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Артист: BTO Альбом: Trial By Fire: Greatest & Latest, 1996 Издатель: CMC / 44032-2 Жанр: Rock Формат файла: Eac wv.covers Ссылка: CD 38 clicks Нахождение: eDonkey/Kademlia

Before writing anything further, it is important to note that this is NOT a 'Greatest Hits' compilation, nor is it really meant to be. This is often considered to be the group's 10th studio albums, originally recorded by the label CMC as Trial By Fire: Greatest & Latest in 1996. This reissue, released by Disky, drops Trial By Fire from the title, which apparently leads people to believe that this is a compilation. If you are looking to purchase a compilation of BTO's 1970s hits, then this is not the CD for you, as the 1970s titled included here are remakes (which the original record label apparently insisted on recording).

The ten remakes are actually quite good in my opinion, although most are not quite as good as the originals. Blue Collar, Hold Back The Water, and Gimme Your Money Please are particularly good, although many BTO fans have complained about the last of those three. RODTH, FWD, and TILAM do not seem to have the same driving force of the originals but are still good (FWD also includes part of Free Wheelin', which I liked). Not Fragile is even heavier than the original, if that is possible. The two tracks on the album that were originally sung by Randy Bachman (Hey You and YASNY) are a little difficult to get used to for some - I really liked the new version of Hey You but wasn't struck on the YASNY remake. The vocalist (Randy Murray, the newest member of the band) is very good though, and I would have liked to have heard him try some more songs.

The five new songs are the best points of this album, especially the two that were written by the group members. All five are sung by C.F. Turner. Trial By Fire and Nothin' Comes Easy are now two of my favorite BTO songs of all time (Nothin' Comes Easy is my second favorite of them all) - both sound very modern and energetic (much more so than anything on their last four albums, although I liked those too). House of the Rising Sun (a cover of the Animals' hit) was released as a single in Europe I believe, and is the best version of the song I have ever heard - it sounds just as good in concert too. Testify and A Sense of Danger are not quite as good as the other three - Testify is more lightweight pop and has unusual lyrics for a BTO song, and A Sense of Danger is more retro boogie (reminds me of Texas Cannonball by Union for some reason). Both are still pretty good though.

Anyway, if you're looking for a collection of BTO's classic hits, this is not the CD to buy. But if you're looking to expand your BTO collection with something new and have enjoyed some of their earlier work, you just may enjoy this album for what it is

They do 5 new songs, including their version of "House of the Rising Sun", and 10 of their oldies. BTO hasn't done much recording in recent years, so this collection from 1996 should be of interest to fans of the group. Most are faithful to the original versions, but it's nice to hear a few variations. "Hold Back the Water" is done acoustically on this CD, and "Blue Collar" has an extended solo by Randy Murray (you gotta see him do this one live - he has that guitar smokin'!). All of the new songs stay within the well defined BTO sound - best of the bunch IMHO are "Trial by Fire" and "Sense of Danger", spotlighting the great, gruff vocals of bassman C. F. Turner.

* Fred Turner: Bass, Lead Vocals
* Robbie Bachman: Drums, Percussion
* Blair Thornton: Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Vocals
* Randy Murray: Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Vocals (Lead Vocals 8, 10)



01. House Of The Rising Sun* [0:05:41.22]
02. Roll On Down The Highway [0:04:07.48]
03. Trail By Fire [0:05:22.65]
04. Hold Back The Water [0:04:22.07]
05. Blue Collar [0:07:00.33]
06. Gimme Your Money Please [0:04:26.42]
07. Let It Ride [0:03:58.70]
08. You Ain' t Seen Nothing Yet [0:03:55.58]
09. Not Fragile [0:05:01.35]
10. Hey You [0:04:00.29]
11. Take It Like A Man [0:03:44.51]
12. Nothin' Comes Easy [0:04:02.30]
13. Testify* [0:04:00.72]
14. Four Wheel Drive [0:04:26.68]
15. A Sense Of Danger [0:03:28.37]

This post has been edited by javirunner on 07-02-2008, 14:50