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	The Lovin' Spoonful - Greatest Hits The Lovin' Spoonful Buddha, 2000 average customer review:based on 50 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Both anthologies contain 26 songs. So what's the difference? Very little. Twenty-three songs are duplicated on Greatest Hits. Where Anthology includes "Good Time Music" (from an Elektra sampler before the Spoonful recorded their first album), "Fishin' Blues" and "Me About You" (from the Joe Butler-led Spoonful--and their final chart single at No. 91), Greatest Hits offers instead "Wild About My Lovin'," "On the Road Again" and "Darlin' Companion." The differences between the two releases make Greatest Hits virtually unnecessary if you already own Anthology. Sure there are new liner notes, and some terrific photos from Henry Diltz, whose work has graced many of the Spoonful's original albums. But is that enough? I don't think so. This should have been a 2-CD set. And if it couldn't have included any previoulsy unreleased material, it could have offered some live versions from the band's mid-Sixties prime. At the very least, a two-disc set would have been more comprehensive and more valuable to die-hard fans. We can only hope that Buddah will see fit to release the Spoonful's entire catalog either as two-fers or loaded with bonus cuts.

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Thank You Buddha Records!

Wow! I almost didn't buy this collection after reading other amazon reviews and how similar it was to the Rhino CD, but boy good thing I did. First off, this compilation is not only cheaper than than the Rhino package, but sound wise it blows the doors off the Rhino package. Did Rhino take their compilation from old records? This thing sounds amazing, I don't know any other way to describe it. The package says it was taken from the original master tapes for the 1st time and boy does it show. I can't say enough about the sound because being a long time fan, I have always been dissapointed with the way that their CD's have sounded. Great liner notes from Ben Edmonds of Cream & Mojo magazine with lots of information I never knew. I hope Mojo has a big feature planned soon. As far as the tracks go, yeah it's the best of the Lovin Spoonful what more could you want? Don't be fooled friends, this is the must own Spoonful package! Let's hope Buddha reissues the entire LS catalog this way.

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Hall of Famers get an anthology worthy of their talents

One of the truly worthwhile things about the Internet (and Amazon's review forum) is that music lovers can exchange ideas, trivia, opinions and remembrances about their favorite artists. So it has been fun for me, a lifelong Spoons fan, to read others' contributions here. Like Peter Castanos, I am also a devotee of Bill Inglot and Rhino. They will always have my thanks and admiration for the CDs they issue. But I always thought Rhino's Spoons anthology sounded pretty rough. It was clear to me after I heard it that Rhino did not have access to the original tapes, and I think Inglot did the best he could with what he had. So, this new Buddha collection is the one to buy. Like Peter, I A-B'd the two. But unlike Peter, I think the sound on this one is much more than a slight improvement over Rhino's effort. I can hear nuances in Joe's singing and drumming, Zally's guitar licks, Steve's bass lines and piano playing, and John's singing and strumming that I've never heard before. As with Sony's remastered Byrds CDs, listening to Buddha's remastered Spoons CD is akin to hearing the songs for the first time. If your CD collection lacks music by the Lovin' Spoonful, and the band's hits are all you desire, then get this CD. It's essential listening. I'm still going to buy all the original Spoons CDs if and when they're released because the band created too many other good songs ("Fishin' Blues," "Butchie's Tune," "Let the Boy Rock and Roll," "Boredom" to name but a few) to stop with this hits collection, but this one will stay in my CD player till then.

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EXPECTING TOO MUCH?

I purchased this CD with great expectations. Not because of the musical content (I already knew how good that is), but because of the prospect of sparkling sound quality. I am a devotee of Rhino Records and the skills of Bill Inglot, however the sound quality of the Rhino compilation was a big let down when that set was first released. So the prospect of "remastered for the first time from the long lost first generation master tapes" was very exciting. I have spent the last few hours comparing the new release with the Rhino set and I regret to say that if these are first generation master tapes then, unless they have deteriorated over the years, the original sound engineer in the studio when these recordings were made should be out of a job! Sure, these are old recordings but I have plenty of other CD remastered from tapes made in the 50's or 60's where the sound is absolutely stunning. Maybe the Spoonful were recording on a shoestring budget. Who knows. The sound is not stunning and is possibly slightly improved over the Rhino set. Sure original tapes may have been found in the interim but they don't seem to have made much difference. Furthermore I have little doubt that not ALL of the long lost tapes have been found. Some of the later tracks on the set could not possibly have come from original masters. So, 5 stars for the music, 4 stars for the sound, 0 stars for the statements on the back cover(re master tapes AND that Erik Jacobsen produced all the tracks).

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, page 10

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