Customer Reviews

Retrospective: 1995-2000

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

 

 

It always seems odd that Jay Farrar has not become more of a known quantity in the music world. While his former bandmate Jeff Tweedy has let his talent and outgoing personality fuel Wilco, Farrar's tight-lipped, almost painfully shy public persona has kept him lower on the radar. However talent wise, he is right up there with Tweedy and other cutting edge performers today. This is a good collection of quality tunes from a band that should have gotten more coverage.

With Trace being one of my favorite lps, this greatest hits draws heavily from that, but also has enough tracks from other works make this a must have for any fan of the alt country genre

Being a casual fan of Uncle Tupelo and Wilco, I figured some Son Volt in my collection made sense. Like people often do, I went for the "hits" album. Honestly I only knew a track or two from Trace beforehand, this has those and alot more. I still don't know every note on this collection, but I like what I hear. Something about Jays voice really puts you into an old truck driving that dusty road. Two of my favorites here are covers, "Looking at the World Through A Windshield" and the last track "Open All Night" (Springsteen). I'd say some Son Volt is a must for any alt-country fan. Might I suggest The Jayhawks Anthology also.

i thought i heard it all on Trace and nothing could match it; thus, all further releases of this band would pale in comparison. Wow, was i wrong ! Although Trace may be the High Water mark, that's not to say that their other material doesn't hit the same place... The previously unreleased material is amazing too ! If you thought you heard it all with Trace, like i did, think again !!!! This Retrospective further introduced me to Son Volt, and has lead me to search out the rest of their catalogue !
This gift to myself was worth much more than the price of the cd itself.

A solid comprehensive look into the early years of Son Volt. I am biased because I am a huge fan (reason for 5 stars), and I bought this album to round out my collection. The unreleased material is a bonus. This album or Trace is a good place to start with this band. Enough has been written about them before that will keep you interested, so I won't ramble about them more here.

a great collection of songs, many not included in prior cd's. stupid me, just discovered this band. can't get enough of jay farrar & son volt crew.

Son Volt is a great band who craft an excellent meld of rock, blues, country and folk music into something which manages to sound honest and bare. I bought this album for a couple of songs, I already owned "Trace" and since the album draws heavily from that great compilation, there's not much to add here.

I do have to say that I did love many of the added tracks, particularly "Tear-Stained Eye." I hadn't heard their cover of Springsteen's "Open All Night" (which is one of my favorite songs by Bruce) but it doesn't compare favorably to the original. They slow it down and eliminate most of the verses.

One of my biggest complaints about contemporary pop music is its predictability; I don't buy music by Maroon5, or Destiny's Child, or even Los Lonely Boys, because I feel as though I can predict what their new stuff will sound like even before I hear it, and (sadly) I'm usually right. That's why the `alt-country' movement originally struck me as a good thing. The good alt-country acts possessed a unique sound that could range from Jimmy Rodgers to the Sex Pistols, with plenty of spots in between, and the variety made it fun to listen. Why, then, is this Greatest Hits collection from Son Volt so thoroughly predictable, if not downright dull?
Son Volt has a lineage that could qualify them as major contenders in the alt-country genre. Lead singer/songwriter Jay Farrar played those same roles in Uncle Tupelo, and that band is credited with jump starting the entire "No Depression' movement ("No Depression" was a depression-era tune by country music pioneers the Carter Family, later covered by Uncle Tupelo on their first album called "No Depression", which subsequently inspired the formation of an alt-country magazine entitled No Depression). When Uncle Tupelo split in half, it seemed as though Jay Farrar was destined for bigger and better things. Farrar and drummer Mike Heidorn went on to form Son Volt while his ex-bandmate Jeff Tweedy threw together a band called Wilco. Since Farrar was the `frontman' for Uncle Tupelo, the good money would have bet that Son Volt would come out roaring, while Tweedy's Wilco would wallow in the backroads of the alt-country marketplace. Instead, the exact opposite happened, and this retrospective does a pretty good job of pointing out exactly why.
Everything you need to know about Son Volt takes place on the first two tracks of this collection. "Drown" is a hard-rocking stomp with plenty of attitude, and "Windfall" is a peaceful breeze of melancholy with a burnt sienna tinge that warms the heart. Both are excellent, well-crafted songs (and both appeared on Son Volt's first album, "Trace") that suggest a grand future. The problem, though, is that the band never quite grows beyond these two tracks. It seems as though half of the songs on this collection suggest one or the other; "Route", "Picking Up the Signal" and "Straightface" are all clones of "Drown", while "Too Early" and "Creosote" serve as pale re-writes of "Windfall". The balance of the tracks fall somewhere between the two without ever really distinguishing themselves. "Rex's Blues" is a Townes Van Zandt song that suggests a Civil War-era waltz, but rendered anemic here, while "Back Into Your World" is a mid-tempo yawn of a song with lyrics as generic as the title suggests. Elsewhere, they choose to cover what must surely qualify as the most obscure Springsteen song ever released (a rare B-side rocker called "Open All Night") and the most harrowing song Alex Chilton ever wrote (Holocaust"), but manage to render them bloodless as well.
It's hard to explain why I find myself looking at my watch whenever I play this collection, because the basic ingredients are all there. The band plays conventionally, if not exceptionally well, and Farrar's world-weary voice conveys plenty of character. I believe the fault lies in the absence of variety. While the singing and playing are laudable, they are also predictable. Listening to this entire CD is like having a conversation with someone when you already know the response. There's nothing to stimulate you, and so your mind starts to drift away. Wilco avoided this by turning themselves into something resembling an alt-country version of Radiohead, but Son Volt just plodded on. This sounds terribly negative, and I don't intend to suggest that this CD is a waste of time and/or money. "Drown" and "Windfall" alone are worth the price of admission, but I also think it's fair to say that I expected more. B+ Tom Ryan

If you have never listened to Son Volt, DO NOT BUY THIS ALBUM! Son Volt is one of those bands that I will listen to for a very long time. I love their lyrics and style of playing and combining folk, blues, and rock music. However, this "retrospective" is missing several key songs including "Catching On", "Cemetery Savior", "Right On Through", "Question", "Blind Hope", "Caryatid Easy", and "Live Free." I am not the biggest Son Volt fan, but I at least know that these songs really define Son Volt's stint in the music industry, not covers or mediocre acoustic performances. This album, like many other compilations, is another lousy attempt by the record company to make a little more money off of a band that is stagnant. Son Volt still kicks ass.

Got this for my husband for Christmas...had been looking for it for awhile, and as with everything else I found it on Amazon. Great mellow album with hints of country.