It's strange to see a "Greatest Hits" collection from a band that, in the eyes of many die-hard fans, seems to be the furthest thing from a "radio" or "hit singles" band. Many deadheads criticize "Skeletons In The Closet: The Best Of The Grateful Dead" for similar reasons. Similarly, fans of both bands viciously collect and trade concert bootlegs, and hardly any of these shows consist of more than one or two songs from the band's repsective compilation album.

Never the less, The Black Crowes had a successful string of singles and Mtv videos, especially during the time of their first two albums. And having been around for over 10 years, it seems like some sort of compilation album was due. As with any band's Greatest Hits compilation, this one is obviously not designed for the fan who already owns all the band's albums, but rather for the casual fan: the one who always liked what they heard from The Black Crowes on the radio or Mtv, but just never got around to buying anything from them.

So with this in mind, the CD does a very good job. The songs have been remastered, and the CD sounds consistantly good in sound quality. The liner notes show their whole album and single discography. The most well-known songs from the band come from their first two albums, and they're graciously represented here in tracks 1-8. The first 4 tracks also represent the first 4 Black Crowes videos, all of which got very fair airplay on Mtv and VH-1.

Though with the next 4 tracks, it seems a little strange that "Sting Me" was included while "Sometimes Salvation" was omitted. "Sting Me" was released as a single, but unlike "Sometimes Salvation" a video was never made for this song. I would think that not many casual fans have heard "Sting Me". Similarly, it seems that other singles from the band (particularly "Hotel Illnes", "Highhead Blues") should have ended up on this compilation in place of other songs that didn't get nearly as much airplay. Then again, maybe these are still obscure songs in the mind of the casual fan.

My only other complaint is that this compilation came out before the live albums with Jimmy Page, and the most recent studio album "Lions". As I write this review, the Black Crowes have since taken a declared sabbatical, and are not sure when they plan on reuniting to make more albums. So since the band is now broken up (again, at least for a long while), this CD is a few tracks short of being a truly all-encompassing album. Of course, nobody really knew this was going to happen in 1999.

I still highly recommend this album to anybody who's liked the Black Crowes but just never bought any of their CDs. I've bought it as a gift for friends in this position, and they've thoroughly enjoyed it. Great, well-written rock songs from a great band.

If you are a fan of old time rock 'n' roll, or southern rock, or blues rock then this cd is for you. That is, if you don't already own a substantial part of the Black Crowes catalog. As with all other "best of" albums that don't feature any new or previously unreleased material, this is an album for fans looking to get into the Black Crowes that own none or very few of their albums. It's not for the fan who already has everything, except, of course, to complete your collection. No one can argue with the excellent music on here (Jealous Again, She Talks To Angels, Remedy, Go Faster, etc.), but it's useless if you already own the songs. For people just getting into the band however (like me) it is a must-buy.

Nirvana and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" received all credit in late 1991 for rinsing five years of "Poison"-ous teenyboppers, plastic rappers and costumed criminals off the charts. But the Black Crowes' "Jealous Again," released a year earlier, re-opened the floodgates for blues-based, classic-honed hard rock for adults.

That track starts this greatest hits CD, as straightforward and unpretentious as the Crowes' music has been the last 10 years. Their best known tunes (the snarling "Remedy," the original, power-packed cover of Otis Redding's "Hard To Handle," the Rod Stewart swagger of "Good Friday" and "Thorn In My Pride") are presented chronologically, telling the group's story from smash beginnings to occassional meanderings (the earnest but less successful tracks from 1994's "Amorica" and 1996's "Three Snakes And One Charm") to triumphant return with 1998's "By Your Side" and the slamming "Kickin' My Heart Around."

Vocalist Chris Robinson, his brother, p!artner and occasional foil Rich, and the assorted musicians and producers who've cooped with the Crowes extend a blues-rock tradition reaching back 35 years, from the Yardbirds to Free to Humble Pie (Chris wears his Pie influences on his shirtsleeve - literally) to Faces to Foghat. They energize and refresh classic rock ingredients, a fact not lost on genre giant, Jimmy Page. (His LP and tour with the Crowes invigorated his career.)

"A Tribute To A Work In Progress..." is a hits collection with integrity, and one of the better such albums recently released. It's recommended for those owning the group's catalogue; essential for everyone else.

Sheryl Crow?...Counting Crows?...The only songbirds that really mattered in the 90s were Chris and Rich Robinson's retro Stones-meets-Faces slam-bang rock n' soul act The Black Crowes. What a welcome and all too raw and rare respite amid the roster of grundge, neo-country, rap-hop, and bubble-teen that clogged that decade's airwaves! From their debut LP's channeling of Otis Redding's sweaty HARD TO HANDLE through REMEDY's dose of Southern salvation to later hipshaker KICKIN' MY HEART AROUND, the Buzz Brothers aren't reinventing rock n' roll, merely keeping the Bic Lighter flame going for the faithful millions who still hold onto the belief that a good song with a trashy beat will never go out of style. The cream skimmed from the Crowes' first five discs are compiled chronologically here, the way all good anthologies oughta be, showcasing Chris' snotty yelp and Rich's righteous axe work on boogie inducer JEALOUS AGAIN and ballad break SHE TALKS TO ANGELS alike. Listeners are advised to play this Crowes' feat at annoying volumes accompanied by the vices of their choice. I'm sure the Robinson boys wouldn't have it any other way.....RATING: FIVE "HITS"

If you willing to go to the expense, the original cds might be copied a little hotter. I'm a fan, but not an uncritical one, and there are tunes I always skip on the original cds. No skipping needed here: the best by the best. If you don't like the Black Crowes, you don't like rock.