Greatest hits albums; there are a couple of ways you can look at them…on one hand you could say that they act as an easy introduction to bands for new listeners, enabling them to familiarise themselves with a bands work…or…some for example might suggest it’s the band taking advantage of fans, releasing multiple compilations with little to no new content (“Gold” by ABBA for example has been released fucking SIX times since 1992) but, as exploitable as that may make fans, you’ll always have the “Best Of” in some capacity, but nowadays it begs the question, why? With services like Spotify widely available and people being capable of not only compiling their own playlists but often actually improving on officially released sets, coupled with a decline in CD sales anyway, you can’t help but wonder why bands bother…though a band who has bothered recently mind you, are SOIL. The Chicago based rock/metal outfit have been through their fair share of ups and downs since they began in 1997 and their new compilation; “Scream: The Essentials” acts as a musical timeline from their inception all the way up to present day…but how essential is it?
The album opens up with the obligatory new track that’s recorded purely to promote these sorts of releases and what do you know, it’s a cover; “Gimme’ Some Lovin’” by THE SPENCER DAVIES GROUP…made famous by the film “The Blues Brothers”, it ties into the bands roots in Chicago claims bassist Tim King and while that itself may be poignant to them, the cover here is a bit brash, metal as a genre really not lending itself to the song very well stylistically and it’s a bit of a shame really…after this, well essentially we have a selection of singles more or less laid out in order of release spanning the last twenty years…it’s more of a timeline than a compilation, which is good I guess when you’re looking at progression and evolution, but it’s hardly imaginative. Early tracks like “Broken Wings” and “Road To Ruin” retain their production quality and you can feel their age slightly…”Black Betty”, another cover was technically part of a reissue so even that’s out of place here in a linear sense…
When we reach the early 2000’s we hit Soil’s golden era…as both “Scars” and “ReDefine” to this day are still probably their best works…”Breaking Me Down” is as fast-paced and gritty as ever, an incredible up-tempo slab of hard rock, while “Halo” has stood the test of time as a modern metal anthem, laying waste to rock club dance floors to this day, it’s as awesome as ever and an obvious highlight. There’s also an acoustic version of “Can You Heal Me” thrown in which allows for respite mid album and it breaks the tracks up nicely before we not only change gears but also change vocalists! 2006 saw the release of “True Self” featuring AJ Cavalier on vocals and despite the incredibly intense “Give It Up” featuring late STATIC-X front-man Wayne Static, the band hit a lull creatively and they miss the mark more often than not…this includes follow up album “Picture Perfect” which despite including the mellow, country-inspired “The Lesser Man”, it’s got a poor showing here…in 2013 however, the band would come full circle and release “Whole” with returning original vocalist Ryan McCombs and rediscover some form, especially on the track “Way Gone”, easily their best track for years. The album does end disappointingly however…a live version of “Halo” really isn’t necessary…it’s a pointless inclusion to be frank and adds nothing to the record, before we finally finish on another new cover; “Rusty Cage” by SOUNDGARDEN…now while it’s nice in a sense that it may be in memory of the late Chris Cornell, they may as well have pissed on his grave…seriously this is abysmal, it sounds like a mess and personally you’re better off with JOHNNY CASH’s version. Honestly this leaves a sour taste in your ears. Essentially then, is this collection essential? The short answer is no…however…it does provide the listener with a nicely cherry picked timeline of the bands back catalogue…a couple of stand-out moments yes, but collectively, I think essential is false advertising. [6]
The album opens up with the obligatory new track that’s recorded purely to promote these sorts of releases and what do you know, it’s a cover; “Gimme’ Some Lovin’” by THE SPENCER DAVIES GROUP…made famous by the film “The Blues Brothers”, it ties into the bands roots in Chicago claims bassist Tim King and while that itself may be poignant to them, the cover here is a bit brash, metal as a genre really not lending itself to the song very well stylistically and it’s a bit of a shame really…after this, well essentially we have a selection of singles more or less laid out in order of release spanning the last twenty years…it’s more of a timeline than a compilation, which is good I guess when you’re looking at progression and evolution, but it’s hardly imaginative. Early tracks like “Broken Wings” and “Road To Ruin” retain their production quality and you can feel their age slightly…”Black Betty”, another cover was technically part of a reissue so even that’s out of place here in a linear sense…
When we reach the early 2000’s we hit Soil’s golden era…as both “Scars” and “ReDefine” to this day are still probably their best works…”Breaking Me Down” is as fast-paced and gritty as ever, an incredible up-tempo slab of hard rock, while “Halo” has stood the test of time as a modern metal anthem, laying waste to rock club dance floors to this day, it’s as awesome as ever and an obvious highlight. There’s also an acoustic version of “Can You Heal Me” thrown in which allows for respite mid album and it breaks the tracks up nicely before we not only change gears but also change vocalists! 2006 saw the release of “True Self” featuring AJ Cavalier on vocals and despite the incredibly intense “Give It Up” featuring late STATIC-X front-man Wayne Static, the band hit a lull creatively and they miss the mark more often than not…this includes follow up album “Picture Perfect” which despite including the mellow, country-inspired “The Lesser Man”, it’s got a poor showing here…in 2013 however, the band would come full circle and release “Whole” with returning original vocalist Ryan McCombs and rediscover some form, especially on the track “Way Gone”, easily their best track for years. The album does end disappointingly however…a live version of “Halo” really isn’t necessary…it’s a pointless inclusion to be frank and adds nothing to the record, before we finally finish on another new cover; “Rusty Cage” by SOUNDGARDEN…now while it’s nice in a sense that it may be in memory of the late Chris Cornell, they may as well have pissed on his grave…seriously this is abysmal, it sounds like a mess and personally you’re better off with JOHNNY CASH’s version. Honestly this leaves a sour taste in your ears. Essentially then, is this collection essential? The short answer is no…however…it does provide the listener with a nicely cherry picked timeline of the bands back catalogue…a couple of stand-out moments yes, but collectively, I think essential is false advertising. [6]
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