Definitive Collection

My experience with Blood Sweat & Tears started in my very young years. On Saturdays my dad would break out his BS&T album and play Smiling Phases loud enough to fill the house with those energetic horns and drums. Many, many years later I have developed my own musical tastes that stray away from jazz fusion (or jazz-rock), however there is no denying good music. I still remember fondly those Saturday jams and ended up getting this Definitive Collection for myself. Boy was it well worth the purchase. Blood Sweat & Tears felt unique in that their kind of fusion was that of jazz, rock, gospel and blues to give some really energized music in a time when the hippy counterculture was taking over the air waves. They have changed it's roster more than a couple of times through what I call their album years (1968-1980) and beyond. This compilation isn't a collection of tracks spanning the total album run of BS&T. It's a best of album, which means almost half of the 11 studio albums are not represented here, and none of the live albums. If you want an archive of their sound over the years this isn't the album for you. However if you are looking for the music that made the band great this is a great collection. Just about the entire album is focused on the music sung by David Clayton-Thomas. This is by far the best era of the band so no problems there. Only one song is from the Jerry Fisher era (So Long Dixie). What this means is you will be getting that soulful sound from Clayton-Thomas consistently throughout the album. The albums included in this collection are the self titled Blood, Sweat & Tears, Blood, Sweat & Tears 3, Blood, Sweat & Tears 4 (I know... they aren't very creative on the album title front, are they?), New Blood, New City and More Than Ever. The earlier albums from this set seem to get the most coverage with their self titled second album edging out the rest with five tracks. This makes sense because the Blood Sweat and Tears album was their best selling by far. The albums that have absolutely no representation from their very first album (sung by Al Kooper) Child Is Father to the Man, the Jerry Fisher era albums No Sweat and Mirror Image, and last two albums Brand New Day and Nuclear Blues. Of the albums included New City and New Blood get the least attention. How do you describe how BS&T sound? In a word: horns! This is one of the few bands that sported a well rounded horn section as regular band members. You can say they are a lot like the band Chicago back in the 70's, but with a heavy mix of soul music and more than a few spurts of straight jazz peppered in. Here's a breakdown of notable tracks for me: You Made Me So Very Happy - This is likely their most popular song ever. It has a pretty contemporary sound to it that would be familiar in a lounge act as it would the concert stage. Has a bit of a Vegas/Tom Jones vibe to it. Very catchy with 60's/early 70's pop sensibilities. God Bless The Child - Very laid back, soulful and bluesy track. The horns give the song an edge reminiscent of the big band blues of yesteryear. A lovely track to mellow out to. And When I Die - A very gospel sounding track that also has a strong influence of the kind of music done on movie and TV Westerns from that time. It benefits a lot from David Clayton-Thomas' singing style. The song jumps to different tempos but in a way that makes it interesting and easy to listen to . Smiling Phases - This is the band at it's finest progressive/jazz/rock self. Fast rolling drums, great horn section, funky rhythms, and a tangent off to some aggressive fusion jazz make this song still my favorite to hear from this band. Lucretia Mac Evil - This is an aggressive and brassy song with some lyrics about the kind of woman you don't want poisoning the ground around you. This song is more a straight rock/blues sounding piece that I gathered would have gotten the attention of the rock crowd of that time period. Fire and Rain - BS&T is known for doing covers of popular tunes and jazzing them up with their own interpretation. Fire and Rain is of course the same song James Taylor wrote, but with the signature horns and rhythm section giving more color and texture. It's still a mellow and laid back track, and has enough going for it to make it a nice addition to the collection. Got To Get You Into My Life - Another cover track. This time of the venerable Beatles tune that also had a cool horn section on the original recording. I can't help but feel this one lacks the magic the original Beatles track had. Don't get me wrong. You get some good horn/rhythm section and David Clayton-Thomas sings it great. However all the wonderful horn hooks that made the original song great are gone, and in its place is something bland by comparison. I Love you More Than Ever - There is a mistake on the track list that Amazon shows. They show the song I Love you More Than You Know, which is VERY different from the actual track. That track was made in 1968 and is much more a blues/rock song with that 60's Santana sound. The actual track is the one recorded in 1976 and is in essence a ballad. At first I wasn't into this song, but that was before I got to hear the chorus. After that I was hooked. Very inspiring and soulful. If you are a fan of bands like Chicago or Earth Wind and Fire you should really consider getting this Definitive Collection. The music is remastered and sounds awesome. If you are already a fan and do not have maybe two of the BS&T self titled albums or the More Than Ever album the current price point on this collection make it a good buy. If you like progressive rock and dig horn sections definitely pick this one up.

Great music.

Look, I cannot write a review and tell you if you are going to like the music . . . that is a personal matter, me I like it a lot. So in reality, what can I say about this disc? The version I received is not the Gold Disc - but nearly all of the songs have been remastered with 20 bit mastering (indicated by an * on the sleeve). The sound quality of the music is very good, and to me that is all I can really "review" that would be helpful to most shoppers. So often buying a CD of music made in the 1960s, 70s and even 80s often means poor sound quality, not at all in this case. So, if you love Blood Sweat & Tears and have their albums that have mediocre or poor sound quality that sound like it was done in the 1970s, then this would be a worthwhile purchase. Of course, if you love BS&T, you'll enjoy the music on this disc. If you hate BS&T, in all likelihood, you won't like them any better listening to this disc.

Everything I remember and more.

Love Blood Sweat and Tears! Brings back so many wonderful memories of that era of music and time in my life.

The sound quality awful...Disappointed in CD

All the Blood Sweat and Tears hits! I am a Blues / Rock fan, however BS&T were on the regular rotation on KLAZ back in NLR, AR in the 70's so Spinning Wheel, Lucretia McEvil and Go down Gambling and a few others became songs I love. David Clayton Thomas's voice is so smooth.

Good stuff along with some nice suprises .Only skipped to next track one time ,I think. Hold on ,I'll ask my fiance who was with me that day in the car. She may or may not rem.. what ? I'm not saying tha... NOOOO ,I LOVE our road trips !!!! Yes,REALLY !!!! Greattt, now she's shut the door . Good tunes and jammin' old school.

Compilation di pezzi storici. Ho preso usata la versione n 2 cd, davvero interessanti! hanno quel sound che si è un po' perso nel tempo, tipico di una parte dei 70 e che a me ricorda sempre la colonna sonora di Jesus Christ Superstar

Heard of this group years ago but paid very little attention to it. My brother gave me a first release vinyl copy of the BS&T 4 more than 10 years back and I did not play it until very recently. To my surprise, I find that I like the group's music very much. Did not realize until now that jazz rock in general and performed by BS&T in particular is so good. I selected this particular album out of the many others available after reading another reviewer's feedback on the good sound quality of this release. Very accurate. I commend the guys at Columbia Records for their marvelous work in remastering this album. Well done guys! I am so impressed with BS&T's music that I have placed orders with Amazon USA for vinyl reissues of their first, second and third albums. While waiting for the goods to arrive, I am now happily enjoying this CD compilation. Highly recommended.

Note: This review applies specifically to the Best of the Best gold disc. It has the same track listing as the silver "Definitive Collection" but the gold is found with the disc that has the Best of the Best outer slip cover shown. I am a casual BS&T fan but do know that this disc does appear to shun the Al Kooper led first album, "Child is Father to the Man" which I no longer have but remember as being very good so I deduct one star for that. I would recommend CIFTTM and that adding that whole disc to supplement this one would really complete the BS&T overview. That being said, all the big songs are here on this Gold Best of the Best and then some so it is very good on that basis. What drew me to this particular entry is the gold cd. I really didn't know what to expect but the sound quality is first rate. I see that BS&T is also on Mobile Fidelity and other gold releases for specific albums. I doubt that this was mastered any differently than the regular silver disc "Definitive Collection" which this reproduces and I don't have. It does say that 13 of the 17 tracks were Super Bit Mastered but doesn't say when. There are no liner notes, just track listings. What I do know is that the sound is excellent and the price for a gold disc is fantastic. If you only need one BS&T disc, I doubt you could do better than this!

Blood, Sweat & Tears so, wie man sie kennen gelernt hat. Man schwelgt in der guten alten Zeit und man hat das Gefühl, die Zeit ist stehen geblieben oder durch eine "Zeitmaschine" zurück versetzt worden zu sein. Ich bin richtig froh, nochmal zugeschlagen zu haben. Daher von mir eine klare Kaufempfehlung und diese gebe ich selten ab, obwohl ich ein Musikjunkie bin.

A avoir dans sa CDthéque comme souvenir des années 68 et 70, avec quelques très bons classiques.Les cuivres sont fameux et c'est ce qui a certainement contribué à leur succès Un très bon moment à déguster..!.