Ultimate La Guns

Artist: La Guns
Label: Cleopatra
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 741157123029
EAN: 0741157123029
ASIN: B00006GOF2

Release Date: 2002-09-03

Related Categories:

General

| Pop | Styles | Music

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

General

| Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Metal

| Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

Metal

Audio & Video

Listmania:

Ultimate LA Guns

Tracks:

Slap In The Face
Sex Action
Ritual
Electric Gypsy
Ballad Of Jane
Nothing Better To Do (Live)
Over The Edge (Live)
One More Reason (Live)
Time
Long Time Dead (Live)
Never Enough
Face Down (Live)
Bitch Is Back (Live)
My Michelle
Kiss My Love Goodbye (Live)
Letting Go
Disbelief
Wheels Of Fire
Give A Little
Rip N Tear

Similar Items:

L.A. Guns
The Best of Britny Fox
Cocked & Loaded
Hollywood Vampires
Greatest Hits

Customer Reviews:

Great New Versions of LA Guns Classics.......2006-11-03

I was suprised to find out the CD I ordered was a mix of live and new studio versions of LA Guns classics. I highly recomend this to any serious LA Guns fan. Phil Lweis' voice still sounds just as good today as it did in 1988.

The greatest hits of L.A. Guns? Not quite........2005-09-23

'The Ultimate L.A. Guns' is a hodgepodge of tracks taken from three albums that the band cut for the small label, Cleopatra/Deadline Records. In 1999, the classic L.A. Guns lineup reformed to rerecord some of their hit songs for the cd, 'Greatest Hits and Black Beauties.' The album contained mostly subpar rerecordings (focusing only on their first two albums), some remixes and a few new songs. In the year 2000, L.A. Guns issued their first live album, 'Live: A Nite on the Strip' and the album, 'Cocked and Reloaded.' The live album needs no explanation. 'Cocked and Reloaded' had L.A. Guns back in the studio rerecording the entire 'Cocked and Loaded' studio album, probably so they could have the rights to all those new versions for licensing and royalty purposes. These are the three albums that make up everything on this collection, save for one song (which will be explained later).

The good news is that this collection includes twenty songs total, though quantity doesn't always ensure quality. Seven of these tracks are taken from the live album and they do include some tracks from the studio albums, 'Hollywood Vampires' and 'Vicious Circle', which is nice since the band never rerecorded any of that material (only choosing to focus on the first two albums, 's/t' and 'Cocked & Loaded'). The live versions (at least on here) range mostly from average to above average, but at least a couple border on bootleg quality.

This leaves thirteen songs remaining. The Guns N' Roses cover song, "My Michelle", was actually cut by L.A. Guns vocalist, Phil Lewis as a solo artist (along with guitarist, Tracii Guns). This is originally from a Guns N' Roses tribute album. The remaining tracks are primarily rerecorded versions of songs from the first two L.A. Guns albums. Most of the ones early in the album are from 'Greatest Hits and Black Beauties' and the later ones were pulled from 'Cocked and Reloaded'. Two of the remaining songs, "Time" and "Ritual", were also from 'Greatest Hits and Black Beauties', but they are brand new cuts recorded specifically for the album.

The majority of the songs here on 'The Ultimate L.A. Guns' are weak renditions, suffer from poor sound quality, or both. It isn't a reflection of this album, since the source albums for the material here suffered from the same fate. It isn't a reflection of the band, either, since the original studio versions of almost all of these tunes are potent. It is hard to tell whether to call out the producer for burying the sound, the record label (Deadline, on all three occasions) for using a shoestring budget or the band for going through the motions on a lot of these tracks. However, this album is what it is. The fact is that an album containing a lot of these same songs (the original renditions, mind you) would score significantly higher on the list of any reviewer, there is no doubt about that.

There is not any new material here and nothing of note, unless you never heard the Phil Lewis cover, "My Michelle," but it isn't exactly a world beater. Due to the shoddy versions and sound quality, recommending this album to a brand new fan as an introduction to the band, will not do L.A. Guns any favors. This is not L.A. Guns at their best. Calling this a compilation or collection is accurate, but don't consider it a "best of" or "greatest hits" or you may find yourself fairly disappointed.

Most die-hard fans might already have all of the source albums, so they won't need this, unless they appreciate the new cover art. The best market for this album would come from somebody who has followed L.A. Guns before, owning maybe a couple albums, but doesn't have anything from their time on Deadline Records. If this casual fan wants to pick up 'The Ultimate L.A. Guns' and likes it, then perhaps it would be worth tracking down the three original albums that this music can be found on.

If you are actively looking for a real greatest hits collection for L.A. Guns, the best bet would be to start with the major label release, 'Millenium Collection' (which I've reviewed) as it houses the original studio versions that fans have loved for many years. 'Fully Loaded' is a budget-priced compilation of material from two strong albums that L.A. Guns did for Spitfire Records between 2001-2002, another decent choice. Aside from that, you won't be burned buying the self-titled debut or the follow-up, 'Cocked and Loaded', which got the L.A. Guns off to a fast start.

Excellent choice of cuts from a very strong metal band.......2005-08-16

If you have never heard of LA Guns or have just listened to a few of their hits like Ballad of Jayne or Never Enough, then give this a listen. It is from top to bottom the best of LA Guns. If you like it then you should get Hollywood Vampires, Waking the Dead, Cocked and Loaded and Re-Cocked. LA Guns still tours today and they put on a fantastic live show.

My Start To LA Guns.......2004-05-20

I had never actually heard a song by this band before I bought this. I had just heard of them by word-of-mouth, so I bought this. I think it's OK, but they cannot compare to their contemporaries. The first songs are great, and so is their remake of GNR's My Michelle(talk about weird!), but all the live material in the middle, with the exception of Over The Edge. But I can't understand: why didn't they put the original Over The Edge on here instead of the just OK live version. I dunno.

Don't get duped by this 'Greatest Hits' CD!!.......2004-04-16

Upon receiving this CD, I was looking forward to reliving some of the finest metal songs of my youth courtesy of the excellent L.A. Guns, what I got was a huge disapointment.
From the title, one would assume that this is a greatest hits compilation, in fact, it is not!! Instead, all of L.A. Guns' classic eighties fodder has been re-recorded and updated for the new millenium. The end result is far from an improvement. The overall sound quality varies, truth be told it is quite awful on some of the live tracks. Furthermore, the new versions of classics like Sex Action and Wheels of Fire are a letdown. The mix on many of these tunes is frequently poor, the awesome bass line from Sex Action that made it so cool is now almost impossible to decipher. Many songs have had new parts thrown in, the live version of One More Reason has a noisy, unmelodic section that completely detracts from its original impact.
What a shame that the first L.A. Guns album is no longer widely available on CD, had I had the option I surely would have opted for that one. That first effort ranks as one of the best eighties metal albums of all time, in my opinion, thanks to songs like Electric Gypsy and Shoot for Thrills. Too bad this does not live up to it. (...)

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

Sweet Mistakes ~ Ellis Paul

Under a Wild Sky ~ Phoenix Down

Only Child ~ Only Child

Art of the Balalaika ~ Odessa Balalaikas

Das Mach Ich Mit Musik ~ Various Artists

Sekai Tomete ~ Shiori Takei

As Constant as the Northern Car ~ Patrick Keenan

Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 3: 70s & 80s ~ Television's Greatest Hits (Series)

The Little Mermaid ~ Original Soundtrack

Nothin' More to Say ~ Alyson