CONCRETE BLONDE -- Recollection (IRS)

When Concrete Blonde broke up two years ago, the music world lost a great band. Apparently the band had a couple records left on its contract, and luckily, the band's fans are the ones reaping the benefits. In 1994, IRS released a collection of B-sides and non-LP tracks called Still in Hollywood. Now they've released Recollection, the "best" of Concrete Blonde.

Made up of 18 of the bands hits & album tracks, the CD makes an excellent starting point for someone just discovering the band. Rather than just repackaging old material, they included an unreleased live version of the Janis Joplin classic, Mercedes Benz, for the fans who already have everything on the CD. Unfortunately, the song is a throwaway. They could have left the song off, and it would still be a great CD. Better yet, instead of Mercedes Benz, they could have given us live versions of the other songs on the CD. Especially since there was never a live Concrete Blonde album released commercially.

If you're a new fan of the band, Recollection is a great place to start your collection. If you're already a fan, this is a great CD to put on when you want to listen to the band, but don't want to hear any one particular CD. Either way, you can't go wrong with this one.

© 1997 Steve Marshall