The Guess Who - Greatest Hits [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

The Guess Who

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 23, 1999)
• Original Release Date: February 23, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B00000I0QI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,796 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #41 in

  Music > Hard Rock & Metal > Hard Rock

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Guess Who's Sounding Better Than Ever On 1999 Greatest Hits, March 21, 2001

By	Anthony G Pizza "trivialtony" (FL) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Despite losing immediacy 30 years later (the Guess Who's first hits collection was released in 1971, near their artistic and commercial peak), RCA/BMG's remastered 1999 "Greatest Hits" is the clearest-sounding, most generous one-disc set from the classic Canadian rock group.

Bill Lacey, credited here with "audio restoration," successfully freshens and brightens the group's familiar, diverse string of 1969-70 hits: the lush ballad "These Eyes," the jangly "Laughing," and 1970's superb two-sided hit "No Time"/"Undun," showing off lead guitarist Randy Bachman's respective jazzy and heavy rock guitar styles. Then again, few songs have aged more poorly than the clumsy protest anthems "Share The Land," "Hand Me Down World," and the pretentious, Psalm-quoting "Hang On To Your Life." (Michael Hill's well-researched liner notes show the group craving the FM radio cache' these message songs brought.)

While most attention went to songwriters/group leaders Bachman and Burton Cummings, the remastering plays up Garry Patterson's surprisingly assured drumming on "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" and the Guess Who's signature hit, the #1 "American Woman." (This CD features the rarely-heard acoustic intro missing from the 1971 best-of).

The CD's second half covers the period from Bachman's 1971 exit to the original Guess Who's 1975 breakup. Their studio output here was less interesting or successful, but highlights included 1973's bright "Star Baby," the bouncy "Albert Flasher," the moving pro-ecology "Guns, Guns, Guns," and late 1974's jaunty 50s rock tribute "Clap For The Wolfman." But you also get the deservedly obscure "Heartbroken Bopper" and their sorry group-written reggae try, "Follow Your Daughter Home."

Longtime fans may have invested in the two-disc anthology "Track Record" or the group's CD reissues on RCA's Buddha label. But this Guess Who "Greatest Hits" offers superior sound, and enough of it, to be a definitive value for casual listeners and anyone enjoying late-60s classic rock oldies.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, all the GW best on one disc, December 13, 2000

By	Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

For many years, The Guess Who have been represented by a series of incomplete anthology albums. "The Best of the Guess Who" for example had all of the great Randy Bachman era tracks, but ignored later classics like "Star Baby" and "Clap For the Wolfman." Then there was "The Greatest of the Guess Who" which included those latter two but inexplicably dropped "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature." Now all those great songs are finally together in one place. The Guess Who achieved a kind of hard rock artistry during Bachman's tenure and and level of successful campiness later on in their career. The two styles are quite different, and the highlights of each are all here. Any fan of classic rock should own this album.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Burton Cummings was Certainly an Underrated Vocalist!!!, February 14, 2006

By	D. Hawkins (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When one mentions the best rock singers of all time, how come Burton Cummings' name doesn't come up? All the evidence exists on this disc that he was one hell of a singer, delivering some of the greatest vocals to some of the greatest songs ever. Perhaps because The Guess Who was seen as a Top 40 group has kept him from his due? Let's start with one of the top three songs ever put to tape, "These Eyes." This masterpiece has all the ingredients of a timeless song - moving bass line, masterful strings, catchy rhythm, and the pained vocal stylings of Burton. Elsewhere, he shines on "Undun," "No Time," and elevates the standard "American Woman" to legendary, something that Lenny Kravitz had no chance of doing. Kudos to the compilers of this for going with the full length version of "American Woman" - the intro is absolutely essential to its impact. I don't forsee The Guess Who ever making it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but let's at least recognize one of the greatest voices in rock and letting these timeless tunes wash over us in AM ecstasy!!