This is a great example of what an anthology should be. Thirty well chosen tracks: a mixture of live recordings, previously unreleased material and popular album tracks. 'Anthology' also includes a comprehensive booklet about the blues-rock guitarist incorporating sleeve notes written by San Francisco journalist, Joel Selvin, who charts Thorogood's rise to notoriety.
Although the main percentage of tracks on here are covers [the tracks include songs originally by artists such as Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker, James Brown and The Isley Brothers], the spirit with which Thorogood approaches them is energetic, vital and raw. On the outstanding Hooker track, 'One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer', you can almost hear him duckwalking across the floor at the Boarding House, where he began his career.
On the original material, Thorogood proves that he is at least as capable at songwriting as he is at playing. Songs such as 'Delaware Slide', 'I Drink Alone', and of course the excellent 'Bad To The Bone' showcase his skilled musicianship and lyrical dexterity, and they more than stand up alongside classics such as 'Shake Your Money Maker', 'Johnny B. Goode' and 'I'm Ready'.
Newcomers to the Thorogood sound will find this double CD collection is an excellent place to start, and long time fans will be pleased with this selection along with the addition of the fantastic previously unreleased track, 'Christine', originally by Chicago blues musician, Hound Dog Taylor.
According to the sleevenotes, when George Thorogood and The Destroyers started out, 'the worst pop in eons clogged the airwaves'. What a fitting time to bring out a retrospective.
