Some of us get a bit jaded about catalogue projects sometimes. Not all of us can help it, but every now and then it doesn't hurt to stop and realize why we're so upset about a seemingly pointless compilation or repackage. That seemingly useless single-disc greatest-hits set that offers nothing new for a collector might be the entry point for a new fan into a certain artist's discography, turning them into as hardcore a fan as you and me. (And let's not forget the best-kept secret - so secret that not even everyone in the music industry realizes - that the hardcore fan is really the best and most reliable section of the music-loving population.)

That said, though, even this writer can find little to recommend in Poison's upcoming compilation, Nothin' But a Good Time: The Collection. The two-disc set is comprised of two previously-released, easily criticized titles. The first disc is the 2006 compilation The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock, which included all the big hits, album tracks, at least one rarity and a new track, a cover of Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band." But even that set missed including anything from fan-favorite disc Crack a Smile...and More! in favor of a few tracks from the band's latter-day indie albums. Then the second disc is simply a port of the remastered version of Swallow This Live, a 1991 concert disc that was inexplicably cut from two CDs to one, eliminating portions of the concert (including the show-off solos that are standard practice at Poison sets) and a handful of then-new studio tracks (now, as a result, increasingly hard to find). It wasn't the best purchase then, and it isn't now as part of this new set.

Sure, there's a bit of collectible swag included ("a limited-edition 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn' bandanna," presumably for those times you and yours pretend to be on Rock of Love with Bret Michaels), but is that going to sway even hardcore fans in the absence of anything remotely new on the audio side? This set's out Tuesday if you're really curious (or want to give a strange gift at the office holiday party), but this set will more likely than not have you saying, "Look what the cat dragged in."

Poison, Nothin' But a Good Time: The Collection (Capitol, 2010)

Disc 1 (previously released as The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock (Capitol, 2006))

1. Talk Dirty to Me
2. I Want Action
3. I Won't Forget You
4. Cry Tough
5. Look What the Cat Dragged In
6. Nothin' But a Good Time
7. Fallen Angel
8. Every Rose Has Its Thorn
9. Your Mama Don't Dance
10. Unskinny Bop
11. Rock and Roll All Nite
12. Ride the Wind
13. Something to Believe In
14. Life Goes On
15. Stand
16. The Last Song
17. Shooting Star
18. We're an American Band

Disc 2 (previously released as Swallow This Live (Capitol, 1991 - reissued/edited in 2004 with identical track list as below))

1. Intro (Live)
2. Look What the Cat Dragged In (Live)
3. Look But You Can't Touch (Live)
4. Let It Play (Live)
5. Good Love (Live)
6. Life Goes On (Live)
7. Ride the Wind (Live)
8. I Want Action (Live)
9. Unskinny Bop (Live)
10. Something to Believe In (Live)
11. Love on the Rocks (Live)
12. Fallen Angel (Live)
13. Your Mama Don't Dance (Live)
14. Nothin' But a Good Time (Live)
15. Talk Dirty to Me (Live)
16. Every Rose Has Its Thorn (Live)

Disc 1, Tracks 1-5 from Look What the Cat Dragged In (Capitol, 1986)
Disc 1, Tracks 6-9 from Open Up and Say...Ahh! (Capitol, 1988)
Disc 1, Track 10 and 12-14 from Flesh & Blood (Capitol, 1991)
Disc 1, Track 11 from Less Than Zero: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Def Jam, 1987)
Disc 1, Track 15 from Native Tongue (Capitol, 1993)
Disc 1, Track 16 from Power to the People (Cyanide, 2000)
Disc 1, Track 17 from Hollyweird (Cyanide, 2002)
Disc 1, Track 18 from The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock (Capitol, 2006)