After the amazing TOP GEAR: THE ULTIMATE DRIVING EXPERIENCE 2CD release I was expecting TOP GEAR: THE ANTHEMS 2CD to deliver the same mix of rock tracks and soundtrack snatches that make TOP GEAR a must-listen as much as a must-watch programme.
I wasn't expecting two disks with content more befitting the show's early-nineties period merchandising run, where seventies rock classics jostle with token chart tracks from the last couple of years to create a standard rock compilation CD.
I'll concede that Queen's DON'T STOP ME NOW, Golden Earring's RADAR LOVE and Steppenwolf's BORN TO BE WILD take their track place cues from a vote during the show's fifth season to find the nation's favourite driving song - so they're not present without good reason. However, Genesis' TURN IT ON AGAIN, Black Sabbath's PARANOID and Whitesnake's HERE I GO AGAIN's inclusion reeks of filler and rids the first disk of any pertinence to the show.
This leads me to draw the conclusion that if you want the tracks on disk one: 1. DON'T STOP ME NOW - QUEEN 2. BAT OUT OF HELL - MEATLOAF 3. BORN TO BE WILD - STEPPENWOLF 4. RADAR LOVE - GOLDEN EARRING 5. SWEET HOME ALABAMA - LYNYRD SKYNYRD 6.
MORE THAN A FEELING - BOSTON 7. JESSICA - ALLMAN BROTHERS 8. TURN IT ON AGAIN - GENESIS 9. LONG TRAIN RUNNING - DOOBIE BROTHERS 10. DON'T FEAR THE REAPER - BLUE OYSTER CULT 11. BLACK BETTY - RAM JAM 12. ALL RIGHT NOW - FREE 13. HIGHWAY STAR - DEEP PURPLE 14. PARANOID - BLACK SABBATH 15. SILVER MACHINE - HAWKWIND 16. HERE I GO AGAIN - WHITESNAKE 17. GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN' - ZZ TOP 18. ACE OF SPADES - MOTORHEAD
You can instantly save yourself £8 on the TOP GEAR: THE ANTHEMS £9.99 RRP by buying a generic rock anthems CD from your closest bargain bucket. Or, even better, if this selection is your cup of tea, go through the CDs and albums you already have and make your own.
It took me 20 minutes, including the time it took to make a sandwich and boil the kettle.
It's not all bad news though. For the inner-optimist in all of us, there's always disk two... Unfortunately disk two's actually worse than disk one.
Where disk one gets away with being a lovely big slab of cheesy seventies rock that you can find it in your sentimental heart to love, especially if you've heard 'em all a thousand times before, disk two is nothing more than a round up of tracks that've stood the test of the top forty in the last half a decade. Few have featured on the show's soundtrack, there's one unnecessary duplication from the DRIVING ANTHEMS CD (Body Rockers, I LIKE THE WAY - which is, in my opinion, the only anthemic track on disk two) and the overall result is a mix that doesn't make for an especially good listening experience.
The problem is with the selection itself. It starts off well with Blur's SONG 2 but ends in disaster with Oasis' CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA. Why choose CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA on an anthems disk when you could have ROLL WITH IT or CIGARETTES AND ALCOHOL? The same can be said for Coldplay's CLOCKS featuring midway through the disk - why not SPEED OF SOUND? They've picked the right artists, they're just not choosing the right tracks to lift the disk to anthemic proportions. Razorlight, Keane, Franz Ferdinand and Stereophonics have excellent anthem output credentials, unfortunately this disk brings the bands but fails to deliver their best tracks.
-- CONCLUSION --
If this is your first compilation CD and you've got a gap in your music collection where the seventies rock should be - DEFINITELY buy it.
If you already have a dozen or more compilation CDs and you're trusting the TOP GEAR brand to deliver - don't buy it. Get TOP GEAR: THE ULTIMATE DRIVING EXPERIENCE instead. The time you spend in the shop looking at it you could spend mixing your own playlist from your pre-existing CD/MP3 collection and have distinctly more appealing results.
TOP GEAR: THE ANTHEMS is really an ode to The Missing. What you won't find on here are genuine anthems from the show - for example, Amorphous Androgynous' THE WORLD IS FULL OF PLANKTON which played over the TOP GEAR presenters' seminal supercar visit to the Millau Bridge in Southern France doesn't feature. Neither does the special performance of RED LIGHT SPELLS DANGER by the TOP GEAR presenters' band (featuring Justin Hawkins) from this year's COMIC RELIEF.
It's absences like these that strip the TOP GEAR: THE ANTHEMS CD of any sense of identity. The content fails to function on two levels. Firstly, it doesn't deliver any anthems that are instantly identifiable from the show (with the exception of the theme tune JESSICA, by the Allman Brothers) segments. Secondly, it appears to be a 2CD compilation constructed around the Favourite Driving Song vote from a few years ago, which means you get a track to blatant filler ratio of 1:3 - not good value.
It's a shame, TOP GEAR: THE ANTHEMS could have been so much more than it is; representative of the show and of eclectic musical tastes. Something for fans and for people looking for a quick fix to fill a stop-gap in their CD collections. As it is TOP GEAR: THE ANTHEMS should be avoided until VIRGIN TV and the BBC come to their sense and retitle it NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL AN ILL-CONCEIVED TIE-IN , or it hits the £2.99 bargain bin.
As for me, I've learnt my lesson and won't ask for CDs in lieu of chocolate at Easter.
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Disc 1 Queen - Don't Stop Me Now Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell (Full Length Version) ... more
Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild Golden Earring - Radar Love Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama Boston - More Than A Feeling (Long Version) The Allman Brothers Band - Jess...
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