Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great songs, and great remastering, March 13, 2004
By A Customer
I am always leery of remastered recordings of old classics. Sometimes, things really get screwed up and all of the life gets sucked out of the songs (witness Beatles 1 or the new Yellow Submarine album). I am happy to report that this is not one of those occasions.I am with the previous reviewer from Australia when I say that this compilation thankfully includes some of the best songs from the Youngbloods' best album, their debut. Although I still have my old vinyl Elephant Mountain album, I only really enjoy about a third of the songs on it, preferring the earlier stuff instead. So, get this album if you like the Youngbloods. I would also like to just make one comment that speaks to today's jaded society: The Youngbloods' most recognized song, "Get Together," seems to have long been written off by a lot of people as being a sappy hippy anthem. It was even given a very torturous, sarcastic reading (at least for a few seconds) on Nirvana's "Nevermind" album. Yet, far from being just a hippy anthem, the song speaks universal truths. The message of the song will never be untrue, and should not go "out of fashion." Indeed, we are all divine beings and our lives here are but cosmic blinks. (Some will come and some will go/We shall surely pass/When the one that left us here/Returns for us at last/We are but a moments sunlight/Fading in the grass.) And we all have the power to either create something positive here for others in this lifetime, or to create pain and fear for others. (You hold the key to love and fear/All in your trembling hand/Just one key unlocks them both/It's there at your command). Which will you unlock?
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
All the best from the Youngbloods, February 18, 2005
A real fan of the Youngbloods will have CDs of their individual albums (plus the subsequent Jesse Colin Young solo albums of the mid-70s). For the less fanatical (or to have a compendium for the car), this is an excellent choice and the remastering makes it musically superior to the individual CD/albums.
The CD contains what are, arguably, the group's best recordings: "Get Together", "Darkness, Darkness", "Ride the Wind" and "All My Dreams Blue", as well as enjoyable recordings like "Sunlight" and "Sugar Babe" that were part of J.C. Young's touring repertoire for many years and a Youngbloods version of his first recording "Four in the Morning". Also here is great recording of Fred Neil's "Reason to Believe" which used to be a standard among singer-songwriter type performers. The Youngbloods' music (and Young's subsequent solo work) was largely folk based, but incorporated rock, jazz, country, jug band, Brazilian, and blues influences. Listening to this reminds how much effort there was to experiment and synthesize different musical forms in the late 60s and and early 70s and how absent that is from the current, over-specialized music scene. Other than some contemporary jazz artists like Matt Jorgensen, it's difficult to think of people who really try to explore and blend different musical genres these days. The Youngbloods do a great job with others' songs, like the popular "Get Together". Their own compositions are stronger in terms of melody than lyrics. Overall, this is an enjoyable album and the remastering gives it new richness even for old fans.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great compilation, March 6, 2005
The Youngbloods' version of "Get Together" was one of the very greatest singles from the 1960's. Thirty-seven years later, time stands still when those four minutes are played.
And the rest of this compilation is excellent. Jesse Colin Young and Jerry Corbitt's voices complemented each other perfectly, almost clairavoyantly; Banana was one of the 60's most versatile musicians; and Joe Bauer was the great overlooked drummer of the era.
Highly, highly recommended.
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