Bill Lacey, credited here with "audio restoration," successfully freshens and brightens the group's familiar, diverse string of 1969-70 hits: the lush ballad "These Eyes," the jangly "Laughing," and 1970's superb two-sided hit "No Time"/"Undun," showing off lead guitarist Randy Bachman's respective jazzy and heavy rock guitar styles. Then again, few songs have aged more poorly than the clumsy protest anthems "Share The Land," "Hand Me Down World," and the pretentious, Psalm-quoting "Hang On To Your Life." (Michael Hill's well-researched liner notes show the group craving the FM radio cache' these message songs brought.)

While most attention went to songwriters/group leaders Bachman and Burton Cummings, the remastering plays up Garry Patterson's surprisingly assured drumming on "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" and the Guess Who's signature hit, the #1 "American Woman." (This CD features the rarely-heard acoustic intro missing from the 1971 best-of).

The CD's second half covers the period from Bachman's 1971 exit to the original Guess Who's 1975 breakup. Their studio output here was less interesting or successful, but highlights included 1973's bright "Star Baby," the bouncy "Albert Flasher," the moving pro-ecology "Guns, Guns, Guns," and late 1974's jaunty 50s rock tribute "Clap For The Wolfman." But you also get the deservedly obscure "Heartbroken Bopper" and their sorry group-written reggae try, "Follow Your Daughter Home."

Longtime fans may have invested in the two-disc anthology "Track Record" or the group's CD reissues on RCA's Buddha label. But this Guess Who "Greatest Hits" offers superior sound, and enough of it, to be a definitive value for casual listeners and anyone enjoying late-60s classic rock oldies.

32 of 34 found the following review helpful:


Finally, all the GW best on one disc  Dec 14, 2000 By Brian D. Rubendall
For many years, The Guess Who have been represented by a series of incomplete anthology albums. "The Best of the Guess Who" for example had all of the great Randy Bachman era tracks, but ignored later classics like "Star Baby" and "Clap For the Wolfman." Then there was "The Greatest of the Guess Who" which included those latter two but inexplicably dropped "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature." Now all those great songs are finally together in one place. The Guess Who achieved a kind of hard rock artistry during Bachman's tenure and and level of successful campiness later on in their career. The two styles are quite different, and the highlights of each are all here. Any fan of classic rock should own this album.

21 of 21 found the following review helpful:


Burton Cummings was Certainly an Underrated Vocalist!!!  Feb 14, 2006 By D. Hawkins
When one mentions the best rock singers of all time, how come Burton Cummings' name doesn't come up? All the evidence exists on this disc that he was one hell of a singer, delivering some of the greatest vocals to some of the greatest songs ever. Perhaps because The Guess Who was seen as a Top 40 group has kept him from his due? Let's start with one of the top three songs ever put to tape, "These Eyes." This masterpiece has all the ingredients of a timeless song - moving bass line, masterful strings, catchy rhythm, and the pained vocal stylings of Burton. Elsewhere, he shines on "Undun," "No Time," and elevates the standard "American Woman" to legendary, something that Lenny Kravitz had no chance of doing. Kudos to the compilers of this for going with the full length version of "American Woman" - the intro is absolutely essential to its impact. I don't forsee The Guess Who ever making it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but let's at least recognize one of the greatest voices in rock and letting these timeless tunes wash over us in AM ecstasy!!

11 of 11 found the following review helpful:


basics, get back to the basics  Mar 24, 2005 By eccherstentialists in 2012
Every day someone else says rock is dead. Every year someone writes an article about rock being stale, lame, overcooked, half-baked, stupid, too male, not male enough, or just plain sucky. As long as The Guess Who get radio play these people will have a place to go to get their fix. In their day the Guess Who were not well received by critics and I'm sure it's partly because they sounded like they were having fun. They had the unfortunate task of competing with Zeppelin, Hendrix, Lennon and others that achieved rare heights. The Guess Who stomped out some hits. Big hits.

Laughing, She's Come Undone, No Sugar/New Mother Nature, these are timeless jams that make people feel calm. They make people remember not to take rock so seriously.

So they aren't Springsteen. Who cares? They aren't Alice Cooper. Every time I put this on I don't want to take it off. It gets the blood flowing.

Don't forget about this wonderful band.

11 of 11 found the following review helpful:


Excellent performance overall  Sep 25, 1999
Picked this up a week ago and haven't regretted it...despite my bias (I'm a Canuck), I would rate Burton Cumming's voice in the top 5 of rock vocalists...good lyrics, words you can actually understand and competent instrumental backup from the band. Best of all for me, it brought back a major rush of memories of my youth!

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