Search - Charlie Daniels :: Essential Super Hits of the Charlie Daniels Band

Disappointed !

Jeffrey C. Wiseman | San Diego, CA United States | 11/15/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"While it is Charlie Daniels on this album, the songs have been re-recorded and they are not the way I remember them.

Why is it that some musical artists believe that a decade or two later they can re-record a song and fix it or do it better? What if Leonardo da Vinci decided 20 years later to re-paint the Mona Lisa? Or the Boston Red Sox decide 10 years from now to replay the World Series because they think they can do it better?

"If it ain't broke don't fix it".

"

The best songs--revisited!

DanD | 07/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Charlie Daniels has long been an icon of southern rock and country music. Along with his fine band, he's had success with radio staples such as "Devil Went Down to Georgia" and "Still in Saigon." He's crafted a legacy--and you can get it here, with new versions of some of his greatest songs.



Such flag-wavers as "In America" and "This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag" stand true throughout time and airplay. "Uneasy Rider" is still a fun, rompin acoustic classic about a hippy in the South. His version of "Freebird" is to die for; "The Intimidator" is a tip of the hat to Earnhardt. "Drinkin My Baby Goodbye" is doubtless one of the greatest--and most fun to sing along--drinkin songs ever. And "Simple Man" tells it like it is--Daniels was one of the first "Angry Americans," after all.



Some of the album's greatest moments are surprises, of sorts. Keith Urban adds his guitar pickin to "The South's Gonna Do It Again;" Lee Roy Parnell (and his guitar) and Ray Benson get swingin on "Texas;" Travis Tritt harmonizes on "Southern Boy," a song he and Daniels cowrote; and John Berry and Hal Ketchum add their immeasurable singing talents to "Long Haired Country Boy"--almost stealing the song from Charlie Daniels himself!



But it is with the unlisted track, a faithful version of Red Skelton's classic rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance, that the album hits its highest of high notes. Daniels's voice is superb--like he was born to do this recitation. I got goosebumps, I got misty eyes, and I gave a big "Hell yeah!" when Daniels wrapped it up. It's a classic, and is alone worth the price of the album.



The Charlie Daniels Band has been crafting music for longer than I've been alive, and they've still got it. This is without a doubt a classic collection, one that everyone should have on their shelves, CD holders, or wherever it is you store your music. Songs written and performed by a patriotic, flag-wavin, gentle, lovin, hard-drinkin, rock-n-rollin, fiddle/guitar-playin redneck--how in the world could you not love it?"

Bleah

CSA | Emerald Coast, Florida | 12/19/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"It is awful. I wanted the classics. And if it's a re-recording, it should say so in big letters on the front of the disc, not in miniscule print on the back along with all the other fine print no one reads. A rip off on the worst level. And now we can no longer return these things just because we don't like them."