Customer Reviews

Young Hearts: Complete Greatest Hits

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This new remastered greatest hits collection of The Steve Miller Band called "Young Hearts: The Complete Greatest Hits", isn't quite as complete as the title says. Seriously missing are "Heart Like A Wheel", "Give It Up", "Keeps Me Wonderin' Why" and "True Fine Love". Also, both "Fly Like An Eagle" and "Abracadabra" are edited for what reason I'll never know. There are enough hits to please most Steve Miller fans such as "Take The Money And Run", "Rockin' Me", "Swingtown", "The Joker", "Fly Like An Eagle", "Jet Airliner", "Jungle Love","The Stake", "Dance Dance Dance" and "Livin' In The USA", etc. I actually prefer the import cd called "Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits" (orange cover with purple horse logo and lettering) over this collection even though it has only twenty songs compared to 22 on this cd. The sound quality of the import (which is also remastered) is as good if not better than this new collection. Granted the import costs more, but I found my copy at a used cd store at a much lower price. If you like seventies rock such as Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel then The Steve Miller Band's cd "Young Hearts: The Complete Greatest Hits" would make a nice addition to your collection.

The title "Young Hearts" alone is an indication that this compilation has problems. I don't know what "Young Hearts" has to do with this Steve Miller comp. Now if they put Heart Like a Wheel on it, it may make more sense.

This import's liner notes talk it up how Abracadabra was missing from the 1974/1978 package. Of course, the album and hit single wouldn't be released for another four years. And they infer that Steve resisted but they finally wore him down...Maybe so, and yet Abracadabra appeared on the import Greatest Hits that Steve had involvement with.

Yes, the liners mention it finally has Abracadabra! But! It's the single edit! And that's not the only edits hurting this best-of: Living In The USA is cut by 15 seconds, Swingtown is the album version with the last 20 seconds cut! Why not use the single edit if you are going to cut it?

Worse yet, the sound suffers horribly from extreme application of Noise Reduction! Advice: get the Australian import Greatest Hits(not the Polygram Int'l version that uses the rerecording of The Joker) It has the missing singles (Give It Up, Heart Like a Wheel), Abracadabra is full length. It is available from Amazon.com!

This new Steve Miller Band Complete Greatest Hits disk was released to replace the two previous "Greatest Hits" compact disks. Essential radio favorites like "Rock 'N' Me", "Take The Money And Run", "The Joker", "Fly Like An Eagle", "Jet Airliner", "Jungle Love" and Swingtown" are all included. Older favorites like "Space Cowboy" and "Livin' In The USA", and "My Dark Hour" from Miller's earlier career are thankfully included as well. "Abracadabra" Miller's biggest hit not included on the previous two domestic "Greatest Hits" compilations is also included. However, there are too many tracks included from his later period albums at the expense of better material from his earlier career. Great early perid songs like "Going To Mexico", "Steppin' Stone" and "Your Saving Grace" are nowhere to be found. In addition songs like "True Fine Love", a cover of "Mercury Blues", "Heart Like A Wheel" and the excellent lost outtake single from his boxed set "Rock It" would have been welcome editions. Despite the above limitations, this new cd is probably the best first purchase for someone who wants to acquire Miller's major hits but have a more comprehensive overview of his career. The music included speaks for itself. The catchy radio friendly hooks of his post Joker material contrast with his earlier "space blues" period. Miller's guitar playing proves to be clean and tight, while not as flashy as some his other contemporaries it is highly effective within the context of his songs. You will no doubt be humming or singing along with many of the songs on this disk! This is a good disk for those long car rides to work.

This 'complete' "Greatest Hits" supersedes the US "Greatest Hits 73-78" which is a good thing as we now get the early and later tracks on one CD. But be warned, it is not as complete as you might think. As other reviewers have stated, there is no "Heart like a wheel" or the preferred album version of "Abracadbra" and "Fly like an Eagle" (you get the radio edit of these songs instead). For me, the best part of this album is the 24 bit remaster of the songs and the inclusion of "I wanna make the world turn around". This particular track being a fine single from Miller in 1987.

However - in 1993, Warner Bros Australia released a 20 track Greatest Hits, which in my opinion, is a better compilation. It includes the full versions of "Fly like an Eagle" and "Abracadabra". It also includes "Heart like a Wheel", "Winter Time" and a lesser known hit "Keeps me wondering why". This CD is also digitally remastered, and what makes it particularly special is the songs were selected by Miller in conjunction with Warner Bros Australia. Miller has also prepared notes about each song and why they are important to him. Like all CD's, it is not perfect (no sign of "I wanna make the world turn around") but it is a much better purchase for the true fan. While the digital remaster may have been done in 1993 compared the "Complete Greatest Hits" being done in 2003, I noted the sound quality was better on the earlier when tested via computer.

The choice is yours. The Australian CD "Greatest Hits" has an orange cover and can also be bought on Amazon.

There is a sad tendency with acts that have waited far too long to put out a "best of" package to live in self-delusion. "Okay," they seem to tell us, "I may not have had a hit in twenty years, but I haven't become irrelevant. I will include in my 'best of' as many tracks from my most recent albums as from my classics, because, dammit, I'm still hip!"

The most egregious offenders in this category:

Joni Mitchell: It took about 28 years from her debut to release a Hits album. It could have been easily filled with material from the first 6 years alone.

Jackson Browne: Left "Lawyers In Love" and "You're a Friend of Mine" off to make room for some recent twiddlings on his best-of The Next Voice You Hear.

Bob Seger: His Greatest Hits album excluded his two greatest hits by chart position - "Shame on the Moon" and "Shakedown", his only #1! So we could be treated to a second-rate Chuck Berry cover?!?!

The Best of Van Morrison: Aw, now this was just a downright shame. Half the CD could have been Moondance tracks. Instead we get a duet with Cliff Richard. Then Volume 2 simply ignored the entire 1970's. Two best-of CD without "Madame George", "Blue Money", "Wavelength" or "Come Running". No excuses. No excuses at all.

Thank heavens then for Steve Miller. This album takes virtually all the tracks from the "GH 1974-1978" and then expands with the best tracks from before and after this era. So we go back in time to get "Living In the USA", "Space Cowboy" and "The Stake" and just graze the 80's with worthy tunes like "Abracadbra" and "Wide River". Of his top 40 tracks, only the #24 hit "Heart Like A Wheel" is excluded.

But the focus is on his best albums: Book of Dreams and Fly Like An Eagle. Six of the first eight tracks from the latter album are deservedly included. And if there's a track from the last 15 years, I can't identify it.

Which is partially why I give the CD 4 stars instead of 5. The liner notes consist of a short essay and some pictures. No writing credits or chronology or source albums are given. Neither are song running times, perhaps to disguise the fact that "Fly Like An Eagle" was truncated of its synth outro.

The other reason for the deducted star: Spelling! The song we all know & love as "Rock'N Me" has had its title inexplicably changed to "Rockin' Me". And, yes I admit this is anal retentive, but "Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma" has become "Shubada Du Ma Ma".

When you take 25 years to put out a greatest hits, at least you should be able to put the spaces in the right places.

i have been waiting for a 'complete' steve miller greatest hits for many, many years and this is a significant collection because it stands to replace one of the best-selling catalog albums ever. so why would they leave off the 1981 hit 'heart like a wheel', one of his only nine hits, when so many of the tracks on here could have easily been replaced? plus, there are no notes as to when these songs were released or which albums they came from. capitol records, if you can't do these things right, get some help from rhino!! even the album cover is a very unappealing b & w picture of mr. miller. at the very least, do not call something complete when it isn't (and you wonder why people download!)

THE BAND: Steve Miller (lead vocals, guitars) and a host of other musicians over the decades - including David Denny (guitar), Kenny Lee Lewis (guitar), John Massaro (guitar), Lonnie Turner (bass), Gerald Johnson (bass), Ross Vallory (bass), Byron Allred (piano, synth), Ben Sidran (keyboards), Gary Mallaber (drums), Jack King (drums), James Cotton (harmonica).

THE DISC: (2003) 22 tracks clocking in at just under 79 minutes. Included with the disc is 4-page foldout containing several photos of Miller and a brief intro to the man and his music. Digitally remastered sound. Label - Capitol Records.

COMMENTS: Like any greatest hits collection, you'll have hits and misses. While this "Young Hearts" collection is mostly "Hits", there are only a few scattered misses. The good is that you get all but two songs from Miller's "Greatest Hits: 1974-78" except for "True Fine Love" and "Winter Time". You also get some early hits like "Livin' In The USA", "My Dark Hour" (with Paul McCartney) and "Shubada Du Ma Ma". Also keep in mind there are three other Steve Miller compilations out there besides this one and "1974-78"; those would be "Anthology" (1972), a "Best of" - Import - with the familiar horse and an orange cover, and "Best Of: 1968-73". "Young Hearts" captures songs from each and in the liner notes, you'll note that this is the only compilation CD featuring his best chart topper in the 1990's, "Abracadbra" (which happpens to be the name of his boat). The songs are arranged randomly, and I feel chronological order was needed. All the staples are here - "Take The Money & Run", "Rock 'N Me", "Fly Like An Eagle", "Jungle Love", "Wild River", "The Joker", "Livin' In The USA", "Jet Airliner", etc. Some well known songs are missing - "Mercury Blues", "Heart Like A Wheel" (#24 on the charts), "Circle Of Love", "Going To The Country", "Give It Up", and one of my favorite non-hits "The Window". This CD also misses in that "Fly Like An Eagle" and "Abracadbra" are the 'single' radio edit versions. Also, "Swingtown" and "Livin' In The USA" are chopped by 15-20 seconds each. Liner notes are disappointingly thin - missing is any info on what songs came from which albums or the year released. Looking for one studio album from Steve Miller - you must start with "Fly Like An Eagle" (1976)... try his "30th Anniversay Edition" complete with a DVD concert. Despite a few minor flaws, "Young Hearts" is full of classic music from an underrated guitar legend (4.5 stars).

I'm not the biggest fan, but when I think of summer barbeques and cold beer, I think "Steve Miller Band". He IS classic rock, and with a hundred bands upgrading their greatest hits in recent years, "Steve Miller" finally gets his. Remastered, and 8 tracks longer than his previous collection. This of course has the hits "Rockin' Me", "The Joker", and "Jet Airliner", plus songs like "Abracadabra" that have come out since. Also, at 22 tracks, it's one loaded single disc. So your choices are, to pass on this and "Cry, Cry, Cry", or get it right now and "Dance, Dance, Dance".

The previous review touched on something that I thought was worth elaborating on.

Record companies have been creating greatest hit compliations for years and in nearly every case, there are "less than great" song[s] included in the compilation, and "truly great song[s]" left off. This is too much the norm for it to be mere random oversights and reveals a clear strategy.

To put ALL of the greatest songs into one package enables the customer to get everything in a single unit, with one purchase. By NOT putting ALL of the greatest songs into one package, the customer is forced to purchase a series of units to get those same songs.

This is a strategy that worked for years as there was never any recourse for music lovers to do anything about it. But in recent years, with the explosion of music downloading, this strategy has backfired. Rather than be forced to purchase additional [not to mention costly] units to complete the industry's incomplete offerings, people are able to complete them themselves without going broke in the process!

This has created a vacumm in the music industry's customer base representing the ultimate indicator that people are not only tired of being taken advantage of, but that they are also not will willing to be further taken advantage of! These cries have fallen on deaf ears though. The industry has announced lawsuits against downloaders in favor of identifying and ending the maximized profit tactics of offering incomplete packages [such as this one] as one of the root causes of the problem.

Until that happens, all the lawsuits in the world will not add value to the industry's offerings, nor will it force people to buy things that are incomplete, sometimes insulting, and often times unworthy of being purchased.

This 22 track compilation is SUPERBLY REMASTERED beyond description! The sound is stunning and all the hits and then some are all here...EXCEPT...missing in action is the exquisite "WINTER TIME" - one of the most enduring and classic STEVE MILLER ballads ever! After all, he is known for being a ROCKER and a ROLLER! Boasting 13 MILLION copies sold of "Greatest Hits 1974-78" in the liner notes and being a monstrous $$$ selling/profitable touring act long after the "hits" dried up(circa 1982), you'd think he & Capitol would have spared no expense and included "WINTER TIME" on this quite listenable and enjoyable set. Sure, I have the four major Lps/Cds from 1974-78 and that Import 20 track "Hits" collection, but...PLEASE...it's not complete without that one track. Superb remastering on those late 60's/early 70's classics! Thanks anyway STEVE, cos it's all great! You are one of the best musicians ever!