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Three Dog Night - Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits

Three Dog Night - Three Dog Night - Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits Audio CD

A fair review of the Three Dog Night "Three Dog Night - Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Three Dog Night reviews here, or go back to the Three Dog Night tabs.

Band: Three Dog Night
Title: Three Dog Night - Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits
Rating:

Release Date: 1989-07-26
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Joy to the World 2: One 3: Sure as I'm Sittin' Here 4: Old Fashioned Love Song 5: Let Me Serenade You 6: Shambala 7: Black and White 8: Never Been to Spain 9: One Man Band 10: Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues) 11: I'd Be So Happy 12: Liar 13: Family of Man 14: Show Must Go On

A package of treats, yet incomplete
This collection includes some of their well-liked hits from a variety of their studio albums. This is the second Greatest Hits album for the super group Three Dog Night, who released a string of pop radio hits from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s. All of these songs here were very popular on the airwaves, and all of them have a sound characteristic of TDN, which cannot be described in words, but simply have the essence which unmistakably belongs to this band.

There are 14 songs to be found on this album. From their first album, the self-titled "Three Dog Night", is the lonely song "One", marked by a thumping acoustic piano in the background. Three tracks are selected from their fourth studio album, "Naturally": "Liar", a song about dishonesty in a relationship; the high-energy "One Man Band"; and the super hit "Joy to the World", perhaps the group's biggest hit. From their fifth studio album, "Harmony", comes the heartfelt "An Old Fashioned Love Song"; the memory-laden traveling song "Never Been To Spain"; and "Family of Man", a description of modern conditions in the early 1970s (this song could be relevant today, over 35 years later). From their sixth studio album, "Seven Separate Fools", comes a prosocial song, "Black and White", about racial harmony. Two hits are derived from their seventh studio album, "Cyan": these are the joyous "Shambala"; and the piano-driven romantic "Let Me Serenade You". Four songs march out of their eighth and last highly popular studio album, "Hard Labor": a piano-driven romantic "Sure As I'm Sitting Here"; the slow-paced "I'd Be So Happy"; "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)" with a thumping piano in the background; and "The Show Must Go On", a track that begins and ends with the familiar circus theme.

The hits that were included in this album are all creative pieces that were very well-liked and enjoyed heavy rotation on the airwaves. All of these songs are of excellent quality, and are among the best of TDN's performances. However, there are other wonderful hits by this group that were not included on this collection. For example, no songs are selected from two of their popular studio albums, "Suitable For Framing" and "It Ain't Easy". Between these two overlooked albums, five very well-liked hits are conspicously absent. In addition, a popular and remade rhythm-and-blues hit from their first album is also missing from this package. A better composition of this album would have included those hits, for a more comprehensive recognition of TDN's accomplishments. Although this album was originally released on vinyl disk (which has a 60-minute capacity), the twenty songs could have been placed on two disks. Other record companies have released 20-song greatest-hits packages by other artists, cut on two records, for a 2-disk set, back in the days before the CD was utilized. Today, the CD with an 80-minute capacity is able to accommodate the twenty songs that could have been assembled into this album.

The outstanding quality of the selections included on this album deserve five stars on a five-point scale, but the exclusion of some hits and the (lack of) comprehensiveness deserve no more than three stars. Overall, this album qualifies for about four stars, due to the omission of the six hits. A longer version with at least the twenty hits would have earned five stars. .

Joy to the World
When I looked for it I found the used CD for a really good price and ordered it rather then download the one song. I wanted the song Joy to the World for my IPod. I have found four other songs on the CD that I enjoy very much. The CD came quickly and was in very good condition. I am well satified.

Not the original hits!
They are in fact stereo mixes that were on the original LPs but were not the hit versions! Most notably is the absence of the guitar solo on Joy To The World. This is indeed the original Greatest Hits album released in the 70's, but one thing important to mention is that MANY of the tracks included here are not the original mixes as played on the radio when this band was hot. Anyone looking for Three Dog Night's original hits should avoid this album at all costs. Instead buy The Complete Hit Singles or Celebrate: The Three Dog Night Story.

Not as good as it could be
It is pretty good, but there are better Three Dog Night albums to get. This album includes most of the hits, however it does not have the original version of "Joy to the World" with the extra excerpt towards the end saying "JOY TO THE WORLD, (pause) JOY TO YOU AND ME" and it also does not have songs like "Eli's Coming" on it. .

Not as bad as everyone says it is
I'll admit it's very obselete compared to newer compilations like the 1982 "Best of Three Dog Night" or the more recent "Complete Singles Collection". This is one of the earlier Three Dog Night compilation and it's very good, contrary to common belief. But this one is very good for its time. It has 13 of the 20 songs from the 1982 "Best of" compilation, plus a 14th that wasn't included on the 1982 compilation, "I'd Be So Happy". This compilation actually saves your money in a way. It has all the good songs from the "Hard Labor", which is pretty much unavailable new and pricey for a used copy. (about $24. 99 at the least). Although it did fail to include "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)" This is a very good compilation and I reccomend it to anyone. .

You can see a complete list of all Three Dog Night discography, or go back to the Three Dog Night tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.