\u201cBest of\u201d compilations can be a dicey thing for a record label to put out. On one side, there\u2019s always going to be some song left out that is someone\u2019s favorite — I mean, unless you put out a box set featuring every song that person ever recorded, someone\u2019s<\/i> going to be disappointed. On the other hand, you can sometimes put too much into the set, stretching the true definition of the \u201cbest of.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the case of The Very Best Of Dan Fogelberg<\/i>, a release from 2001, I\u2019d venture to say that the latter path was chosen. Granted, the label tried to be as all-inclusive as they could be in terms of covering Fogelberg\u2019s discography, and all the songs that people grew up with on the radio are here in their glory, sounding as wonderful as ever. But sometimes, it feels like this disc overstays its welcome by one or two tracks.<\/p>\n
I have to admit, opening the disc with \u201cNether Lands\u201d is a bit off-putting. Sure, it takes into account the earliest days of Fogelberg\u2019s career, but this track just seems to come out from left field, and never really seems at home with the old standbys. Had this disc opened with \u201cPart Of The Plan,\u201d it would have been a logical decision. Even so, having \u201cPart Of The Plan\u201d as the second track works just as well.<\/p>\n
Actually, The Very Best Of Dan Fogelberg<\/i> runs on cruise control for about the next dozen songs, knowing that absolutely no wrong can be done. All the favorites are here — \u201cLonger,\u201d \u201cSame Old Lang Syne,\u201d \u201cLeader Of The Band,\u201d \u201cHeart Hotels,\u201d up to the shoulda-been hits \u201cLonely In Love\u201d and \u201cShe Don\u2019t Look Back.\u201d (I have to admit, while I\u2019ve never been a fan of the track \u201cThe Language Of Love,\u201d it does sound more at home here.)<\/p>\n
Now, I know that Fogelberg\u2019s cover of \u201cRhythm Of The Rain\u201d rightfully belongs on this collection, as it was the last real hit that he scored on the charts (aside from Adult Contemporary placements). But I just never warmed up to his take on this song — not that I was a tremendous fan of the original version either. It just seems out of place that such a prolific songwriter would need to fall back on a chestnut like this, even if it was paying tribute to the music that shaped his own style.<\/p>\n
This is where The Very Best Of Dan Fogelberg<\/i> makes its only real mistake. I could have argued for ending the collection with \u201cRhythm Of The Rain.\u201d But the last two tracks, \u201cMagic Every Moment\u201d and \u201cA Love Like This,\u201d while pleasant enough, seem like a bit of overkill by the time you get to them. And, I really hate to say it, but most people who pick up this or any Fogelberg compilation album are really looking for the radio hits from the \u201870s and \u201880s. These two tracks just seem to be tacked on for no really good reason.<\/p>\n
Make no mistake, there is plenty to love about The Very Best Of Dan Fogelberg<\/i>, and it does have a few tracks that the earlier \u201cgreatest hits\u201d disc didn\u2019t capture at the time. It\u2019s got everything that both the casual and diehard Fogelberg fan could want — as well as a little bit of padding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6036],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-40810","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-dan-fogelberg","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40810"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}