Cracker - Greatest Hits

This disc has two things going for it in my book. First it is actually a fine disc of country and alternative hits from an entertaining band. Secondly, it is the bands “Fuck You!” to their record label. You see Virgin Records dumped the band, then promptly released a greatest hits disc to make some cash. But the band didn’t appreciate that, so they decided to go in and re-record every song on the tracklist, so that they now owned the new recordings, and then put out their own greatest hits on the exact same day, thus giving their fans a chance to buy the greatest hits and stick it to Virgin in the process. Unfortunately though, this disc has one thing going against it for me…it’s unnecessary. The disc itself is varied to say the least. The bands more famous and popular songs lie in the alternative group of songs. “Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)” threw me back to high school and borrowing the old Cracker disc from my friend. “Low” and “Get Off This” are still both great alternative rock tracks that hold up remarkably well all these years later. “Euro-Trash Girl” is the epic of the disc at 9 minutes long but somehow doesn’t get tiresome and even will have you hitting repeat on occasion. The second grouping on the disc are the songs that are more country-oriented. “Mr. Wrong” and “Lonesome Johnny Blues” are both the kind of quirky and drunk sing-a-long type songs that you might find in a country dancehall. The lone new track on the disc “It Ain’t Gonna Suck Itself” is a direct, albeit crude, middle finger to Virgin Records, and while it’s good for a giggle, it isn’t anything you will be singing along to. Trapped in no mans land between the two groupings are the albums highest and lowest point. “Big Dipper” is a great slowed down track that provides a nice change from the rest of the disc, and “Something You Ain’t Got” is an up-tempo foot-taper that closes out the album beautifully. On the other hand “Sweet Thistle Pie” and “Duty Free” are both horrible songs that should have been left on the cutting room floor. Overall, this is actually a very nice disc that provides a staggering variety of quality songs for anyone interested in an overview of the band. And while I admire the band flipping the bird to the powers that be, the fact remains that if you want a greatest hits collection, I would stick with the previously released, “Garage d’Or,” a two disc collection that provides almost all the same tracks and more and gives a better glimpse into the bands career than this single disc release. [www.crackersoul.com]