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From a demographics perspective, I suppose I am the target market for releases such as these. How else to explain compilations that have no thematic or time-period cohesiveness? Legends Get it On<\/em> and Legends Crank it Up<\/em> have one common thread: they attempt to distill the salad days of the boomer generation into CD-sized chunks.<\/p>\n And, on some level, they succeed. These discs play like someone’s idea of a classic rock station \u201crock block\u201d without the car dealership commercials or annoying morning jocks prattling on about whatever. So that’s good. But it’s difficult to imagine who would actually buy these: what self-respecting fan of 70s AOR doesn’t already have \u201cSmoke on the Water,\u201d “Slow Ride,\u201d “Free Bird\u201d and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band<\/strong>‘s definitive reading of Bruce Springsteen<\/strong>‘s \u201cBlinded by the Light\u201d in their collection?<\/p>\n There are a few nods toward the softer side of album-rock: Elton John<\/strong>‘s wistful \u201cDaniel,\u201d Ace<\/strong>‘s \u201cHow Long\u201d with a then-unknown Paul Carrack<\/strong> on lead vocals, and The Moody Blues<\/strong><\/a>‘ classic \u201cNights in White Satin.\u201d And there are a few 60s gems tossed here and there: The Doors<\/a><\/strong>‘ \u201cLight My Fire,\u201d The Troggs<\/strong>‘ \u201cWild Thing, The Zombies<\/strong><\/a>‘ \u201cTime of the Season.\u201d And there a few clunkers, ersatz rockers that illustrated the more vapid, airball side of FM radio: Fleetwood Mac<\/strong>‘s \u201cGo Your Own Way,\u201d and Jackson Browne<\/strong>‘s \u201cRunning on Empty.\u201d But mostly these two discs are heaping helpings of Dad Rock. Each features brief liner notes by an esteemed rock journo \u2013 Gene Sculatti<\/a><\/strong> and Dave Marsh<\/strong>, respectively \u2013 but one wonders if the consumers of these products will even read those pieces. (Neither is an exemplar of the writers’ best work.)<\/p>\n In an age of downloads and MP3, a hybrid SACD version of high-charting radio rock seems a dubious commercial prospect. But since these albums were originally released in 2003 on the Time-Life label, we can safely assume the record company people crunched the numbers and decided a reissue was at least a break-even proposition.<\/p>\n Phil Collins<\/strong>‘ \u201cIn the Air Tonight” is here, which is funny, because I assume that if anyone actually wants<\/em> to hear that song, they need only tune to their local classic rock FM station. It’s playing there right now<\/em>, I assure you. But for those who want the music without the deejays, these CDs just might be the ticket. Over-40 white males who haven’t given over to download culture might just enjoy getting Legends Crank it Up<\/em> and\/or Legends Get it On<\/em> (the latter’s title a nod to T. Rex<\/strong><\/a>‘s \u201cBang a Gong,\u201d included therein) as a gift. We missed Father’s Day 2014, so maybe birthday or Christmas. But if you give one of these CDs to the middle-aged man in your life, don’t be surprised to find him cranking up his car stereo and fist pumping while he should be driving, all to the thumping strains of Foreigner<\/strong>‘s \u201cFeels Like the First Time\u201d or Eric Burdon<\/strong> and War<\/strong>‘s \u201cSpill the Wine.\u201d<\/p>\n Verdict: slapdash, seemingly pointless collections of music \u2013 some great, some good, some lousy, all overplayed \u2013 rendered in excellent fidelity. But undeniably, they’re a lot of fun.<\/p>\n
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