Good CD to start your collection.
PaulB | Saskatoon, SK Canada | 04/11/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is another one of Giorgio Gomelsky's Yardbirds CD.
This opening two tracks on this disc are probably among
the Yardbirds' best known tracks, and they represent
some of the pop offerings on this album. Good Morning
Little Schoolgirl is an interesting mix of Buddy Holly
meets The Rolling Stones. The track has a 50s feel to
it, but the 1960s Rolling Stones seems evident as well.
Still I'm Sad and Evil Hearted You are tunes that are
darker in nature, and represent sort of a gothic/
psychedelic perspective. Certain Girl is another pop
tune that can be probably found on several Yardbirds
discs. Jeff's Blues is a nice instrumental blues
number by Jeff Beck. I Wish You Would is yet another
pop tune. I'm Not Talking and You're A Better Man Than
I are sort of a mix between blues and pop. Shapes of
Things is another well-known Yardbirds pop tune.
I'm A Man is a nice bridge before we get to another
blues tune, a cover of John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom.
At this point in the album, we get to some more
covers and the live recordings on the disc. T-Bone,
Burnett's Smokestack Lighting, Chuck Berry's Let It
Rock, You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover, Too Much
Monkey Business and Respectable. All done fairly well.
Pretty Girl is a solid effort as well. Then the final
cut on the album, Stroll On, features a very catchy
guitar riff that will later be included in Led Zeppelin.
The problems with this album is it's a bit disjointed.
It jumps from pop to blues to gothic rock and back
again. Another problem is you will still need to be
various Yardbirds compilations if you want a true
representation of their work. The tracks that made this
compilation are good in themselves, and stand on their
own merit, however, if you can't or won't spend money
on the Yardbirds' anthology set of discs, titled simply
Ultimate!, a cheaper option would be to search the
various Yardbirds titles released by Giorgio Gomelsky.
As a sidenote, it's interesting to note the man responsible
for writing Heart Full of Soul and For Your Love, also
penned the Hollies tune Bus Stop."
A LESS COMMERCIAL YARDBIRDS WITH ERIC CLAPTON
Jared Insell | Canada | 03/17/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is probably a less commercial Yardbirds collection of tracks from their early years. Although most of it concentrates on the Eric Clapton years but it also features a few tracks from Beck and one from Page.Despite it's less commercial look and sound, there are some decent songs on this album including FOR YOUR LOVE, HEART FULL OF SOUL, STILL I'M SAD, I'M NOT TALKING, BOOM BOOM, I'M A MAN AND MISTER YOU'RE A BETTER MAN THAN I just to name a few. There are also some live tracks recorded with Clapton such as RESPECTABLE, PRETTY GIRL and SMOKE STACK LIGHTNING.Overall this is classic Yardbirds and it is worth it if you are a fan. Although this was my first Yardbirds album I found it too less commercial and the sound quality is not even close to perfect for a cd. Still some great songs and awesome playing just bad recording. Still highly reccommended for a Yardbirds fan."
Track Listings (22) - Disc #1