This is worth getting even if you remotely like rock. Includes hits such as Louie, Louie (Robert Plant), Radar Love (Golden Earring), Frankenstein (Edgar Winter), and of course, Y.M.C.A (Village People). It also has other tunes by Aerosmith, Bad Company, etc.
This is a double CD set consisting of classic hits: Jefferson Airplane's Volunteers, Hendrix's rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, Santana's Soul Sacrifice, Richie Havens' Freedom, Cocker's With a Little Help from my Friends, and stuff by CSN, John Sebastian, Joan Baez, and others at the original Woodstock.
.This two CD set consists of 30 songs from the more popular acts at Woodstock. The opening song is Selling the Drama by Live, as if we hadn't heard it enough times on the radio. Personally, Shit Towne would've made for a great selection, since I thought that's what they played best in the concert. Blues Traveler with But Anyway are okay. Melissa Etheridge sounds a bit lame on I'm the Only One. She can do a lot better than this. Joe Cocker is decent on Feelin' Alright. The Cranberries' Dreams is haunting. Blind Melon sing of a mud-filled Soup. Green Day's When I come Around is good for the nostalgic moment, when Armstrong sees this guy showing off his bright greenish-yellow hair, he goes: "look that guy with the green hair, he's a punk rocker! look, he's even telling everybody... You fucking hippie!" Salt-n-Pepa actually gave an inspired performance and this is reflected with Shoop. Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik wasn't their best performance either, but it sounds good with ex-Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro. Perry Farell sounds passioned on Porno for Pyros and "Up next, Bob Dylan" (he was the one that came on after PfP in the festival) announces Primus' Damned Blue-Collared Tweekers. The song is self-indulgent as usual, especially since it contains the bass-drenched version of The Star-Spangled Banner. Claypool: "Sorry, I had to do that". The chants of "primus sucks!" heralds the arrival (on the CD) of the chainsaw band, Jackyl, with Headed for Destruction, which is quite spirited. Draw the Line by Aerosmith is unimpressive and Nine Inch Nails' violent performance is reflected in their aggressive rendition of Happiness in Slavery.
The stage announcements are a bit condescending: "You all brought your Metallica energy with you, didn't you?" But it is a good selection to include by Metallica: For Whom the Bell Tolls. Paul Rodgers Slashes with Jason Bonham on The Hunter. The Neville Brothers' cover of the Beatles' Come Together puts their distinctive stamp on it ("call them the exceptional generation"), and Sheryl Crow's Run, Baby, Run is overused, but sounds good, and it's Deja Vu all over again with Crosy, Stills, and Nash. Of all the songs available by the Violent Femmes, they picked Dance, M.F., Dance! Collective Soul definitely don't Shine, but it is the best song by them. Candlebox ("we're Madonna, it's nice to be here") surprise with Arrow, and Cypress Hill ("we're generation fuck-you!") bore with How I could just kill a man. Rollins postures a lot with Right Here Too Much, but there is some excellent guitar work going on in this tune. The King of Nasal Rockers does a great job with Highway 61, though I thought it was much more charged during the actual live performance. Traffic don't hold up much with Pearly Queen; Peter Gabriel mesmerises (there, I was running out of adjectives) with Biko.
The 24 page booklet that came along with the CDs isn't too bad. But if you taped any part of this show from the TV/radio, I'd advise you against buying this one (the coolest thing in the CD is Primus' Star-Spangled Banner). There will almost certainly be another CD set out soon and hopefully it will contain all the hits we want to hear.