Search - Hed Pe :: Best of

(hed)p.e. At Their Very Best...With Nothing Else To Spare.

Andrew Estes | Maine | 06/06/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"To coincide with the release of (hed)p.e.'s latest effort, "Back To Base X," Jive Records has conveniently released a "Greatest Hits" package on the same day. Now, you may be thinking to yourself two things:



1. How can a band who never really had any hits have a "Greatest Hits" compilation anyways?



2. How can a record label milk a collection such as this out of a mere three records?



Well, my friends, this is simply what we call a cash-in. "The Best Of (hed) Planet Earth" takes 15 random songs from (hed)p.e.'s three Jive releases -- "Blackout," "Broke" and the self-titled album -- and re-releases them to the public without anything new to spice things up. Nope, no remixes, no demos, live stuff, b-sides. No nothing. Quite simply, if you own these three albums already, you essentially own this one as well. Out of all the recent "old-record label cash-ins" (with Korn and Sevendust being two prime examples) this has to be the weakest. Jive doesn't even try to make this appealing to the hardcore fanbase. Perhaps more people would have picked up this album had there been one or two things not previously released.



As for the selection, make no mistake. It's a great set of songs. Some of the group's more recognizable tunes such as "Bartender," "Killing Time," "Blackout" and "Otherside" are set among other, lesser played but still superb songs like "Ken 2012" and "The Meadow" (my personal favorite). "The Best Of (hed) Planet Earth," at the very least, does a good job of capturing the band in their golden era. Afterall, these guys have definitely lost their touch and a huge amount of relevance over the years, and listening to these songs compared to some of their newer stuff is depression inducing. Listening to these songs take me back to good times, so I can't knock this collection too much. But if you already own these albums, this is simply pointless. You don't need it."

Broke and Black Out - Combined

shaun mcneil | carrollton, tx United States | 02/16/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I would only say buy this album if you have nothing from Hed PE. Otherwise just buy the "Broke" album and the "Black Out" album, most of these songs are off those two CD's!



Happy Selecting!"