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Ultimate!

The Yardbirds - Ultimate! Audio CD

A fair review of the The Yardbirds "Ultimate!" 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 The Yardbirds reviews here, or go back to the The Yardbirds tabs.

Band: The Yardbirds
Title: Ultimate!
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-07-31
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Boom Boom 2: Honey in Your Hips 3: Certain Girl 4: I Wish You Would 5: Too Much Monkey Business [Live] 6: I Got Love If You Want It [Live] 7: Smokestack Lightning [Live] 8: Here 'Tis [Live] 9: Good Morning Little Schoolgirl 10: Got to Hurry 11: I Ain't Got You 12: For Your Love 13: I'm Not Talking 14: Steeled Blues 15: Heart Full of Soul 16: I Ain't Done Wrong 17: You're a Better Man Than I 18: Shapes of Things 19: Train Kept A-Rollin' 20: New York City Blues 21: Evil Hearted You 22: I'm a Man 23: Still I'm Sad 24: Questa Volta 25: Paff...Bum 26: Lost Woman 27: Over, Under, Sideways, Down 28: Nazz Are Blue 29: I Can't Make Your Way 30: Rack My Mind 31: Hot House of Omagarashid 32: Jeff's Boogie 33: He's Always There 34: Turn into Earth 35: What Do You Want 36: Happenings Ten Years Time Ago 37: Psycho Daisies 38: Stroll On 39: Little Games [Single Version] 40: Puzzles 41: White Summer 42: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor 43: No Excess Baggage 44: Drinking Muddy Water 45: Only the Black Rose 46: Ten Little Indians 47: Ha! Ha! Said the Clown 48: Goodnight Sweet Josephine [US Version] 49: Think About It 50: Knowing - Keith Relf 51: Mr. Zero - Keith Relf 52: Shapes in My Mind - Keith Relf

Guitar Treasure!!
Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page's classic recordings with The Yardbirds, The proto-type of so many different kinds of rock guitar playing and it's all here to hear. three of the best guitarists of all time's incredible beginnings. For anyone who wants to experience these classics. Everything you could imagine from early British guitar rock!.

Ultimate!
This recording was met with great reviews by the critics and Allmusic gave it 5 stars. Ultimate! is an amazing compilation album by the Yardbirds released 2001 and was the first official compilation from the group. The yardbirds sound like a mix between Beatles and Rolling Stones. Here we get many great tracks both studio and live. Here we have the likes of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page playing with them. The booklet is massive and contains 52 pages of amazing photographs and liner notes. 5/5.

All in One.
Figured I'd include it with a recent order. This was on my Wish List for a long time. I'm glad I did because not only did it have all the hits like "Heart Full of Soul" and "For your Love", but also tunes I haven't heard like "Drinking Muddy Water" and "A Certain Girl". All eras and areas were covered: Live stuff, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and even a few solo Kieth Relf. Fantastic collection!!!.

If you want it all, this is the one.
In fact I hardly know the names of all the members. I am not a fanatical fan of the Yardbirds. But, I do know that they created some fantastic rock and roll in the mid-60's. I am old enough to remember hearing their songs on AM radio. Hearing them today sounds terrific and reminds how today's music is badly lacking in creativity. Many of the Yardbirds greatest hits packages always seemed to be missing one or two of their hits. This one has it all! "For Your Love", "I'm a Man', "Shapes of Things", "Heart Full of Soul", "Still I'm Sad", "Happenings 10 Years Time Ago", "Little Games", and even "Over Under Sideways Down" !! Plus about 22 more tracks that true fans will enjoy. I feel that there are many tracks on this CD that I would not consider Ultimate. But, if you want to hear the Yardbirds through all of their various iterations, this is the one compilation you need. It's the best batch of Yardbirds tunes that you will find in one package. You'll hear the great guitar work of Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. And the rhythm section isn't too shabby either. The sound and engineering is top notch. Highly recommended. .

An interesting glimpse into the work of this legendary group
And, to continue, Jimmy Page, the third of these great guitar players, took the remnants of the Yardbirds and reconstituted them Led Zeppelin. The Yardbirds are famous for, among other things, having three different guitarists, each of whom was legendary: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page.

This group was an early popularizer of blues, but their repertoire really covered a lot of territory, with some strange songs represented here (including an Italian song, "Questa Volta"). There are covers of many famous blues singers (e. g. , Slim Harpo, John Lee Hooker, and Bo Diddley).

Some cuts covered in a bit of detail to illustrate:

"Boom Boom": This great John Lee Hooker song is nicely covered (but go to Hooker himself for the definitive version). There is nice harmonica work and a decent blues sensibility. Vocals are pretty light and vanilla compared with Hooker. Guitar is okay, but Clapton is not yet Clapton at this point.

"I Got Love if You Want It": A fine Slim Harpo song. The harmonica is well played here. This live performance is raw and has a heavy blues sound. The vocals are bluesier than with "Boom Boom. " This has much more of a blues sensibility.

"I'm a Man": One of my favorite Bo Diddley songs. . . . And one of my favorite Yardbirds' songs. . . . The band plays most nicely. The vocals are okay (but not Diddleyan). This is an animated, manic version of the song--and that is good! Harmonica and guitar are well played. The instruments close this out in a raw and raucous and foot thumping manner.

"Jeff's Boogie": This song is instruments--no vocals. It features the playing of Jeff Beck. Good rock and roll! This is an extended jam session more than anything else, but it is fun!

"Happening 10 Years Time Ago": The reason I chose to spend a bit of time on this is that it features BOTH Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Intriguingly, John Paul Jones (later of Led Zeppelin) plays bass. The two guitarists play well off of one another (no surprise there). This is kind of an interesting tune. There are some weird musical effects and some interesting, offbeat vocal effects. This is a lot of fun to listen to, and I suspect that the band had a lot of fun making this.

This is a 2 CD set with 52 cuts in all (25 in CD # 1 and 27 on CD # 2). Some are not up to the quality of others; a number are live performances that were recorded. In the final analysis, this does a nice job of capturing the work of the Yardbirds. Even though there is some unevenness across the cuts, this is a must buy product for those who want to explore the early days of rock and roll and the effect of the blues on English groups.
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You can see a complete list of all The Yardbirds discography, or go back to the The Yardbirds tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.