This disc is no substitute for
the Mastersounds version of the
Child Is Father to the Man album, or the
Mobile Fidelity version of
Blood, Sweat and Tears, but it is a really smart idea.
Columbia-Legacy went back and recompiled this multi-million selling album (previously available as a fairly lackluster 40-minute, 11-song CD), adding two songs (
"So Long Dixie" and
"More and More,") that were previously available only on singles from 1972 and 1968, respectively, and upgrading the sound. What distinguishes
Blood, Sweat & Tears' Greatest Hits from the double-CD
Sony-Legacy compilation
What Goes Up: The Best of Blood, Sweat & Tears, however, is that this disc uses the single edits of the hits. To serious fans, it's sort of
Blood, Sweat & Tears-lite, but to millions of listeners, it's these shorter versions, shorn of their extended album-version breaks, by which they know the band best. And those numbers now sport state-of-the-art sound -- hard, up-front bass and drums, horns that pour out of the speakers, and close and intimate singing from
David Clayton-Thomas (or, on the two
BS&T Mark 1 tracks here,
Al Kooper and
Steve Katz). The new release also re-creates the packaging of the original LP, with reviewers' quotes across the band's prime years (1968-72) and a time line history, as well as release and production information on each song. The two additional numbers bring the running time up to 48 minutes, and it's mid-priced, too, which makes it even easier to junk the old version and get hold of this one. ~ Bruce Eder