Search - Boz Scaggs :: Greatest Hits Live

The Yardstick Blue-Eyed Soul Is Measured By

D. Sean Brickell | gorgeous Virginia Beach, VA United States | 08/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fair disclosure: I'm a huge Boz fan, have been since the '60s. But it's also true that some Boz is better than others.



This is the CD I've been hoping for since "Silk Degrees." It definitley deserves the most truthful titled CD of the year. It's his "greatest," featuring his "hits," and the "live" element reworks the songs in exciting new presentations.



Boz is the yardstick blue-eyed soul is measured by. He directly influenced Michael McDonald, Hall & Oates, Robert Palmer and others. This CD validates his rightful position amongst the great r&b/soul artists such as Ray Charles and Van Morrison.



It's a must-have set. 16 songs, and I couldn't live without a single one of 'em. Admitedly I'm being greedy, still I'd've loved a couple more personal favorites such as "What Do you Want The Girl To Do" and "It All Went Down the Drain." But I can't imagine discarding anything on the CD to include them.



Last year's "Standards" exposed Boz to countless new fans and placed him atop the jazz charts. Hopefully they'll now dive into his worthy catalogue to discover the scope and depth of his work. Not many artists have made it to the top of the rock, pop and jazz charts in a career. There's a good reason why they don't but Boz did, and that answer is found on this CD.



The band is top-notch, obviously well rehearsed, yet performs fresh and loose. The production is pristine yet not slick studio-sterile. Contributing to the overall class (there's a word that describes Boz!) is the subtle packaging. Look closely how it all ties together -- closed, open or folded -- and you'll see what I mean. No detail is too small to be less-than-perfect here.



Last night was a beautiful late-August full moon. My wife and I sat outside and just listened to Boz. We couldn't imagine a more perfect setting, other than the one for those lucky enough to have attended the concert.



In summary, I sure hope we get a "Volume Two Live." Boz has enough quality material, and nobody can get too much of something this good."

Boz' Greatest Hits Live is definitely not coasting...

Teeharbor Jackson | Raven Land | 05/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
I don't mean to sound jaded, but a greatest hits album usually means that the artist is either coasting, past their prime, or is often a bit washed up and needs some bucks, so they dig into their past glory and cash in with a greatest hits disk while people still remember them... Ha ha! (Needless to say, I don't own much greatest hits stuff.)



Not Boz. He is none of the above, no coasting on past glory here. It reminds me that a lot of the best artists of our times are continually pumping out new work and evolving, getting sweeter and more in touch with that magical something that translates into music that is simple, yet sophisticated, like "I just go"; innocent, yet somehow a bit roguish like "Miss Sun." Cool. The difference here is that he has not gotten stale, diminished or (horror of horrors), become a caricature of his former self, like so many artists who get lazy, uninspired, or simply didn't have enough talent to go the distance, as they say.



It seems to me that music sometimes has the ability to reach a part of us where words are a bit inadequate, like all inspired art. I won't even go there, because I'm not a musician, but do have a serious appreciation of life, and by natural extension, art.



The most pleasant surprise with these disks is that the body of work is really quite disparate, yet he links them with a common style and feel that blends them into a cohesive body that goes together and becomes something symbiont. Let us be honest here, some of his work was a bit fluffy and got slingshot onto the scene because of the disco stuff in the mid-1970's. He took some of his lightweight stuff and pumped some serious juice into them, and many of them are actually better than the originals. He took the least common denomenator and upped the equation.



The irony is that the pulse is less driving than some of the originals, like "Lowdown," but it blends seamlessly into something more bluesy and complex like "Ask Me 'Bout Nothin' But The Blues," or "Loan me a dime." It seems to me that one of the things that really great albums have in common is the ability to make individual pieces an obvious part of a greater whole. Boz pulled it off with a greatest hits album, which is what I still find truely amazing. I mean look--a bluesy "Runnin Blue" goes hand in hand with the more pop inspired "Jojo," and they fit... Here's to the ability to keep on evolving..."

Boz is back with a BANG!

J. Scott | Palm Beach Gardens, Florida United States | 09/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is excellent Boz Scaggs. His reprise of oldies is not only technically better but the renderings are far more articulate and wonderfully sung and orchestrated than the originals. Boz's voice is now mature and his styling is better than ever. If you're a Boz fan and liked the originals, you'll love the new renditions of your old favorites. Great album."