A Quiet Storm - one of the better compilation albums (The Quiet Storm: The Best In Electric And Acoustic Rock Ballads)

Member Name: jeffjen

Product:	The Quiet Storm: The Best In Electric And Acoustic Rock Ballads
Date:	23/04/09 (148 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good tracks, no 'filler'

Disadvantages: None

I bought this cd quite a while back now, and hadn't listened to it for quite a while until recently, when I re-discovered it sitting amongst my cd collection.
I realised again what a good compilation album it actually is, with quite a few of my favourite tracks on it.

I am not really a fan of compliation albums on the whole, as I usually find there maybe one or two good tracks, but also a lot of 'filler' which is often rubbish in my opinion. Also with a lot of themed albums, such as a love songs compilation for example, you will often notice some tracks included which definately would not fit in with most people's idea of a love song!

So, with that in mind I am quite pleased to see that this album 'The Quiet Storm' which is meant to be 'The Best In Electric and Acoustic Rock Ballads' is for the most part exactly what it claims to be.
As for being 'the best' well that is down to opinion, and although not all the tracks on this double cd are the best in my opinion, a fair few of them are!

This is a double album, released in 2003 and containing 36 tracks, so I am not going to list or review them all here but list some of my favourites and mention some of the others.

Nickelback - How You Remind Me.....This was one of my favourite songs of the year when it was released a few years back, and still is a favourite track of mine. It remained in the top 20 singles chart for 3 months, reaching number 4, thought I think it should have been no.1! I love the deep bass and loud guitar, alongside Chad Kroger's meaningful vocals.
The song is about a man whose girlfriend has left him, and he is haunted by her memory, seeing her everywhere he goes. Then as he begins to get over her, she wants him back but he realises he doesn't want her anymore, and ultimately she is the one who ends up feeling haunted by his memory!

Dire Straits - Romeo & Juliet...... I am quite a fan of Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits, and being from the North East as is Mark, I can relate to a lot of North East places he refers to in many of his songs. There is no mention of such places in this track, however, it is one of my top 5 Dire Straits tracks, and probably a favourite of many people I would imagine. Not only do I love the guitar on this track but I love the lyrics also , they are quite moving yet funny in parts too, when 'Juliet says, hey it's Romeo, you mearly gimme a heart attack!'

Foreigner - I Want To Know What Love Is......a great power ballad, this was a number one single for Foreigner, and while I am not a big fan of them, this song brings back many happy memories for me, and that's all I'm saying!

Gary Moore - Parisian Walkways.... the guitar in this track is amazing. Gary Moore is one of the greatest guitarists (in my opinion of course) and I'm glad this track is included on the album, as it certainly deserves to be.

Paul Weller - Wildwood.....I was a fan of The Jam way back in my younger days and like a fair bit of Paul Weller's solo stuff over the years. This acoustic track is soft and mellow and fits very well with other acoustic tracks included on the album. It is one of my favourite Paul Weller tracks, along with You Do Something To Me.

Eric Clapton- Wonderful Tonight....another guitar great. It is of course the track he wrote for Pattie Boyd, who was married to George Harrison , who also wrote a song about her (Something), and then married Eric Clapton, who wrote this track and 'Layla' about her.
Fancy having 2 famous rock stars writing 3 hit songs about you!
It is the guitar in this track that appeals to me, much more than the lyrics.

R.E.O Speedwagon - Keep On Loving You.... this is another song I like purely because it brings back some happy memories of my younger days ( saying that makes me seem really old!) I loved this track and the follow up 'Take It On The Run' but never really liked anything else they did after this.

Other favourites of mine on this album are :-
Sting - Shape Of My Heart
Boston - More Than A Feeling
Mr Mister - Broken Wings
Prince - Purple Rain

There is also a beautiful acoustic version of 'Kid' by The Pretenders, which I feel is a stand -out track on this compilation.

There are also tracks by The Who, Squeeze, Elvis Costello, Suzanne Vega, Free, The Scorpions, Lynard Skynard and lots more. For a full track list vist Amazon.co.uk.

This double album is available to buy on Amazon for £12.98 new, and from 99p used.

Label - umtv
ASIN - B00009FM2B

Summary: A good compilation album