The Flying Burrito Brothers created an undisputed masterpiece when they cut their first album,
The Gilded Palace of Sin, in 1969, and while the group would continue to make records in one form or another for the next thirty years, as far as most fans were concerned, it was pretty much over when
Gram Parsons -- the lead singer, principle songwriter and creative visionary behind the first album -- quit the band after completing their second LP, 1970s
Burrito Deluxe.
The Definitive Collection plays to the common consensus that the two albums with
Parsons represented the band's best work by featuring both in their entirety, along with three bonus tracks -- the rare non-LP single
"The Train Song," and covers of
"Six Days on the Road" and
"Close Up the Honky-Tonks." While by all logic this disc ought to live up to its title, in practice it falls a bit short of the mark. While
The Gilded Palace of Sin is a uniformly superb album,
Burrito Deluxe sounds a bit spotty in comparison, with a few tracks that are clearly filler (even
Parsons admitted to journalists he was preoccupied with other things while it was being recorded); the superb compilation
Farther Along: The Best of the Flying Burrito Brothers wisely cherry-picked the best songs from the second album and instead devoted the space to superior outtakes and rarities, and as a consequence it's a more consistent and satisfying listen. Despite this,
The Definitive Collection does offer two albums anyone with a serious interest in the roots of
country-rock needs to hear in one handsome package, remastered in their original mixes and featuring fine liner notes from
Robyn Flans, and it's full of superb music from one of the guiding lights of the genre. If it doesn't quite qualify as definitive, it's close enough to merit a spot in most folks' music collection. (The same compilation was previously released by
Universal under the title
Sin City: The Very Best of the Flying Burrito Brothers, with similar front-cover artwork.) ~ Mark Deming
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