Customer Reviews

Ultimate!

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Yardbirds' status as one of the most influential musical conglomerations of the last 40 years is undeniable. Musicians as disparate as The Beatles, The Police, the Sex Pistols, The Byrds, The Allman Brothers Band, and the Velvet Underground (plus all of the bands that have been influenced by these bands, to name just a few) owe them much more than most people realize. Not to mention the countless garage bands collected on Rhino's two excellent Nuggets boxed sets. Anyone who has enjoyed prog-rock or heavy metal or blues-rock or southern rock has heard echoes of the 'birds earth shattering rave up sections and their flair for experimental productions. Using feedback, eastern modes and experimental time signatures before the Beatles made such things popular, the 'birds are safely ensconced as one of the most significant rock bands.

For years, there has been a real need for a collection that puts together highlights from the Clapton, Beck, and Page eras of the band's history. This is no simple feat, given that the band's recordings are owned by a variety of different labels, all with agendas that seldom include portraying the Yardbirds for what they were - one of the best bands of the 60's (or the 70's, 80's, or 90's, for that matter). Compiled by the late lamented Cub Coda, this set attempts to come to terms with their erratic and maddeningly complex discography. For the most part, it succeeds. The music that is here is mostly tremendous stuff. The 'birds epochal reading of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man" has never sounded better, and is not likely to be improved upon. "I Ain't Got You," "Shapes of Things," "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago," "Over, Under, Sideways, Down," "The Train Kept-a-Rollin'" "Think About It" - all classics, all here in best-ever sound quality. As an incentive for Yardbirds completists, the version of "You're a Better Man Than I" included here is an alternate take, although that is not acknowledged anywhere in the packaging. It sounds like a different vocal overdubbed onto a different mix of the Sam Phillips-engineered band track. It's fantastic, and includes lyrics not found in the more familiar version.

The major plus of this set - other than it's compilation of disparate sources - is the sound quality. While some might quibble with what seems like altered treble and bass levels (especially on the Beck-era recordings) compared with what has been circulating in the past, the changes will most likely go unnoticed by the casual listener.

All is not perfect here. The track selection is sometimes questionable. Including both sides of the admittedly rare but admittedly dire Italian-only "Questa Volta" single is a possible misstep. Great for collectors, but not really great music in the same league as their other output ca. 1965 - 66. The inclusion of all three Keith Relf solo sides is also a bit suspect - "Mr. Zero" is lovely, true, but there are significant Yardbirds recordings that have displaced in their favor. From the Clapton era, nothing is represented from their live Crawdaddy club recordings from December 1963. The material on which they back Sonny Boy Williamson is admittedly weak, but there are 6 tracks that the band recorded with Keith Relf singing that are fine performances, and are the earliest recordings of Eric Clapton with the band. They ought to be represented here somehow. From the Beck era, the exclusion of any of the wonderful recordings the band made for BBC radio is bizarre. For the BBC, the band recorded fine versions of "Smokestack Lighting," "The Sun is Shining," plus over twenty other tracks - originals and blues covers, that should have been represented somehow. Also, the seeming disdain that the compiler holds for the unfinished album session "A Yardbirds' Eye View of Beat" has left some astounding instrumental performances ("Someone to Love, Pt. 2," the stereo version of "Here 'Tis") off of this collection. There are some surviving live recordings from the Beck era that would also have added to the portrait of the band presented here.

But the most bizarre omissions are what should have been on disc two - the Page era (termed "The Peter Grant Era" on this disc - the compilers have divided the band's eras by manager, not by guitarist, an interesting choice). Including a number of tracks from the patchy "Little Games" album is essential to understanding the changes the group was undergoing at the time. Including "Ten Little Indians" and "Ha Ha Said the Clown" - two pretty sad tracks which only feature Page and Relf backed by session players - at the expense of the late masterpiece sound collage "Glimpses" is ridiculous. "Glimpses" is, along with "Think About It," "Puzzles," and "White Summer" one of the landmark recordings of the Page era, and marked a completely new direction for the band, one which Page has not developed in his career since, incorporating drones, bowed guitar, monkish chants, sound effects, and processed vocal narration into a heady and brilliant soundscape. Also, the set does not draw any material from the band's final April, 1968 sessions, recently issued on the CD Cumular Limit. "Avron Knows" or the studio recording of "My Baby" would have been stronger choices for this anthology than either "Ha Ha Said the Clown" or "Ten Little Indians".

The other strange omission from this set is the wonderful live version of "Dazed and Confused" recorded for French TV in March of 1968, and issued on Cumular Limit. This wonderful recording, perfectly embodying what the late Yardbirds sounded like live, and literally bridging the band's legacy and their reincarnation as Led Zeppelin, would have been an ideal closer for this set. The absence of this track, as well as the others mentioned, has made this anthology fall short of what it should have been - a comprehensive, one-stop collection of recordings by one of the greatest bands in rock n' roll.

But it's still a great listen. Tremendous music from a tremendous group.

The first comment that comes to mind when perusing this double CD set of Yardbirds material is "about bloody time." Tangled licensing agreements often handicapped previous compilations of the band's material, limiting the tracks to the Giorgio Gomelsky-managed era, up to and including "Shapes of Things." No more. Finally---after 30 plus years---we have a set that spans the entire history of this awesome band where three of Britain's greatest guitar slingers got their start. Eric Clapton tears through ravers like "I Ain't Got You" and "Too Much Monkey Business" during the band's punk-metal R&B period; Jeff Beck sets the fuzztone for the Yardbirds' most successful and futuristic phase, ripping through bodacious hits like "Heart Full of Soul" and "Shapes of Things"; Jimmy Page gears up for the '70s in tracks like the proto-Zep "Think About It" and the psychedelic-arena rocker "Puzzles." Great as it is to hear these ax giants rocking side-by-side, alas, ULTIMATE doesn't quite live up to its title. Any compilation of LITTLE GAMES material that lacks "Glimpses" has a strike against it, and I'd have included "Who Do You Love," "You Can't Judge a Book By Looking at the Cover," the entire ROGER THE ENGINEER LP, "Dazed and Confused", "Avron Knows," "My Baby," and "Spanish Blood," plus live tracks from the BBC, Shindig, Beat Beat Beat and the Stockholm '67 gig. In a perfect world (say, if Page had an ounce of generosity), "Knowing That I'm Losing You"---an early version of "Tangerine"---would be here too. I would have omitted the dreadful Italian "Questa Volta"/"Paff Bum" single (although it sounds great, you can hear every hideous nuance) and the three Keith Relf solo songs. All of these can be found elsewhere---here they simply take up room that would be better served by proper Yardbirds material. So I'm greedy, shoot me. Still, all in all, Rhino has done the Yardies proud. Many of the shopworn Gomelsky-era tracks even boast a fresh coat of paint. "Mr. You're a Better Man Than I" is finally presented in its unexpurgated four-minute glory (including an extra verse---thank you, Greg Russo). Listen for the ultra-cool nuances leaping out of "I'm a Man": the droll throb of Paul Samwell-Smith's bass, the metallic huff of Relf's harp, the telltale echo of Jeff Beck's Tele as he gears up for the chaotic chicken-scratchin' finale; all goose-bump inducing stuff. Despite their reputation for churning out great lead guitar players, the Yardbirds were first and foremost a unit. Asthmatic vocalist Keith Relf provided alternately sorrowful and enthused singing that fit the group's moody avant-rock pop to a tee, and ranked with the best harmonica players of the 60s. Jim McCarty was a fleet, intense drummer who co-wrote many of the 'Birds' best originals. Chris Dreja rocked with minimalist, monotonal fury on rhythm guitar (and later, bass) while Paul Samwell-Smith was arguably the band's real guiding force, producing all their records up to and including "Over Under Sideways Down." (It's no accident the band began to slide after Paul split.) But all this will be apparent to anyone who checks out the fabulous liner notes of the late great Cub Koda. Great pictures too (love the one with the lads hanging backstage with Peter Grant, dig Keith's Sgt Pepper moustache too). Despite its flaws, ULTIMATE is a superb introduction to the group's phenomenal catalogue. It ain't the ultimate Yardbirds set by a long shot but it comes a heckuva lot closer than anything else I've seen.

"Ultimate" has a very good mix of commercial hits and a few rarities in one package. The serious collector will probably have most of these tracks on import labels like Repertoire, so this collection is recommended as a good introduction to the Yardbird's music for new fans.

There will never be a shortage of opinions on the Yardbirds.

In my view, their only genuinely great period is the period with Jeff Beck, when they were writing a decent amount of their own material and truly pushing the envelope sonically. Between Beck's uninhibited inspiration, Paul Samwell-Smith's arranging skills and Keith Relf's very cool art school lyrical sensibility, this band could not be touched in 1965 & 1966. This set includes most of this material. Clapton is a great guitarist, of course, but he was much too conservative to allow the band to grow the way that they did once Beck joined. He needed to do the purist bit with John Mayall before he could become more creative. Jimmy Page joined in time to preside over the group's total disintegration and he had not yet developed his own creative side.

The sound on this set is the best yet encountered for the Beck and Clapton recordings. Perhaps Rhino got their hands on the original masters--something others had been famously unable to accomplish. I wish that the Mickie Most material had been limited to the honestly good things. Tracks like "Little Games," "10 Little Indians," "Ha Ha Said the Clown" (for chrissake!) and "Goodnight Sweet Josephine" are total dreck that should simply be forgotten. Instead, include ALL of the Roger the Engineer LP tracks (why leave off "Ever Since the World Began"?)and some more from "Five Live." Perhaps even a few BBC performances would be in order, and why nothing from the live album with Jimmy Page? He didn't like it, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing good on it.

The Italian tracks are dreadful, but I've always loved "Paff Bum" anyway, just because of how incongruous Beck's solo is in the middle of this otherwise utterly worthless track. Keith Relf's solo tracks are a cool adjunct, much more worth having than the crummy Mickie Most singles. The Mickie Most singles are the only reason that I give this a 4 star, rather than a 5 star rating.

The Yardbirds have been featured on countless compilations, issued on all kinds of labels and ranging from good to bad. But to my knowledge this is the first 'birds collection to actually get it right: ALL the hits and most essential album cuts, from the band's entire lifespan, with all three lead guitarists (Clapton, Beck, Page), in one well-assembled, definitive package.

Anything smaller wouldn't give you the whole story, and anything larger would be too much (as great as they were, the Yardbirds recorded their share of dross). The song selection here is perfect, the remastered sound from Rhino's Bill Inglot and Dan Hirsch is about as good as you're likely to get and the liner notes and annotations by the late Cub Koda, while not exactly relevatory, do a nice, consice job of telling the band's story.

Unless you're a completist, this should be the only Yardbirds title you need to buy.

Rhino has journeyed into the anthology world before. Foreigner, Gram Parsons to name a couple. With the Yardbirds, they've perfected it.

No, this isn't the first time that the three phases of the group were anthologized (Clapton, Beck, and Page). The import Over Under Sideways Down did that, but not with this quality.

Bill Inglot handles the sound restoration, so what more needs to be said. Though the Yardbirds masters suffered from fidelity in the past on other releases. Here they have never sounded better.

The booklet is first rate with excellent liner notes, photos, source material. Each song is discussed in detail, including little factoids, interesting tidbits to listen for in certain songs down to what time in the song it occurs.

The pictures on the individual digipacks are terrific. Yes, I would prefer jewel cases instead. But Rhino encases everything in a cardboard slipcase for protection. And it's a nice package. In short, Rhino could not have handled this any better.

Do yourself a favor, buy this from Amazon. It's priced right. Then have yourself a rave-up. You won't be disappointed

True, it has a few really weak songs which are just included because they were minor hits.
True, it leaves off two good songs from "Roger the Engineer."
Other reviewers speak of other good tracks left off the compilation- tracks which I have not heard, but I believe it.
But most of what's on the two discs is great, and this compilation is a good place to get it.
The first disc has what is already available on many smaller compilations, and more. I wasn't expecting to enjoy the "white British blues" of the Clapton tracks, since I'm not usually a fan of white Britons trying to be African American singers, but most of these tracks are actually very good. And of course there are plenty of great songs from the Beck era on the first disc- famous ones (Shapes of Things, For Your Love, Heart Full of Soul) and less famous (You're a Better Man, Evil Hearted You), but all great.
And, I must disagree with the reviewer who said "Questa Volta" and "Paff Bum" are merely interesting as novelties. "Questa Volta" is a strange songs, but it's OK, and I am a big fan of "Paff Bum," though it's more "pop" than a lot of Yardbirds' songs.
Now for disc 2- it has almost all of Roger the Engineer, and it includes some of the album's weaker tracks while excluding one of its better tracks, "ever since the world began." But the good tracks it includes are very good indeed. Then we get to "Little Games." I must say, I would have never bought the bizarre and uneven "little games," so I'm glad I have some of its better songs on this CD.
"Puzzles," "White Summer," "Tinker Tailor" and "Only the Black Rose" are among my favorite songs on the whole compilation. Then we have the bad songs... Not even worth mentioning. Then there's "Think About It"- definitely a very good rarity.
And I'm also a fan of the Keith Relf singles. They're all a lot "softer," so to speak, than the Yardbirds' tracks, which might turn some people off, but I like them a lot, especially "Knowing."
So, all in all, I must say, I'm glad I bought this Yardbirds' compilation and not one of the many others out there. I might still have to get "Cumular Limit" or maybe one of the BBC CDs, but still, I think this one is quite satisfying. It gives you most of the best and not too much of the worst.

Over the years, Yardbirds compilations have always been sporadic. Most hits packages only covered the Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck eras -- and by and large those compilations were not thought out very well. The fact that different record labels owned the rights to different songs was partly to blame. For the most part, Rhino tackles the job of compiling a sensible hits package with the label's usual thoroughness. This collection is now a one stop shop for just about everything Yardbirds. However, while most of the band's output is featured I was somewhat disappointed that a couple of tracks were left off, particularly "Baby What's Wrong", "Putty (In Your Hands)", and "Sweet Music" from the Giorgio Gomelsky era (CD 1) and "Farewell" from the 65-66 Beck recordings. Surely a couple of those could have been squeezed on. And I had hoped that Rhino could procure at least one or two live tracks from the March 1968 Andersen Theatre concert that was briefly released by Epic before being pulled. Would have been a nice bonus.

While I've always hoped for a deluxe 3 cd box set for this important band I must say that ULTIMATE does a great job as a two disc compilation. All three of the Yardbirds famous guitarists are featured and although Clapton, Beck and Page deserve all the praise they recieve I hope that ULTIMATE will showcase the other less touted band members. Jim McCarty was one hell of a drummer and Keith Relf has always been an underrated talent. The packaging has quite a few pictures of the band that I've never seen and the liner notes are informative even for an old fan like me. My only complaint is that there really isn't anything all that rare ("Stroll On" is one of the few)on the collection. There MUST be some live material or studio (maybe CUMULAR LIMIT took care of this already) that could have been unearthed as a bonus. Still, I can't fault the song selection and I think this is perfect for all newcomers to the Yardbirds brand of magic.

The Yardbirds are famous for, among other things, having three different guitarists, each of whom was legendary: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. And, to continue, Jimmy Page, the third of these great guitar players, took the remnants of the Yardbirds and reconstituted them Led Zeppelin.

This group was an early popularizer of blues, but their repertoire really covered a lot of territory, with some strange songs represented here (including an Italian song, "Questa Volta"). There are covers of many famous blues singers (e.g., Slim Harpo, John Lee Hooker, and Bo Diddley).

Some cuts covered in a bit of detail to illustrate:

"Boom Boom": This great John Lee Hooker song is nicely covered (but go to Hooker himself for the definitive version). There is nice harmonica work and a decent blues sensibility. Vocals are pretty light and vanilla compared with Hooker. Guitar is okay, but Clapton is not yet Clapton at this point.

"I Got Love if You Want It": A fine Slim Harpo song. The harmonica is well played here. This live performance is raw and has a heavy blues sound. The vocals are bluesier than with "Boom Boom." This has much more of a blues sensibility.

"I'm a Man": One of my favorite Bo Diddley songs. . . . And one of my favorite Yardbirds' songs. . . . The band plays most nicely. The vocals are okay (but not Diddleyan). This is an animated, manic version of the song--and that is good! Harmonica and guitar are well played. The instruments close this out in a raw and raucous and foot thumping manner.

"Jeff's Boogie": This song is instruments--no vocals. It features the playing of Jeff Beck. Good rock and roll! This is an extended jam session more than anything else, but it is fun!

"Happening 10 Years Time Ago": The reason I chose to spend a bit of time on this is that it features BOTH Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Intriguingly, John Paul Jones (later of Led Zeppelin) plays bass. The two guitarists play well off of one another (no surprise there). This is kind of an interesting tune. There are some weird musical effects and some interesting, offbeat vocal effects. This is a lot of fun to listen to, and I suspect that the band had a lot of fun making this.

This is a 2 CD set with 52 cuts in all (25 in CD # 1 and 27 on CD # 2). Some are not up to the quality of others; a number are live performances that were recorded. In the final analysis, this does a nice job of capturing the work of the Yardbirds. Even though there is some unevenness across the cuts, this is a must buy product for those who want to explore the early days of rock and roll and the effect of the blues on English groups.