This 2006 reissue of THE BEST OF THE GUESS WHO features three bonus tracks, all of which were recorded in 1971, the same year the compilation was originally released. Otherwise, the album is exactly the same as the one that's been in everyone's '70s rock library since the beginning of that decade (with the exception of its greatly improved CD sound, of course).
As good as a "best-of" gets, the collection shows the full range of what these Canadian rockers could do. The riff-centric heaviness of "American Woman," the band's best-known song, may lead the uninitiated to think of the Guess Who as mere hard rockin' Neanderthals, but as this diverse set shows, the band could flit from baroque pop-balladry ("These Eyes") to psychedelic folk-rock ("No Time"), to evocative, jazz-inflected grooves ("Undun"). The range of styles here--whether lush, harmony-laden soft pop or backbeat-driven rock--serves as a reminder that the Guess Who were one of the more versatile and interesting bands of the late-'60s/early-'70s pop/rock mainstream.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (6/24/71, p.43) - "...BEST OF THE GUESS WHO captures them in that light...there are tricks in here which very few others are ever going to grasp..."
- Lenny Kaye
Q (8/02, p.140) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Bigger reputations have been built on much less..."
