Search - Kula Shaker :: Kollected - Best of

Something new and different

Jon Stephen Strebler | Chula Vista, CA USA | 10/02/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A band that borrows from Hendrix, Cream, Traffic, Deep Purple and George Harrison? Well, since those are some of my very favorite performers, why not take a chance? So that's what I did, and mostly it was a good decision.



These boys play some good, if somewhat different, music. But I guess that's the point, isn't it? Something a little different, while acknowledging the late-60s psychedelia as one of rock's best times. The album's a bit on the poppy side at times, but the bottom line is that it's nice to listen to and probably something that all your friends have never heard of - which right there's got to be worth something."

Not The Right Kollection

DW | chicago, IL | 04/06/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It's abusurb for any band with only two CDs to have "Greatest Hits" collection. Still, Kula Shaker were one of the best bands of 1990's as this set proves.



Whereas most good artists can scrape together a 10-14 song CD, Kula Shaker had enough extra songs for at least another album and a half. Some (Hush, Drop In The Sea, Dance In Your Shadow and Light of the Day) are here.



This collection should have contained all their great b-sides (some are better than album tracks): The One That Got Away, Moonshine, Gokula, Goodbye Tin Terriers, Guitar Man, Red Balloon (Vishnu's Eyes), Hurry On Sundown, Smile, Reflections of Love, Troubled Mind, Fairyland, Avalonia, Prancing Bride, Raagy One (Waiting for Tomorrow), Under The Hammer, Holy River, Light of Day, The Dancing Flea.



The only reason to buy this collection is for the Bob Dylan cover Ballad of a Thin Man.



There is a long delay after the last track making it annoying to play in your car or home CD player.



Get K and Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts and download the individual tracks to get a complete collection of the great Kula.



[DW]"

More than enough for the casual Kula Shaker fan

Paul Allaer | Cincinnati | 04/24/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Kula Shaker is one of the many, many bands that seemingly popped out of nowhere in the mid-1990s era when 'alternative rock' was actually mainstream. Immediately praised to the heavens by the music press in their native UK, Kula Shaker could seemingly do no wrong with its 1996 debut album "K", from which no less than 5 singles charted in the UK (in the US, the only crossover track to achieve success was "Tattva", their best song ever). After much touring and multiple delays, the follow-up album"Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts" was finally released in 1999. It was a commercial disappointment, and the band called it a day not long after that.



"Kollected: The Best of Kula Shaker" (16 tracks; 73 min.) is a very generous serving of the highlights of its two albums from the 1990s. All 8 singles from that era are compiled here: "Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There", "Tattva", "Hey Dude", "Govinda" and "Hush" from the debut album; and "Sound Of Drums", "Mystical Machine Gun" and "Shower Your Love" from the Peasants album. Not surprisingly these songs are generally speaking the better and more memorable ones. The rest of this collection is filled up by non-single album tracks, and one new track, the Bob Dylan cover "Ballad of a Thin Man".



Overall, "Kollected" is a very generous overview for the casual Kula Shaker fan such as myself. I like them, no more no less, and this compilation is exactly what I want. Kula Shaker rebanded a few years ago, and released a new album in 2007 which went pretty much completely unnoticed, proving that 2007 isn't 1996 and that Kula's moment in the sun has come and gone.

"