John Peel - A Tribute

This works on one level but fails on another. As compilations go its pretty good. The proceeds will apparently go to charity which also another good reason to buy.

However it seems to have completely overlooked several of the genres that John himself loved. So whilst theres no denying the tunes here are classics there is no Grime, Death metal, Hip hop, Happy hardcore, Drum and bass, World music,etc represented here.

Surely the essence of the Peel show was the ecletic mix he provided. This was the way the listener got drawn into types of music that may otherwise have passed them by.

Perhaps the people behind this compilation have plans to follow it up and I guess to get all of the stuff that John loved across a 2 cd set is a bit of a tall order. It would have been nice to have included the session versions of these songs where possible too.

John famously said that he got fed up of his listeners festive 50's because it was filled primarily with white boys (and girls) with guitars when he was always giving airtime to such a bigger variety of artists from around the world. I think he would have said the same of this compilation (Culture and Elmore James being the exceptions here).

So by all means buy this compilation but do consider that the great man himself would have found this a somewhat safe and pedestrian collection.

Something on the lines of his own DJ set at Fabric would have been a far more fitting tribute and a box set at least.

The man may be gone but there is still music out there waiting to be found so lets try and 'Keep it Peel!' Peace and love to his family.

Only ONE electronic act - Orbital - features here. The rest is guitar-based through and through.That's not to say that there are no good tracks on this. Most in fact, are classics. But herein lies the problem. The track list reads like a cynical and commercial "Most Sucessful Bands = Most Profit/Charity Revenue" venture.

That doesn't necessarily equate to good value for the listener.

Put this on, and I doubt you'd think you were listening to one of his shows. It's nowhere near eclectic enough. I also doubt very much that this is how the track list would have been had John Peel put it together himself. Therefore I don't think it's good value for money.

I realise Peel liked the Undertones (an under-statement perhaps!), but he also liked such a stupidly large amount of other stuff too. I realise you could effectively make a 200 CD set and still not please everyone, but this album puts him across like a straight-forward alternative rock fan. The proof? I know lots of people who like the kind of music on here and little else. This just scratches the surface of Peels' tastes.

I wish someone would do a really good off-the-wall tribute John Peel (maybe with a few of the tracks on here) because noone listened to his show for just the (now) listenable stuff. You wanted to be surprised not lulled into a safe little corner of catchy hits.

Unfortunately that is what this album does.