Alas, Buffett fans, there are a few new songs here as well, including a nice cover of Nillson's "Everyone's Talkin" and the Beach Boys' "Sail On Sailor" which Jimmy certainly is doing here. He has made a career out of continuing to recycle a limited repertoire of songs, and the fans keep coming back again and again to party with him, such that his concerts are always sellouts and the rabid fans are true loonies when it comes to celebrating life along with the parrot Master himself. This is a great album, and one I am sure you will enjoy!

24 of 26 found the following review helpful:


Jimmy does it again!  Apr 21, 2003
I picked up this cd the day it came out. In fact, I left school early to pick it up at the local Best Buy :) I popped it in and was met with the anthem, Margaritaville. Moving down the songs on the first disc there are a lot of the usuals and some lesser known songs (AKA the ones not on songs you know my heart) such as Migration, Pascagoula Run (live - sounds great) for instance. The 2nd disc is hot with such songs as School Boy Heart, Knees of my Heart, Desperation Samba (love this song), and the beach boys cover - Sail on Sailor.

Overall this disc is great and is the ultimate collection, if there is such a thing. This would be a GREAT gift for those that are not familiar with the music of Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers.
oh yeah, the sound is amazing on these cds. You can hear every instrument with clarity.... except for the annoying accoustic guitar in some live tracks, this cd sounds AMAZING

9 of 9 found the following review helpful:


A Great Intro for the Newbie  Jul 23, 2004 By R. Miller "R. Miller"
I've always known about Jimmy Buffett and "Parrotheads." I knew and enjoyed his song, "Margaritaville," but I was never inclined to seek out and listen to any more of his music, and I was content in my world. But then someone loaned this CD set to my wife . . .

You never know what you have been missing in life. I listened to the songs on these CDs and was hooked. The versions of the songs on these CDs are not necessarily the original versions. Some have had minor word changes, tempo changes and arrangement changes, but it certainly doesn't matter to me. After performing all of these songs, some of them for many years, I can't blame Jimmy Buffett for changing them around a little to keep things interesting.

While this 2-CD set is a great collection, it has only lit the fire in me to find more of his music, including the original versions. What a pleasant task this is. After listening to some of the originals, I can say that the songs on this set are consistently richer, fuller, more mature, and Jimmy's voice is more mellow.

Want to get your feet wet in Jimmy Buffett's Caribbean? Try this CD set - you won't be disappointed.

36 of 45 found the following review helpful:


Great Collection of Songs Marred by Re-Recordings  Apr 20, 2003 By T. Schmidt "strangebird"
This could have been so much more. The classic _Songs You Know By Heart_ is too brief and cuts off in 1979 while the excellent _Boats Beaches Bars Ballads_ box is overkill for some (not for me!). What could have been a wonderfully put-together happy medium comes across instead as a quickie TV compilation.

Granted, there are some great, great songs here. "Migration", "Tin Cup Chalice", and "Havana Daydreamin'" perfectly capture the careless hedonism of early Buffett while the oft-overlooked "Cowboy in the Jungle" and "Fins" represent the late-70s country-pop star in his prime. Even the 80s are well-represented with "Coconut Telegraph", "We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About" (another overlooked gem from 1983), and "Last Mango in Paris". The 90's are represented with quite possibly his finest songs from that decade ("Schoolboy Heart" and "Fruitcakes")

There are some questionable song choices, though. "Creola" is long, meandering, and, quite honestly, boring. "Floridays" would have been a much better track. "Bob Robert's Society Band" shows Buffett being mellow almost to the point of being comatose.

The re-recordings are what really sink this set. With the stunning exception of "Saxophones", none of these tracks come close to improving on the originals. "Son of a Son of a Sailor" suffers mightily from a sappy monologue at the beginning followed by a clumsy duet with a female singer. Not good. The re-recordings of "He Went to Paris" and "Knees of My Heart" are adequate, but what's the point of trying to improve on perfection? The most egregious offender of all is the faux-reggae disaster of "In the Shelter". This is Jimmy's third studio recording of the song (1971, 1977, and now 2003) and this is by far his worst. A lovely country-folk tune has now become a calypso nightmare straight from the 80s. Again, not good.

The two new songs (actually covers) also leave much to be desired. Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'" was done to much better effect by Harry Nilsson back in the late 60s. WARNING!!! Do NOT judge "Sail On Sailor" as a song using Jimmy's recording! He sounds like a middle school choirboy reading the lyrics from a lyricsheet. No feeling at all! His version pales in comparison to the Beach Boys original from 1973. Check it out if you ever get the chance.

Over all, this is a fairly pleasant collection to listen to if you can get past the unnecessary re-recordings. Newcomers should probably just pass this one by and dive right in with "Boats Beaches Bars Ballads".

36 of 45 found the following review helpful:


Been there, done that  Apr 15, 2003
First off, all of the songs on this two-CD set are good songs. While the song selection may be questionable in some instances, there are no stinkers. That said, the idea of this CD just bothers me. Buffett already has a greatest hits CD (admittedly a bit dated), a box set, and three live CDs (most of which contain the same songs). Is there really a need for this latest release? The best this release has to offer is a couple of live versions and a smattering of material from the 1990s. Really not much value added over the excellent box set.

My main beef is that for someone who mocks Corporate America every chance he gets, Jimmy has really just become Buffett, Inc. He's selling CDs, books, clothes, food, concert tickets, baseball tickets, etc. I'm all for capitalism. Just don't try to come across as a populist crusading against Big Business when you're exploiting every option available to stuff your pockets with other people's cash.

See all 98 customer reviews on Amazon.com