This disc is no substitute for
the Mastersounds
version of the
Child Is Father to the Man
album, or the
Mobile Fidelity
version of
Blood, Sweat and Tears
, but it is a really smart idea.
Columbia-Legacy
went back and recompiled this multi-million selling album (previously available as a fairly lackluster 40-minute, 11-song CD), adding two songs (
"So Long Dixie"
and
"More and More,"
) that were previously available only on singles from 1972 and 1968, respectively, and upgrading the sound. What distinguishes
Blood, Sweat & Tears' Greatest Hits
from the double-CD
Sony-Legacy
compilation
What Goes Up: The Best of Blood, Sweat & Tears
, however, is that this disc uses the single edits of the hits. To serious fans, it's sort of
Blood, Sweat & Tears
-lite, but to millions of listeners, it's these shorter versions, shorn of their extended album-version breaks, by which they know the band best. And those numbers now sport state-of-the-art sound -- hard, up-front bass and drums, horns that pour out of the speakers, and close and intimate singing from
David Clayton-Thomas
(or, on the two
BS&T
Mark 1 tracks here,
Al Kooper
Steve Katz
). The new release also re-creates the packaging of the original LP, with reviewers' quotes across the band's prime years (1968-72) and a time line history, as well as release and production information on each song. The two additional numbers bring the running time up to 48 minutes, and it's mid-priced, too, which makes it even easier to junk the old version and get hold of this one. ~ Bruce Eder