite interesting, and adds a bit of explanation to many of the tunes.
If you're a new Joe Walsh fan, this collection is a perfect place to start, and if you're an aging boomer (like myself), these tunes will bring back memories, and possibly introduce you to a few worthwhile bits you overlooked. I'm a tough grader, and this is a "5".

A re-mastered gathering of classic rock masterpieces and obscure rockers. Walsh's finest and well worth the price. Don't look for Eagles stuff because you won't find any. The long and complete version of "The Bomber" epitomizes his skills of brilliance. This is a must have for any serious classic rock music fan.

As fans of Joe Walsh already know, his gift for playing the guitar is almost unparalleled in the music world today. His talent has only improved through the years and he's playing and writing some of the best works of his career even as we speak. This anthology is a comprehensive look at his various styles through the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. As you listen you realize that Joe has style all his own and once a song begins, you immediately know it as Joe's! Even though this collection has all the hits we've come to love, it also has some lesser known songs that you may have forgotten about or never discovered. It's great to hear these songs again! I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is a Joe Walsh fan or anyone who wants to put the headphones on, lie back and listen to the master of guitar at work.

It doesn't get much better than this-almost all of Joe Walsh's hits are here, and so are a few hidden gems from his many great albums. "Look What I Did!" is a true journey, as seen through Walsh's music...beginning from his days with The James Gang and Barnstorm, through his successful solo career. The selections run the gamut from the incredible guitar work of "Funk 49" and the classic "Rocky Mountain Way," to the hilarious top 10 hit "Life's Been Good." There are many more great tracks as well, such as the reflective "County Fair," "The Bomber" (including the long-lost "Bolero" portion), and one of the jewels of Walsh's catalogue, "Decades." This collection also includes notes from Walsh himself about the tracks, and loads of great photos. Joe Walsh is often referred to as "The Clown Prince Of Rock And Roll," and his sense of humor is very present in this collection, but so is his brilliance and God-given musical talent.

If you're a Joe Walsh fan, or a fan of his career then you'll really like it as it IS a step in the complete Joe direction but is NOT.

"The Confessor" which I personally think is a brilliant song but NOT included as well as "15 Years" from the same CD.

Waffle Stomp is STILL missing from this collection (Found on the Fast Times At Ridgemont High Soundtrack).

Though they DID finally get I.L.B.T.'s & Space Age Whiz Kids on there. Ordinary Average Guy is a live version, so they should have also included the studio version.

Come on, guys, get it right!! *Grin*

Alright. This is Joe Walsh. Most Rock fanatics will know him for his work with The Eagles; particularly on the Hotel California album. Most people who know Classic Rock will know him through his Rocky Mountain Way/Life's Been Good one, two punch combo, and perhaps Funk #49 and Walk Away from his early days with a Cleveland-based band called "The James Gang".

However, this guy has done so much more that could easily eclipse his known material, as well as other stuff done by those who set the standard. This is an obvious summary of his time.

Album #1- Yer' Album (Released by The James Gang); "Introduction" (Known as "Tuning Part 1" on here), "Take A Look Around", and "Funk #48" are included from this album. This compilation starts off on a rather odd note, since the guitar parts on "Tuning" are done by Jim Fox (James Gang drummer/founder) leaving Joe nowhere to be found! What's up with that? That track leads into "Take A Look Around"; a real good halfway-psychedelic tune, with a guitar solo that introduces Joe to us in a fantastic fashion. "Funk #48" is a fun, short tune that was really the band's song reserved for demos and sound checks. It's also fairly reminiscent of it's younger, more popular brother "Funk #49". Yer' Album is considerably obscure to the other James Gang albums, because this one didn't contain any big hits like Rides Again and Thirds did, but this compilation really needed the "Collage" track on here, since the liner notes mention it numerous times. Also, "Stone Rap" featured an incredible exchange of dialogue from the band, which would've been a novel substitute for the Walshless "Tuning". But what they put on here is acceptable.

Album #2- Rides Again (James Gang release; "Funk #49", "The Bomber Medley (Full Version)", "Tend My Garden", and "Ashes, The Rain & I" are included from this album. Hell, throw all the tracks from that album onto here; they're all great, but the sampling we have here is the best representation that you're going to get. Everyone should know "Funk #49". It's one of the tracks that immortalizes Joe, and one that floors Grand Funk Railroad in their own stamping grounds. The Bomber is a magnificent Guitar-heavy number that is very reminiscent of Led Zeppelin. It has to be heard to be believed; it's one of those tracks that makes Joe so underrated. Tend My Garden is a very respectable ballad, with some decent organ playing for good measure. Ashes, The Rain & I is one of the many folk/orchestral numbers that this band would end up doing during Joe's tenure. It's an OK track, but the James Gang Greatest Hits CD offers a better version of it. Great representation.

Album #3- Thirds (James Gang release); "Walk Away", "It's All The Same", and "Midnight Man" are included. This album is looked upon as the weaker of the Joe-era James Gang albums, since the other members of the band contributed their own material for the album, leaving Joe to only write half of the material for the album. Walk Away is a given, of course. Midnight Man is a fantastic composition, with the Neil Young kind of guitar dynamic that hits a home run on this track. It's All The Same is a very questionable track. Walk Away and Midnight Man are pretty much the best you're going to get from this album, but if we were going to have a third track from Thirds (clever, huh?), I would've rather had "Again". They covered the mandatory bases, here, though.

Album #4- Barnstorm (Joe Walsh w/ Barnstorm); "Here We Go", "Midnight Visitor", "Mother Says", "Turn To Stone", and "Comin' Down" are included. This album, at first, looks like it's overemphasized, but it's understandable, since MCA never chose to remaster this album. Here We Go struck me as a pretty listless track, upon listening, but others favor the track. Midnight Visitor is an OK-ish Tolkien Folk ballad. Mother Says is a song that, I'd say, is among of Joe's most underrated songs; very psychedelic, and catchy. Turn To Stone is also included from this album, which is great, since it is far superior to the "So What" album version. You gotta listen to the guitar on this one. Comin' Down is a very random pick for this compilation, but I guess Joe thought that this Anthology could've used it. It's not bad.

Album #5- The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get (Joe Walsh w/ Barnstorm); "Meadows" and "Rocky Mountain Way" are included. Both these tracks are academic, and they close the first disc out, but why only stop there??? No "Book Ends"? No "Dreams"?! Disappointing for sure, considering that this was Joe's breakthrough album. On a side note, Rocky Mountain Way ends with one of Joe's little hidden excerpts, for those keeping score...

Album #6- So What; "Welcome To The Club", "All-Nite Laundromat Blues", "County Fair", and "Help Me Thru The Night' are included. Welcome To The Club is kinda reminiscent to "A Life Of Illusion". Laundromat Blues is an amusing "working man" kind of ditty. "County Fair" I have mixed feelings over. Joe's guitar playing is amazing on this track, but the song is also kind of boring, and un-motivated at the same time. Help Me Thru The Night makes up for things, however, with Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Randy Meisner supplying some background vocals for good measure. "Time Out" could've been on here, but they still got good emphasis with this album. .

Album #7- But Seriously Folks; "Life's Been Good", and "Over And Over" are included. Life's Been Good is Joe's biggest track (and with good reason). Over And Over is one of the minor tracks from this album, but "At The Station" is a much more popular track, so it had to be on here. Oh, well.

Album #8- There Goes The Neighborhood; "A Life Of Illusion" is included. They got the big hit off the album; which is a really well-written song, even if it's really a rehash off of a Barnstorm song that never made it onto an album.

Album #9- You Bought It, You Name It; "Theme From Island Weirdos", "I Can Play That Rock & Roll", ""I.L.B.Ts", and "Space Age Whiz Kids" are included. Over-emphasizing comes in a very bad way, here. It would've been perfectly acceptable if just I.L.B.Ts was included, but they got some of the most mediocre stuff that Joe was making at the time on here. Theme From Island Weirdos is the very tired intro to I Can Play That Rock & Roll; a monotonic Guitar Rock song that Joe stated as being a tribute to the Rolling Stones. I found I.L.B.Ts to be mildly humorous, so that's a song that's worth listening. Space Age Whiz Kids, to put it mildly, is a Pop/Techno nightmare. If it weren't for the Talkbox in the beginning, I would not have distinguished it as a Joe song. Yuck! Bad selections there.

Album #10- The Confessor; "Rosewood Bitters" is included. The Confessor included more weird tracks and more pop, but this time around, Joe decided to throw some big Rock numbers onto the album. Rosewood Bitters is the decent minor track off the album, but that's all they include from the album here. That's right, they ridiculously shafted the title track, which featured some gunshot-like drumming from Joe Vitale, and Joe himself at his very loudest. Terrible. His later Single Disc compilation "Joe Walsh Greatest Hits: Little Did He Know" (which was recently repackaged as "The Definitive Collection") would rectify this, however.

Album #11- Got Any Gum; No tracks included. This album was another one with Pop dreck, and bad comedy, but thankfully they decided to nix putting any tracks off this album onto the compilation.

Album #12- Ordinary Average Guy; No tracks included. This album saw Joe pick up some momentum with the title track, but the studio version of the title track is foregone in favor of the live version.

Album #13- Songs For A Dying Planet; "Shut Up", "Decades", and "Song For A Dying Planet" are included. This album kinda followed within the vein of "You Bought It, You Name It", so do the math. Shut Up is a more bitter passage of Life's Been Good, and the song is also reminiscent of Weird Al. Decades is a long 12+ minute jam, which Joe proclaims as some of the finest he's written, but I'll let you decide on that. Song For A Dying Planet ends things on a mellow note.

Album #14- Soundtracks/Unreleased Material; "All Night Long" and "Ordinary Average Guy (Live)" are included. All Night Long is a given. It's a very fun tune; among Joe's most popular. And we get a live version of Ordinary Average Guy with Glenn Frey, for the Eagles/Walsh fan. But why only go there? They could've brought Joe's solo version of his big Eagles hit "In The City" off of The Warriors soundtrack, or "Waffle Stomp" from the Fast Times At Ridgemont High Soundtrack, but I can't complain with what we got.

Overall, despite some disappointments found in the 2nd Disc, the compilation is very well done. The Liner Notes offer some interesting insight, and you'll get a solid glimpse of Joe. High recommendation.

I consider this CD to one of Joe Walsh's greatest compilations of his songs, and it is worth buying.

Joe Walsh is an incredible talent and the man has played some of the best guitar licks in rock n roll. Overall this is a splendid release but where o where is the song "Time Out". And to leave out the monumental track "The Confessor" is just a plain shame.

what a wonderful collection. as a late-blooming joe walsh fan, i was pleasantly surprised that all the numbers are so good. good for just listening to, and a great housework cd. the louder the better.

This is a two disc anthology that covers Walsh's entire career up through the early 90's. Included are tracks from The James Gang, Barnstorm, and Walsh's solo career. For the most part it is a very nice collection. All of Joe's best known songs are here along with a healthy selection of album tracks. There are a few clunkers here and there and a few like "Space Age Wiz Kids" that sound extremely dated, but these are the minority. There are also a few omissions that seem inexcusable to me, most notably the absence of "The Confessor" which IMO is one of Joe's best compositions. Also missing are any tracks from the "Got Any Gum" album and surprisingly nothing from "Ordinary Average Guy" (the title track is included as a live cut). That being said, if you are looking for a good overview of Walsh's stuff or just exploring him this is a great place to start.