148. Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001) by Barenaked Ladies (2001)
Barenaked Ladies actually used their Greatest Hits album to help change their status from novelty comedy act to serious musicians. While the obvious funny songs are here - "If I Had $1,000,000," "Brian Wilson," "One Week," and "Pinch Me," the other 15 tracks show that they are, indeed, fine musicians who write some very good songs. "Brian Wilson" and "What a Good Boy" are both live versions, as the band wanted to showcase their real strength, which is their live shows. It has a good balance of hit singles and some of the better album tracks. One of the cool things about this collection is that they actually had the fans vote on which songs were included. Otherwise, some of the stronger songs, such as "Jane," "Shoe Box," and "Lovers In a Dangerous Time" (one of the few cover songs by the band) may not have made it onto the disc. Overall, it's a very solid showcase of the band's first decade.
The flow of the music is very good from start to finish on this album. Not too many slow songs grouped together, bogging it down, and the "silly" songs are spread over the whole album. The two new songs on the album are "It's Only Me (The Wizard Of Magicland)" which would fit more in the "silly" category, and the extremely beautiful closing track, "Thanks That Was Fun."
5 Best Songs:
5. "Falling For the First Time"
4. "Jane"
3. "Lovers In a Dangerous Time"
2. "The Old Apartment"
1. "What a Good Boy"
"Lovers In a Dangerous Time"
"The Old Apartment"
"What a Good Boy"
147. ...Hits by Phil Collins (1998)
This is probably one of the more incomplete Greatest Hits albums around, simply because there is so much left off of it. While the really huge songs are here, like "Sussudio," "One More Night," and the biggest hit of Collins's career, "In the Air Tonight," there are some other pretty big hits missing, most notably "Don't Lose My Number," "I Missed Again," and "I Don't Care Anymore." The omission of that last song alone, at the expense of the previously unreleased cover of "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper, gives the album a bit of a bad taste. In the end, though, it is a decent album. Great? Not by any means. But good.
One of the big problems with this album is that the Phil Collins solo music and the Phil Collins as member of Genesis music sounds so similar. You keep expecting to hear certain songs, only to realize that they are, in fact, Genesis songs. Also, starting the album off with "Another Day In Paradise" just seems like a bad idea. I mean, really, who wants to hear this depressing ass song right when you put the album on? And if you do want to start off with a slow depressing song, why not put "In the Air Tonight" first instead of burying it as the second to last track? Other than that, the songs flow very well, since they aren't in chronological order, just logical order, for the most part. "Easy Lover" and "You Can't Hurry Love" go together very well, as do "Separate Lives" and "Both Sides Of the Story," and "Take Me Home" is a pretty obvious choice as the closing track. Overall, a solid album but not as good as it could have been.
5 best songs:
5. "Both Sides Of the Story"
4. "Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now)"
3. "I Wish It Would Rain Down"
2. "In the Air Tonight"
1. "Take Me Home"
"I Wish It Would Rain Down"
Never actually saw this video. The part at the beginning about him being the drummer in a "pretty good band" then taking over after the singer left is pretty funny.
"In the Air Tonight"
"Take Me Home"
I just realized how much I have bitched about 2 of the 4 albums I've done so far. You'd think I was doing a list of my least favorite albums. Ha ha. It'll get better, I promise.
Ugh. Phil Collins. Sorry.
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