Greatest Hits [Deluxe Edition]

This short but sweet Greatest Hits compilation features some of the most memorable songs from Dave Grohl and co. They have been fairly ruthless in choosing the songs which they deem worthy of this compilation, but when you look at the songs you can see that they are some of the best. The only real puzzler is the absence of DOA from the track list. All the other hit singles are here, Big Me, Everlong, Monkey Wrench, My Hero, Breakout, Times Like These, All My Life and Best Of You. These are essential tracks to delve into for newbies to the band, and will provide the basis for further the band's expansive back catalogue. (Which will be rewarding because there are many other great songs that are not present on this album.)

As for previously converted Foo fans, there are a few goodies on here for us too. Two new tracks Word Forward and Wheels, an acoustic version of Everlong, and the track Skin and Bones, only previously officially available on the Skin and Bones live album. (Although if you don't fancy forking out on a whole load of old tracks just to hear a few new ones, maybe you're best off buying them separately on Amazon MP3 or iTunes.

I received this in the post today even though its not supposed to be released for another couple of weeks or so (nice one Amazon)

But all I can say about this album is that its truly amazing it does exactly what it says on the tin its their "Greatest Hits" which even if your an avid Foos fan like myself or even an occasional rocker this album is a must, the new songs "Wheels" and "Word Forward" are true songs in the style of Foo and are amazing, it even contains a nice acoustic version of "Everlong" which is a nice little treat.

As this is the Deluxe Version it also contains the DVD with all their music videos on it, so the times of browsing YouTube for your favourite Foo Fighter video are over, all in good DVD quality and as again contains a few extras from their live shows.

Dave Grohl is easily one of the biggest musical icons for an entire generation based on his time with Nirvana as their drummer, to eventually forming Foo Fighters after Kurt Kobain's demise. So here we are, 14 years and 6 albums later, and they have finally decided to put out a greatest hits package.

This deluxe greatest hits package detailing the history of the band includes a 16 track CD, 14 of which are taken from the bands back catalogue (although Everlong appears twice, with both the original and an acoustic version), with two brand new tracks, and a 21 track DVD of videos and live performances. It is of course worth remembering that this is a greatest hits package, and not a best songs package, which is why there are no album tracks present.

Some of the tracks on the DVD are simply a video or a live performance of songs that are already on the CD, but there are several that some might say were missing from the main CD, such as Next Year, Resolve, DOA, and Low amongst others, which provides the incentive for picking up this deluxe package. The only truly notable exception from the entire package is The One, but I can understand the reasons for not including it due to the nature of its release in this country as it remains a collectors item. Including it on a greatest hits package would tarnish the value for anyone lucky enough to have one of the very few copies released on these shores.

As for the package itself, it comes as a small book rather than a normal plastic CD case, with the CD and DVD slotted inside the front and back covers respectively. The book itself simply contains various pictures and bits of lyrics from down the years, with a message from Dave Grohl at the end. All in all, I would say the DVD, and the book are worth shelling out the extra few pounds for if you want what is virtually the definitive collection of the bands singles back catalogue in an attractive package.

Of course, this is not the end of the band, they will continue into the future, and this release will merely become a 'story so far' item, but if they're going to wait another 14 years before putting out the next greatest hits chapter, it'd be more than worth it for now. Here's to the next chapter then, and let us hope it's just as good.