This is a compilation of the Brothers material on Arista records in the early 80s. Both albums on Arista are baaaad. I would skip this at all costs. If you are new to the ABB, I would get any one of their first 5 albums: Allman Brothers Band, Enlightened Rogues (or get Beginnings which is the first two on 1 disc), Fillmore Concerts (Live At Fillmore East plus additional songs), Eat A Peach and Brothers & Sisters. Enlightened Rogues was another great one in 1979. If you want to get something from their 90s collection, you might want to start with Seven Turns or An Evening With The Allman Brothers Band - both are a return to form & complete albums from end to end. Mycology is a best-of CD of their material from 1990-1995 & is very nice if you are convinced you won't buy more than a couple of their albums. BOTTOM LINE: PASS ON MADNEST FROM THE WEST.
Just for the record, this isn't a "best of" collection. It is a two-fer, i.e., it contains the ABB's two Arista albums ("Reach for the Sky" and "Brothers of the Road"), minus one song that wouldn't fit.
Don't get me wrong, there are some bad songs on this double CD.
These songs are from "Brothers of the Road" and "Reach For The Sky", albums I purchased in the cut-out bin back in the 80's. 6 or 7 of the songs on this CD are so good, paying $10 seems like an incredible bargain to me.
Among the Allmans best: "Angeline", "Leavin'", "So Long", "Mystery Woman", "Maybe We Can Go Back", "Two Rights"... I jumped at the chance to get the above songs for the bargain price of this CD (bought it from a re-seller for under $8.00). Ignore the bad songs and realize that the goods ones are well worth having if you are an Allmans fan, and I am.
I saw the Allman Brothers live in 1969 at Steel Pier in Atlantic City during their Idlewild South period, and have followed them to a lesser or greater degree ever since, but have long since stopped listening to Revival and In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.
If you are only into Whippin' Post and their 25 minute jams, leave this one alone. If you don't have "Angeline" or "So Long", take a chance.
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