Customer Reviews

Very Best of Donovan

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

 

 

I've got some Donovan's albums in cheap formats. This is the best one I've heard. These are studio recordings and with a delicious psycodelic band. No solo acoustic recordings.

The recordings of "Catch the Wind" and "Colours" are the rerecorded versions done for the original "Greatest Hits" record that came out oh so long ago on Epic Records and I really like the way "Wind" seques into "Atlantis." They're both long and strangely enough seem kind of similar here, almost like they were made to be together. "Maria Magenta" from the "Cosmic Wheels" record has always been a favorite of mine and it just seems to work well with this other stuff. I don't know if I'd have put "Where Your Love Like Heaven" here, but still it was kind of a Donovan hit. "Rock and Roll Souljer (correct title)" though not a big event for Donovan, has always been one of my favorites and I really like that the album closes with it.

Originally issued in 1988 this was the first major collection of Donovan songs in a decade. Many of his previous collections had been cheap compilations of his 1965 work. His previous work could often not be done as collections due to legal problems he had with Epic Records in the sixties. Due to that he had to re-record "Catch the Wind" and "Colours" for the original issue of Donovan's Greatest Hits It wasn't until the Troubadour box set and the 1999 reissue of Greatest Hits that the original Pye/Hickory versions were restored. This also includes all his greatest work as well as gems from his later albums like "Sailing Homeward", "Celia of the Seals" and "Rock and Roll Souljer" (named misspelled on CD).

Great cd. This would be a great gift for someone who wants to enjoy great music. Being a compilation, you get an earful of great tunes. If you are like me, you will soon being buying the cds that the song originated from. I believe that greatest hits are teasers for what the album really hides.

As another reviewer has already posted, "Catch the Wind" and "Colours" are not the versions those of us old enough to grow up with this music remember. Listen to them first. As those two songs brought him to our attention, be sure you're satisfied. Adding the new versions as a bonus would have been great in my mind. Replacing the originals completely makes me feel a bit ripped off. Just my two cents worth...