This album was put together to show Steve Miller's brilliance. It has the best tracks from 1974 to 1978 including songs albums: The Joker, Fly Like and Eagle and Book of Dreams.
The band:
Steve Miller- Guitars and vocals
David Denny- Guitars
Gary Mallaber- Drums
Lonnie Turner- Bass guitar
Byron Allred- Keyboard
Greg Douglass- Slide guitar
Swingtown- This song gradually gets louder at the beginning starting with the drums repeatedly doing the hi-hat which goes through out the whole song. The verse comes in and then the chorus it repeats itself and goes to the keyboard and guitar solo. The song fades away then its over. 4/5
Jungle Love- This is a good song. It starts with a keyboard immediately slowing down and then a very catchy verse. This leads right into the chorus, which too is very catchy. The guitar is extremely exposed and rhythmic. The thing I dislike in this song is that there isn't a guitar solo. 5/5
Take the Money and Run- This to is a hit. It starts with a really good drum fill, in fact the drums are good through out the whole song. This is more of a story with music instead of a song. That's a reason to like this it. The solo is kind of like a chord progression. The song ends with the chorus. 5/5
Rock n' Me- This is a very recognizable song. The whole thing is a chord sequence. The verse leads into the chorus and repeats until the end. The things I don't like are that there isn't a solo and he uses one verse twice. 4/5
Serenade- This song is less upbeat then the other ones. It does the basics, verse into chorus a couple of times and then ends with the 'Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh' it's a good but not great song. 4/5
True Find Love- If you haven't even heard this song, right from the bat you could tell it is Steve Miller. It does the same routine as the others, verse then chorus but this song is different because it has a guitar solo even though this solo is the same thing as the rest of the song but its still a solo and that counts as something. 4/5
The Stake- This song starts out with a bluesy riff and never stops milking the blues. The keyboard stands out in this song. The drums are really bluesy also. The progression is verse, chorus a couple of times and then there is a nice guitar solo and a little while later another one comes in. I like the second solo better than the first. It's a very well written song. Hats off to them. 5/5
The Joker- This song is very recognizable and arguably their most famous song. The guitar solo is very relaxed and I love the bass line. This is just a song you can slow dance to. Everything is good with this song and I have nothing bad to say about it. 5/5
Fly Like an Eagle- This is also a famous song. Most of you younger people know it as the Space Jam song. It's very funky and laidback, cool and lax. They use good keyboard. It does its routine a couple of times then fades away. 4/5
Threshold- This song is a series of crescendos and decrescendos by the keyboard very mesmerizing but really no point in it. 3/5
Jet Airliner- The song is a little bluesy and a little folkish and a mix of everything. The song is about flying in a jet (pretty obvious when you look at the title). The music is really good and the lyrics are double-tracked. There is no solo though. 4/5
Dance, Dance, Dance- This song is very country based but still keeping the Steve Miller sound. I don't like it because of the country sound, but that's just me. If you like country I guess you would like it. It does have a pretty solo so I guess this song isn't that bad. 3.5/5
Winter Time- This song starts out with a gust of wind and then the harmonica and beautiful acoustic guitar kicks in. The bass and guitar are in perfect harmony. It switches to a very good guitar solo then back to the verse and then to the chorus. 4.5/5
Wild Mountain Honey- This starts out with bongos and gorgeous wind chimes that continue throughout the whole song and the then keyboard comes in. This is a really good song to meditate and really relax to. This song is very pretty throughout the whole thing. 4/5
Pros:
Steve Miller's genius
Great walking bass lines
The background to the songs
Cons:
Some songs are lacking solo
This album has the best songs and I don't think whoever made this just threw it together. I do think they put a lot of thought into it.
