Review #456: Greatest Hits, Al Green
#456: Greatest Hits, Al Green
I know I’m doing a lot of complaining lately, but you have to understand that I’ve been doing this for three years. So when I get YET ANOTHER compilation album, it becomes less, “Ooh, let’s dive into this cool unexplored treasure!” and more “Haven’t we seen most of these songs already?!”
Because guess what, over HALF of this Al Green compilation album are songs we’ve already seen before on his previous two entries on the list. Hell, both title songs are here, “Call Me (Come Back Home)” and “I’m Still In Love With You.” Just what am I supposed to say about this then?
I would maybe be less annoyed if RS didn’t undermine themselves by calling Green “a natural album artist” before justifying this Greatest Hits album. But they seem to be determined to include it for some reason — on BOTH old versions of the list, it was ranked 52! Yes, fifty-two, in the top 100. And I just can’t figure out WHY.
WHY. Why not Let’s Stay Together, the first of his albums to nab #1 on the soul album chart? Because that’s always the first song I think of when I think of Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together,” the tender straightforward love song about romantic peace that the world needs. And it’s not like that album didn’t have other bangers on it. See his Bee Gees cover “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” which is so soft and sweet in his hands. (Yes, the Bee Gees cover appeared on Greatest Hits, but apparently was eventually replaced by “Love and Happiness” for some reason.)
Or, if they were really averse to Let’s Stay Together, why not Al Green Gets Next To You? Two songs from his third record are on Greatest Hits: opener “Tired of Being Alone” and a Temptations cover, “I Can’t Get Next To You,” which contains a shockingly epic guitar solo. The rest of that tracklist looks amazing, too — he covers the Doors???
Nope. Apparently Rolling Stone is committed to this Greatest Hits album. If I had to guess why? It’s because he looks hot as hell on the album cover. Every other album cover, he looks a tiny bit doofy.
I know I sound like a little brat, but by the end of this record I wasn’t so annoyed anymore. Because Al Green is lovely! His voice is beautiful, and these songs are timeless. My gripe isn’t with Green. But someone at Rolling Stone has something to answer for.
Wild Card: “Let’s Get Married,” off of Green’s seventh album Livin’ For You, is maybe the realest love song Green ever wrote. A man decides to get married to stop himself from fooling around. It ends with him repeating, Might as well. How romantic!
Review #455: Bo Diddley/Go Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley
Review #457: I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, Sinéad O’Connor
