Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive overview, 22 Mar 2003
Given the title of the collection, it comes a surprise that it occupies two full CD's. Mud were very successful for a time in the mid-seventies, but they only had about a dozen hits, although most of them made the UK top ten and three went all the way to the top. Of course, the title isn't strictly correct, as there are plenty of album tracks as well as all the hits and some B-sides and rarities. Nevertheless, this is the most comprehensive collection ever likely to be released of Mud's music. Despite being released by a German record company, all the liner notes are in English and the chart information provided is for the UK. Few details of their German hits are given. The liner notes are extensive, including comments on each song by their singer, Les Gray.Most of the hits are on the first half of the first CD, though a couple are to be found later on that CD. Their biggest hit, Tiger feet, opens the set, while the song they are now perhaps best known for, Lonely this Christmas, closes the first CD. Both of those songs reached number one in the UK, as did their cover of Oh boy!, the Buddy Holly classic. Other great hits to be found here include The cat crept in, Dynamite. Rocket, Moonshine Sally, The secrets that you keep and a cover of Bill Withers' Lean on me. Of the other tracks, there are plenty of covers that show their musical roots, including Living Doll (Cliff Richard), One nigh (Elvis Presley), In the mood (Glenn Miller), Cut across Shorty (Eddie Cochran), Drift away (Dobie Gray) and Bye bye Johnny (Chuck Berry). Most of this collection covers their best years from 1973 to 1978, but the last eight tracks on CD 2 are some of their early recordings from 1967 to 1970, which may not be essential but they are interesting.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top grade Mud Larks., 23 Jan 2009
When I heard "Jumpin Jehosaphat" on Kenny Everett's show in about 1969 I went right out and bought it, and it still sounds pretty good today from the 2nd of the two CDs in this collection. However, it was never a hit.
Mud, of course, went on to become one of the premiere pop acts of the glam rock era (from about 1972 to 1977 they were seldom out of the charts or off the radio). To some extent they were a "fun" band, though they did some serious pop music as well. Their role as the fun-side band in 70s pop was perhaps akin to that of Madness in 1980s pop - though of course there are important differences between their actual music.
If you're looking for pretty much any well known Mud track, you'll find it on this excellent collection, and they all sound just as good as they always did. Fun, "straight down the middle" pop music, no pretension, no excessive artiness, just radio-friendly stuff that bounces along undemandingly and of course the hit singles are tracks that still get people dancing at oldies parties. Even their later, less appreciated efforts such as "Show Me You're a Woman" are here - so, you wannit? you gottit! Yeah, this is an excellent collection. There's also a selection of cover versions which are rather more variable, I'm not sure they add much to (for one example) Dobie Gray's "Drift Away", but they make a fair job of Withers' "Lean on Me" - so that part of the collection is a bit of a lucky dip, but an interesting one.
Anyway, gotta go now! I'm off to listen again to "Moonshine Sally" - that intro still gives me goosebumps - it's just the perfect radio play intro!
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See all 22 tracks on this disc
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