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You are > Home > Chill out to the soothing strains of The Traveling Wilburys
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Thursday, June 28, 2007
Chill out to the soothing strains of The Traveling Wilburys
By Brendan Keane
Artist: The Traveling Wilburys
Album: ‘Collection’
THERE ARE moments in time which will forever be etched in the annals of history as being among the most significant periods of existence for humankind and while a lot of these ‘moments’ are in the political arena, music also plays its part.
When George Harrison planned to include ‘Handle With Care’ as a B-side to one of his singles, even he could not have envisaged the huge success the song would generate for him and his all-star buddies in the group that became known as The Traveling Wilburys.
‘The Collection’ is a best of compilation from the band that has just been released by the Warner Music Company and it serves to remind all discerning music fans that good old fashioned song writing ‘just can’t be beaten’.
When one considers that the line-up which recorded this album was composed of some of the most legendary performers in modern music, it’s no surprise that the quality of the material is beyond reproach.
Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and George Harrison combined their immense talents to create a body of work which highlights everything that is good about country tinged rock music.
‘Handle With Care’ gets things started in lovely sing-a-long fashion and its familiar tones gently eases the listener into a nice comfortable zone.
‘Dirty World’ has Bob Dylan perform one of the best vocal performances of his career, while the soothing rock ‘n’ roll of ‘Rattled’ takes the listener off on a different tangent and the song benefits from a fantastic shuffle styled drum-beat.
‘Last Night’ introduces the inimitable vocals of Tom Petty before the chorus invokes the listener to sing along in wanton abandon.
The production on the album is crisp and serves to enhance the inherent qualities within the songs on offer.
The acoustic guitars sound particularly strong and they possess a lovely warm quality throughout.
The overall package is very impressive containing two CDs of studio recordings and DVD documenting the history of the band in addition to some studio based footage.
There are many standout tracks spread throughout the recording and if one was to regard each individual singers’ performances then ‘Not Alone Anymore’ is one of Roy Orbison’s epic performances.
An instantly memorable chorus, hints of 50s rock ‘n’ roll and a fabulous punchy beat produces a very commercial radio-friendly track.
‘Heading for the Light’ is an upbeat number which bears testimony to the vocal harmonies of the Beatles in their early career. From a personal point of view, one of the strongest songs on the album is ‘Tweeter and the Monkeyman’.
Dealing with a variety of issues including drug addition and the futility of war, it’s typical of Dylan at his best.
Some of the songs on the album will be familiar to radio listeners even if they are not that familiar with the other songs on offer.
‘End of the Line’ was a major hit for the band and the re-mastered version contained on this release underlines the incredible fact that the song still sounds fresh today almost 20 years after it was originally recorded.
Obviously, space constraints mean we can’t analyse all the tracks here; however, the second CD of studio recordings contains far more rock orientated material.
The production on the second CD is also noticeably harder edged and that gives the songs a rougher sound.
There are too many brilliant tracks on the album to pick an absolute favourite; however, ‘Inside Out’ would certainly be a contender.
In many ways it exemplifies the sum of the parts perfectly with a typical Petty chorus, Harrison and Lynne harmonies and a sneering Dylan main vocal.
Repeated listens of this album makes the material grow ever more appealing and that is the nature of all good song-writing.
When the fine summer weather returns, there will be few better ways to relax than chilling out to the soothing strains of the Traveling Wilburys.
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