The announcement of Revelutions: The Very Best of Steve Winwood - a new compilation from Island available as either a single-disc compilation or a four-disc box set - should be exciting. Winwood is a hell of a musician whose illustrious career has seen him work with Blind Faith, Traffic and The Spencer Davis Group, not to mention his own successful solo work.
But this set is boring, not just for its lack of vault content but because it's essentially been released before. The Finer Things was a 1995 box set that covered Winwood's career just as well; the choice to regurgitate much of the same material from the earlier set on Revolutions is kind of sad. (All told, about 40 of the 63 tracks from The Finer Things end up on this set.) You'd think the money could be better spent by at least repressing some of his material back on CD (a lot of those solo albums before "Higher Love" are hard to come by.)
Then of course, there's the inexplicable omission of "Roll with It," a four-week No. 1 hit in the U.S., from the box set track list. (It is included on the single-disc Revolutions - here's hoping for a typo).
Anyway, if you'd at least like to see what's going to be on the box set, you can have a go at the jump.
Revolutions: The Very Best of Steve Winwood
Disc 1
- Keep On Running - Spencer Davis Group
- Somebody Help Me - Spencer Davis Group
- Gimme Some Lovin’ - Spencer Davis Group
- I'm a Man - Spencer Davis Group
- Paper Sun - Traffic
- Coloured Rain - Traffic
- No Face, No Name, No Number - Traffic
- Heaven is in Your Mind - Traffic
- Smiling Phases - Traffic
- Dear Mr. Fantasy - Traffic
- Pearly Queen - Traffic
- (Roamin' Thru the Gloamin' with) 40,000 Headmen - Traffic
- No Time to Live - Traffic
- Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring - Traffic
- Shanghai Noodle Factory - Traffic
- Medicated Goo - Traffic
- Withering Tree - Traffic
- Well Alright - Blind Faith
- Can't Find My Way Home - Blind Faith
- Presence of The Lord - Blind Faith
Disc 2
- Stranger to Himself - Traffic
- John Barleycorn - Traffic
- Glad - Traffic
- Freedom Rider - Traffic
- Empty Pages - Traffic
- The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys - Traffic
- Rainmaker - Traffic
- Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory - Traffic
- Something New - Traffic
- Walking in the Wind - Traffic
- When the Eagle Flies - Traffic
- Mozambique - Traffic
Disc 3
- Vacant Chair - Steve Winwood
- While You See a Chance - Steve Winwood
- Arc of a Diver - Steve Winwood
- Spanish Dancer - Steve Winwood
- Night Train - Steve Winwood
- Valerie - Steve Winwood
- Higher Love - Steve Winwood
- Freedom Overspill - Steve Winwood
- Back In The High Life Again - Steve Winwood
- Don't You Know What the Night Can Do - Steve Winwood
- Spy in the House of Love - Steve Winwood
- Different Light - Steve Winwood
- Dirty City - Steve Winwood
Disc 4
- This Hammer - Spencer Davis Group
- Waltz for Lumumba - Spencer Davis Group
- When I Come Home - Spencer Davis Group
- Love - Traffic
- In the Light of Day - Steve Winwood
- There's a River - Steve Winwood
- Hold On - Steve Winwood
- The Morning Side - Steve Winwood
- Far From Home - Traffic
- Holy Ground - Traffic
- State of Grace - Traffic
- Why Can't We Live Together - Steve Winwood
- Domingo Morning - Steve Winwood
Disc 1 Track 1 and Disc 4 Track 1 from The Second Album (Fontana, 1966)
Disc 1 Track 2 and Disc 4 Track 3 from Autumn '66 (Fontana, 1966)
Disc 1 Track 3 from Gimme Some Lovin' (United Artists, 1967)
Disc 1 Track 4 is a non-LP single (Fontana, 1967)
Disc 1 Track 5 is a non-LP single (Island, 1967)
Disc 1 Tracks 6-8 and 10 from Mr. Fantasy (Island, 1967)
Disc 1 Track 9 is the non-LP B-side to "Hole in My Shoe" (Island, 1967)
Disc 1 Tracks 11-14 from Traffic (Island, 1968)
Disc 1 Track 15 and 16 were a non-LP single (Island, 1968) later relased on Last Exit (Island, 1969)
Disc 1 Track 17 is the non-LP B-side to "Feelin' Alright" (Island, 1968) later released on Last Exit (Island, 1969)
Disc 1 Tracks 18-20 from Blind Faith (Polydor, 1969)
Disc 2 Tracks 1-5 from John Barleycorn Must Die (Island, 1970)
Disc 2 Tracks 6-7 from The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys (Island, 1971)
Disc 2 Track 8 from Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory (Island, 1973)
Disc 2 Tracks 9-11 and Disc 4 Track 4 from When the Eagle Flies (Island, 1974)
Disc 2 Track 12 and Disc 4 Tracks 9-11 from Far From Home (Virgin, 1994)
Disc 3 Track 1 and Disc 4 Track 7 from Steve Winwood (Island, 1977)
Disc 3 Tracks 2-5 from Arc of a Diver (Island, 1980)
Disc 3 Track 6 and Disc 4 Track 6 from Talking Back to the Night (Island, 1982)
Disc 3 Tracks 7-9 from Back in the High Life (Island, 1986)
Disc 3 Track 10 and Disc 4 Track 8 from Roll with It (Virgin, 1988)
Disc 3 Track 11 from Junction Seven (Virgin, 1997)
Disc 3 Track 12 and Disc 4 Track 12 and 13 from About Time (Sanctuary/Wincraft, 2003)
Disc 3 Track 13 from Nine Lives (Columbia, 2008)
Disc 4 Track 2 from The Best of The Spencer Davis Group featuring Steve Winwood (Island, 1970)
Disc 4 Track 5 from Refugees of the Heart (Virgin, 1990)
RoyalScam says
So the first three discs are chronological, then Disc 4 is a catch-all? "The Finer Things" is SO much the better Winwood retrospective, it's not even funny. Simply adding a fifth disc to take us from 1990-present would have been the better choice.
No "Roll With It" is just inexcusable. And they still haven't thought to stick "Rock and Roll Stew" on here?
Shaun says
Did Winwood write "Rock & Roll Stew"? I know he's not the one who sang it with Traffic! That's why it's not included.
Anyhow, my interest in solo Winwood stops before the pop stardom of the Back In the High Life album, and then picks up again with the solid (though somewhat weak, lyrically) About Time album from a few years ago. Even so, there are some omissions I'd have liked... What about "Still In the Game"? That got some play on MTV in the early-mid 80's. The title track to Talking Back to the Night would've been a good choice too. How about the B-side cover of Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" from the About Time sessions?
Omitting "Roll With It," given what a monster hit it was, is ridiculous.
Great stuff from Traffic and Blind Faith, but nothing that isn't readily available elsewhere. With the Deluxe Edition of the Blind Faith album now out of print (I think?) that's a shame they didn't load up more on this set.