Search - Various Artists :: All Time Greatest Hits Of Rock 'N' Roll, Vol. 3

Good--but not enough here (three and one-half stars)

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 05/26/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"All Time Greatest Hits Of Rock 'N' Roll, Vol. 3 is a CD in this budget priced CD series that give us many of rock and roll's greatest hits--but this series cannot be seen as all of the greatest hits of rock and roll. As usual, Curb Records sacrifices the CD quality by not having enough songs on their CDs; and this irks me. However, what we do get here is choice rock and roll material. The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork isn't too bad, either.



Danny & The Juniors start things off very well with their hit entitled "At The Hop;" this tune rocks hard even today as Danny & The Juniors sing and play this to perfection. All right! This is great, classic rock and roll--and it's anything but elevator music! Chuck Berry also adds his "Maybellene;" "Maybellene" sounds great and Chuck Berry never misses a beat--and he doesn't sing a superfluous note, either! The electric guitar work is awesome and the percussion and rums round out the musical arrangement really well. "Maybellene" is easily a major highlight of this CD.



Jackie Wilson turns in a stunning performance with one of my favorite numbers of his entitled "Lonely Teardrops." "Lonely Teardrops" allows Jackie Wilson to show off the operatic qualities of his voice and the melody is catchy and memorable at once. Jackie could really sing alongside the best of them; and he just doesn't get the recognition he deserves these days. The Elegants sing and play their huge hit called "Little Star;" "Little Star" has a fine early rock and roll beat and I like how they intertwine a few words from the classic nursery rhyme into the overall lyrics of this song. The Elegants makes this a very pretty melody and I always enjoy hearing "Little Star."



"Lonely Boy" by the great Paul Anka shines brighter than silver and gold combined as Paul sings this with panache--not to mention all his heart and soul. "Lonely Boy" always tugs at my heartstrings when I hear it and that's the sign of a great ballad. Ricky Nelson's "Travelin' Man" is a huge highlight of this CD; Ricky's voice ranks him as one of the great rock and roll style crooners; Ricky Nelson sure could deliver a ballad with so much feeling. You feel that he's singing just to you--great! "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins is also a major tune from the early days of rock and roll; this Elvis-style song works very well and Carl Perkins aces this easily. The CD also ends very strong with "Tell Him" by The Exciters. The Exciters sang alongside the greatest girl groups and numbers like "Tell Him" amply prove their singular talent.



Overall, I have no gripe with the music on this CD--it's excellent. However, we didn't get enough of it here! I wish Curb would correct for this but it looks like they never did and never will. Hopefully casual fans of this genre of music will be satisfied with this disc. I give this CD three and one-half stars for being just too short. Sigh.

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