You Wanna Go Where the Wildhearts Go
doomsdayer520 | Pennsylvania | 09/15/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Since the early 90s the Wildhearts have amassed a robust catalogue of catchy hard rock, built upon a flawless combination of tight pop harmonies, metal riffage, and trashy attitude. They're a band that should be much better known to American rockers, and they would be if it wasn't for a fractured history of personal problems, frequent and confusing lineup changes, and record company apathy. This massive three-disc, three-and-a-half hour compilation brings together tracks that were spread haphazardly over the band's fertile 1992-96 period. Before now, for the American fan at least, getting together all of this material required collecting an imposing pile of expensive import albums, scattered EPs, and rare limited edition items.
With this compilation from the expert anthologists at Rhino Records, we now have an immensely convenient source for most of the tracks from the two proper Wildhearts albums of the period (Earth vs. Wildhearts and P.H.U.Q.) plus crucial tracks from the plethora of EPs and other quickies that the band was forced to squeeze out between record company battles and contractual shenanigans. Note that this compilation does not cover any material from the band's more recent reformation era (they're still as heavy and unstable as ever), and there is nothing from the mysterious Endless Nameless album of 1997 (which has apparently been disowned by the band and/or the fans).
And I while I adore Rhino Records and praise them for this huge and comprehensive anthology, they could have done a little better in terms of information and marketing. There are no liner notes indicating who played on which tracks - the Wildhearts lineup was forever fluid. The cover photo featuring CJ-Ginger-Stidi-Danny was taken during the reformation era long after the time period covered in this compilation, and that lineup was only intact on a few of the tracks herein. Everyone who has added punch to Ginger's great songs over the years deserves acknowledgment. And finally, this anthology should be more aggressively marketed in America, without American fans having to wait for more affordable used copies to appear on this side of the pond. America is easily the best market for this anthology because of the rarity and expense of the original releases that are compiled herein. Regardless, any Wildhearts fan will rejoice at the huge amount of rip-roaring rock collected in this very handy anthology. [~doomsdayer520~]"
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1