The Best Of The James Gang (2CD) [Best of, Original recording remastered]

In 2000, MCA re-issued all three Walsh-era James Gang albums in remastered format. Unfortunately, the remasters turned out to be particularly lackluster, suffering greatly in the clarity department.

However, the previous year, the German Repertoire label released this 2CD set, with their own dedicated remastering. All the muddy MCA sound is eliminated; the percussion is clear, the bass thunders and Walsh is there in all his distorted glory, with the dynamic range of the original albums perfectly intact.

Unfortunately, this set has the abbreviated (5:40) "Bomber Medley", which is an enormous sore point with JG fans. However, there's no other JG CD where The Bomber sounds this good; when A/B-compared to the MCA disc, the MCA version literally sounds like there's a heavy cloth over the speakers.

Repertoire allotted a major portion of the set to the non-Walsh JG lineups; only 14 of the 40 total tracks are Walsh-era material. On the second disc, 9 of the 19 Bolin-period tracks appear, also in far better audio than the never-remastered Atlantic "Bang" & "Miami" CD's.

I'm sure many JG fans will have their opinions over excluded tracks, but the selections were made with input from Jim Fox, who contributes a song-by-song historical synopsis of each in the booklet. There is also included probably the best essay on the history of the band of any JG CD ever released.

It's a shame that Repertoire didn't produce individual editions of the first three JG albums, because they would have blown away everything else available. Repertoire's logic was undoubtedly that since MCA and BGO both released each of the three JG/Walsh albums, there was no room in the market for a third set.

However, I've heard the MCA's & the BGO's, and just about every other JG CD; the Repertoire set towers above them all. Repertoire has been very aggressive over the past few years, often going head-to-head with Japanese mini-sleeve releases, again, with their own dedicated remastering, so perhaps they'll reconsider The James Gang in the future.

As for this set: While only half of the JG/Walsh tracks are here, no true JG's fan's collection is complete without it. You'll understand in the first 30 seconds of "Take A Look Around", track 1 on the first disc, of what you've been missing all these years.

This CD Compilation Is Great. It Includes The Popular & Deep Tracks Of All The James Gang Albums. I Am Satisfied With This Product!

Okay, perhaps I'm a bit biased being the second cousin of Jimmy Fox, but hear me out...

Back in the early 70's, Jim used to come visit us in California. I was just a kid and only knew of him as some Rock Musician who wore scraggly long hair and a bushy beard and who stunk like Patchuli Oil. He would bring us his records but because my father preferred Classical and mom listened exclusively to Neil Diamond, we were not exposed to the Greatness of the James Gang.

It wasn't until several of their songs became Hit's that I realized they were a serious Rock Band, and it wasn't until over a decade ago that I realized the magnitude of their talent. I can honestly say, I feel The James Gang is one of the most underrated bands of our generation.

When Joe Walsh left the band, unfortunately so did some of the fans and Record Exec's, causing The James Gang to lose their credibility. This was an unfortunate reality, and one that I think severely hurt their future.

If you give this album a chance, you won't be sorry. Every song is tight, every song is amazing, every song will take you back to a time when Rock was Real, not overproduced in a studio. We're talking Raw Talent, especially Jimmy on Drums, one of the best drummers to come out of the 70's.

This is a record that will leave you feeling Up and Happy..and you will undoubtedly agree that The James Gang should be inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
By far the best band to come out of Cleveland Ever!

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