This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Nearly a decade after his untimely death in a helicopter crash, Stevie Ray Vaughan is still the yardstick for blues-rock guitarists.
And if you missed him the first time around, now’s the perfect chance to catch up — his four studio albums from the ’80s are all being reissued with extra tunes, interview clips, new liner notes and cover art. This compilation — which actually features more choice cuts than greatest hits — makes a good starting point. You get the fleet-fingered Love Struck Baby, the funky Superstition, his cover of Voodoo Child (Slight Return), a rare version of The Ventures’ Pipeline and plenty more, all crisply remastered to bring out every nuance of Stevie’s aggressive-yet-soulful style. The real deal, indeed.
