[.ca] Greatest Hits

The Ultimate Bob Welch Collection:
This is a great album. Bob lays down great guitar rythyms that are unique and smooth. This CD covers his best songs from his first 4 albums. Precious Love, Ebony Eyes, Sentimental Lady, Hot Love, and 3 Hearts are my favorites off this album. Every song is top notch on this CD.

It has the hits, but little else:
Curb's one disc compilation of Bob Welch's solo catalog(originally on Capitol) has some great musical moments, and that'sabout all I can say for the CD. The collection is thrown together without regard to chronology, annotation or creativity. Welch's first five (solo) chart singles (from "French Kiss" and "Three Hearts") are here, plus the failed single "Don't Rush The Good Things" (from "Man Overboard"). The remaining four songs are seemingly chosen at random from Bob's Capitol Records days. Of these four, only "The Girl Can't Stop" is worthy of inclusion in a "best of." This disc is obviously the product of a one-off licensing arrangement....a "bargain" priced CD designed to be a cut-out special or impulse buy. Since they had permission to sample from Bob's four Capitol lps, it's baffling why Curb neglected all three singles from "The Other One": "Rebel Rouser," "Future Games" and "Don't Let Me Fall." After "Church" (Summer of '79), none of Welch's singles cracked the Top 40, but those four singles would have made the "greatest hits" label an honest one. This is not a bad collection by any stretch, even though some of Curb's choices are lame. Fans are better off buying the Rhino Records collection, the "Best of Bob Welch," which is similarly priced. The Rhino compilation has decent annotation and a more representative selection of songs, spanning Welch's days with Paris up until early '91. The only material it is lacking is from Bob's two albums for RCA Records.

Curb Records Does It Again!!!:
This is not the time or place to go into the political foibles of the former California lieutenant governor; however, Mike Curb's product from his CD label (Curb Records, natch) have a tendency to be (very) brief affairs, and in this aspect Bob Welch Greatest Hits doesn't disappoint. With only ten songs and a running time of barely 30 minutes, Greatest Hits doesn't do much for Bob Welch's reputation as an eclectic guitarist and songwriter, unless you count the cover of the Fleetwoods' "Come Softly To Me" (with six solo albums' worth of material to choose from this selection is certainly a head scratcher). The very brief liner notes are pretty silly, too. Anyway, like the reviewer below me, for newbies I recommend the Rhino anthology; for a couple of bucks more you get a far better song selection with more songs and good notes, and with sound quality where you don't have to crank the volume to eleven to get some enjoyment out of your stereo, despite the fact that this CD is three years NEWER. Keep the peace.

• Sentimental Lady
• Ebony Eyes
• Precious Love
• Hot Love, Cold World
• Church
• Come Softly to Me
• Girl Can't Stop It
• Spanish Dances
• Three Hearts
• Jealous