Search - Ventures :: Only Hits

Only Cover Versions Of Hits!

Mike King | Taunton, MA United States | 06/22/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

""Only Hits" is one of the least essential records in the vast catalog of albums by the Ventures. I never particularly liked the albums where the Ventures only covered the various hits of the day, without any underlying theme or concept. Stylistically, the songs are all over the place. "Also Sprach Zarathustra" starts the album off on a strong note, and compares favorably to the jazzy version of the song by Deodato. On the other hand, "Oh Babe, What Would You Say" is embarrassingly bad. The rest of the songs fall somewhere in-between. The biggest weakness of the album is the fact that there are no original instrumentals included. Some critics fail to note that members of the Ventures have written many instrumentals over the years. "Only Hits" reinforces the misconception that the Ventures are only a cover band. This is one CD where the best songs are the 4 bonus tracks."