Rhino does it again. This covers everything with 41 songs from Love Sculpture to Jeff Lynne. Includes a 52 page booklet with great liner notes but even better each song is covered individually and discussed by Edmunds and/or Billy Bremner. Something that surprised me is how little Edmunds wrote, only seven songs and they were co-written. I have never been a big Edmunds fan (I think like the Everly Brothers he's a little too white for my taste) but I do appreciate his talent and I find his music growing on me (like the Beach Boys & The Dead) as I grow older.

This is almost the definitive dave edmunds collection. It contains almost all you need. The almost faultsless Rockpile LP's are well represented and have aged splendidly.

Dave was a brilliant musician - you might describe him as an electric guitar virtuoso - and a good singer (though some of the early tracks are instrumentals), whose records often reflected his fifties influences, but his music always sounded fresh and exciting.

His first success came with Sabre dance, an incredible cover of an old instrumental that reached the top five in the UK and was quite unlike anything else in the late sixties pop charts. He had no further success until I hear you knocking topped the British charts in 1971 and also a huge hit in America. This song was originally written and recorded by Smiley Lewis but was also an American hit for Gale Storm. However, Dave Edmunds made the song his own with his high-energy performance. Later in the seventies, Dave had further British success with Girls talk (an Elvis Costello song) and Queen of hearts, an original song that later became a huge American hit for Juice Newton. It is ironic that his biggest success as a recording artist was with a cover version, but that when he did come up with a great original song, it was somebody else who had the American hit. Baby ride easy is a country duet with Carlene Carter that is unlike anything else here.

Some great covers are included in this anthology, often better than the original, including Promised land, Born to be with you, Singing the blues, Crying in the rain, Almost Saturday night and The race is on - so there's some rock'n'roll, some blues and some country in there. Bruce Springsteen wrote From small things big things come for Dave to record.

There are many other great tracks here, too numerous to mention. They are by no means all covers. This is by far the strongest anthology of Dave's music that I've come across. If you enjoy early rock'n'roll, especially Elvis in the fifties, you will surely enjoy Dave's music.

How much this sprawling double CD anthology will appeal to you depends largely on your enthusiasm for the music of Dave Edmunds. In that, I count myself as a casual listener with a great affinity for some of his individual songs ("I Hear You Knocking", "Me and the Boys," "Slippin' Away," and "Girls Talk"). Like many British rockers of his generation, Edmunds enthusiastically embraced American roots music, particularly rockabilly. Unlike other artists such as Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, however, he rarely transcended his influences and as a result remained a relatively minor artist. For proof, check out his version of "I Knew the Bride," and then listen to sometimes Edmunds collaborator Nick Lowe's version. Lowe simply had a better grasp of the song.

All that said, this is an excellent anthology for anyone interested in Edmunds' music. It goes all the way back to the 1960s, and generously includes tracks from his entire recorded history. Edmunds disappeared from the scene after 1990, and this collection stands as his legacy.

If you are only familiar with Dave Edmunds later work and hits, this collection will not dissapoint you but it will be a revelation to you! I first came to know of Dave Edmunds when we were all bopping to "Teacher, Teacher" off the one and only "official" Rockpile CD, but by then, Edmunds had already amassed over a dozen significant hits in England all of which were more memorable than that cut. Even so, to hear even one Edmunds record was to get hooked if you were a rocker (as opposed to a Mod). This two CD collection has assembled in chronological order, a terrificly representative sampling of Dave Edmunds' output from the late sixties through the early nineties. The accompanying booklet is almost as delightful with its succint insights into the origins of various songs as well as describing Edmunds' evolution from one style to another.

The 1st CD leads off with some cuts from Edmunds' work with Love Sculpture. Listening to the first cut, your heart might sink a little since it's nothing more than a competent record of the time. However, the second record, "The Stumble" is a hard rocking, techinically amazing Guitar instrumental with a bluesy feel. At this point, any listener would have to concede that Edmunds is nothing if not a Virtuoso Electric Guitarist. That feeling is confirmed after listening to the two retreads of classical numbers ALA Emerson, Lake and Palmer. It was playing some gigs with Keith Emerson that gave Edmunds the idea of covering "The Sabre Dance" The exuberence and technical bravado of the piece are stunning. Of course, some people find Showing off like that a turn-off, but Edmunds manages to come across as thoroughly enslaved by the groove and not at all haughty like some other God-like guitarists of the time. The rest of the CD is testimony to Edmunds' ability to mimick the styles of his greatest influences while doing them a little better. We have nods to Smiley Lewis, Chuck Berry and even Phil Spector. Towards the end of the first CD, you can begin to hear the brilliant melding of two minds, as Nick Lowe's presence is felt on cuts like "I Knew The Bride" In the Liner notes, Edmunds states he felt he overdid the Phil Spector Wall of Sound technique on "Born to be With You", but I beg to differ, and differ vehemently. In fact, that cut is dizzingly romantic and so classic sounding one might suspect Spector had mixed it himself if not for a few curveballs Edmund throws in. Of course, that song is taken off of his album AS SUBTLE AS A FLYING MALLET which contains a number of Spector Sound-A-Likes. I was a tad dissapointed that this CD did not include his cover of "Baby I Love You" which charted well in England, but that's a piddling complaint. Of course, most people will treasure most Edmund's version of "I Hear You Knocking" which is a sparsely produced but simply perfect record. Anyone interested in Music Production should play this one over and over again to gain an understanding of when less is more.

The second CD is perhaps a little more accessible but still has a couple of surprises such as the achingly poignant acoustic duet with Nick Lowe on "I'll Do My Crying In The Rain". This cut illustrates how perfectly their two voices are matched and how, over the years, the two working together have created something that is more than the some of it's parts. Again, on all of the cuts, we see Edmund's technique on full display. I especially enjoyed his Power-pop rendition of Creedence's "Almost Saturday Night" which foreshadows his later work with Jeff Lyne on "Slipping Away" and other hits which are also present on the last half of the second CD. His shuffle treatment of "Singing the Blues" is just.. amazing and reminds you that for all the High-Tech-iness of the Lynn produced cuts, it's Edmunds' solid guitar and straightforward vocals that forms the foundation of his appeal as musician. SOme people might listen to "Queen of Hearts" and think Edmunds ripped off Juice Newton, but it should be remembered that it is, in fact, the other way around. Listen to his version, look at the date it was cut and you'll realize that Juice simply reproduced his unique arrangement and aped even his vocals and delivery. He mentions this in his comments but doesn't seem bitter. I bring this up to point out that Edmunds' Country and Rockabilly roots are present on this 2nd CD in a big way with a couple of cuts that could easily have been top country hits. A nice duet with Carlene Carter (Nick Lowes wife) and an ironic ballad sample this side of Edmunds' talent.

Overall, this Set is not only a great representation of Dave Edmunds' various styles and progression but it also would make an excellent introduction for listeners who are only familiar with his later work. The cuts are wellchosen and leave you wanting more. Amazon has a fairly good selection of some of the Albums worth seeking out in addition to this set, but this one set should provide you with many hours of listening pleasure and the price is very agreeable. You should not hesitate to order this since it's easily worth twice the price. Dave Edmunds has been singlehandly keeping the traditional Rock and Roll flame burning in small clubs for decades and he deserves his place next to Clapton and other Guitar Gods on your CD Shelf. Listen and enjoy. HAIL EDMUNDS and forgive my lousy spelling!