I picked up this cd the day it came out. In fact, I left school early to pick it up at the local Best Buy :) I popped it in and was met with the anthem, Margaritaville. Moving down the songs on the first disc there are a lot of the usuals and some lesser known songs (AKA the ones not on songs you know my heart) such as Migration, Pascagoula Run (live - sounds great) for instance. The 2nd disc is hot with such songs as School Boy Heart, Knees of my Heart, Desperation Samba (love this song), and the beach boys cover - Sail on Sailor.
Overall this disc is great and is the ultimate collection, if there is such a thing. This would be a GREAT gift for those that are not familiar with the music of Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers.
I bought it this morning (10am sharp) and I was not disappointed, awesome album. The old songs have been digitalized, and the sound really pops out at you. Being a young parrothead, I have only heard the original recordings via Internet or CDs, but the quality is much better on this album. The re-recordings of certain songs are a little weird at first, but they grow on you. I love the live recordings and the two new cover songs.
CD1
1. Margaritaville - still great
2. Migration - sounds even better
3. Growing Older But Not Up - good song
4. Holiday (Live/New Recording) - great live recording
5. Come Monday - sounds so much better in digital
6. Fruitcakes - sounds the same
7. We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us About - sounds better
8. Cheeseburger In Paradise - the guitar pops, great!
9. Jolly Mon Sing - sounds the same
10. The Pascagoula Run (Live/New Recording) - awesome live recording
11. Tin Cup Chalice - good guitar
12. Pencil Thin Moustache - sounds really good too
13. Grapefruit/Juicy Fruit - sounds the same
14. Coconut Telegraph - sounds a little peppier
15. Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes - sounds the same
16. Last Mango In Paris - sounds better
17. Fins - sounds great in digital
18. Why Don't We Get Drunk - guitar sounds better
19. Brown Eyed Girl - sounds better, heavier
20. One Particular Harbour - sounds the same
CD2
1. School Boy Heart - sounds the same
2. Everybody's Talkin' (New!) - great cover
3. Volcano - sounds better in digital
4. Son Of A Son Of A Sailor (New Recording) - great but weird at first, the female singing is odd, but is good
5. Take Another Road - good
6. Knees Of My Heart (New Recording) - sounds really good
7. In The Shelter (New Recording) - sounds better
8. Havana Daydreamin' - sounds the same
9. Desperation Samba (Haloween In Tijuana)(Live/New Recording) - awesome live recording, best live song on the album
10. Barefoot Children - sounds better
11. Saxophones (New Recording) - the saxophones sound much better
12. Cowboy In The Jungle - sounds the same
13. He Went To Paris (New Recording) - sounds weird, but the guitar is better, the singing sounds off
14. Creola - sounds the same
15. Bob Robert's Society Band - sounds the same
16. A Pirate Looks At Forty (Live/New Recording) - great live song
17. Sail On Sailor (New) - good cover
18. The Captain And The Kid (New Recording) - great song
With this in mind, I would recommend buying this album to anyone, even a parrothead who has every album. Great album for someone who barely knows Buffett. Great starter album for your family and friends.
Summer is coming but we have that state of mind all the time with this music, and a new collection of Buffett songs is always welcomed to ears the world over!
But Wait! This isn't just a collection of songs off of other albums, there are some true finds here, some new gems, good songs that may have been overshadowed at the time of release,rerecordings with new arrangements, and favorites recorded live or with updated technology. "Saxophones" is brought into the new millenium, as are the classics "Knees Of My Heart" and "In The Shelter". "Take Another Road" is given new life here, in its first inclusion on a compilation,this should have been a hit. Perhaps as with other songs in the key of "JB" it is too deep.
The live cuts are Buffett at his best-the band too- and often they are overlooked, but not here.
The brand new songs are the real reason for this to exist though. "Everbody's Talkin'" is given Buffett's wry twist, but it is at the end of disc two where the true treasure is burried. The last two songs are remakes,one of his own,the other born of his songwriting with, and admiration for Beach Boy Brian Wilson(Check out "South American" on Wilson's 'Imagination' release, the Cameron Diaz reference is priceless!).Wilson's "Sail On Sailor" is a true classic, more somber than tunes Buffett's fans are used to, but joyous nonetheless.The nautical wave continues with "The Captain & The Kid". This one was originally written for Buffett's grandfather, but one can feel the changes that have come since it's original release in the early 1970's. Fatherhood, strained business and personal relationships, and his father's health have added layers of truth to an already wonderful song, one made better by time.
Since "Ultimate" is defined as "final"-let us hope it is not the final collection - but in common parlance- this is the "Ultimate", indeed. Meet Me In Margaritaville? I am already packed.
Jimmy Buffett's new album Meet Me In Margaritaville is subtitled The Ultimate Collection. While that is completely subjective as Parrotheads have their own favorites, this set has something that will please everybody. Mr. Buffett has re-recorded six songs, included new live versions of four other songs and two new recordings, covers of "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Sail On Sailor" (his first ever cover of a Beach Boys song). The new versions of the songs are very good, but only "Saxophones" is superior to the original. New versions of songs like "The Captain & The Kid", "He Went To Paris" and the live "A Pirate Looks At Forty" have a different feeling as Mr. Buffett is no longer the kid in the songs, but the older men and this adds a nice poignancy. The album offers something from every era of his career from early classics like "Come Monday", "Grapefruit/Juicy Fruit" and "Pencil Thin Mustache", to his "hits" like "Fins", "Cheeseburger In Paradise" and "Why Don't We Get Drunk" to newer songs like "Fruitcakes" and "Barefoot Children". Of course hit one and only top ten single "Margaritaville" opens the first disk and no ultimate collection of Jimmy Buffett's would be complete without that single that still encapsulates the fun and good times that his music brings.
This is a great CD but I can't quite give it 5 stars. Here's why. First of all the re-recorded songs for the most part did not improve on the originals with maybe the exception of In The Shelter and Captain and the Kid. When you listen to this version of Son of A Sailor and there is no harmonica it just ain't right (Bring back "Fingers" Taylor, Jimmy please). The re-recordings replace the harmonica with horns (ex. Knees of My Heart)and I'm not a big fan of horns. There is some great stuff on here though that doesn't appear on the box set though. We Are The People, Cowboy In The Jungle, Take Another Road, Migration, Growing Older these all should have made the box set. Out of the two all new songs Everybody's Talking is excellent. I heard a calypso band in the Bahamas many years ago playing this song and remember telling my wife that Buffett should do this song. Sail on Sailor is rather forgettable. All in all if you are a casual Buffett fan and Songs You Know By Heart doesn't quite give you enough but you don't want to shell out the extra cash for the box set I think this is an excellent compromise. If you are a diehard Parrothead then you will want this for the new songs and live versions. If you are a diehard Parrothead you may not care for the re-recordings.
