Steppenwolf - The Best of Steppenwolf - 20th Century Masters - Millennium Collection (MCA) 1999
1. Born to be Wild (3:30)
2. Magic Carpet Ride (4:28)
3. It's Never Too Late (4:06)
4. Rock Me (3:40)
5. Snowblind Friend (3:56)
6. Hey Lawdy Mama (2:58)
7. Ride With Me (3:25)
8. Move Over (2:54)
9. Who Needs Ya (3:01)
10. The Pusher (5:49)
Steppenwolf are one of the iconic bands of their 1960's. They earned their place in rock 'n' roll history with the anthem "Born to Be Wild," a timeless classic immortalized in the 1969 movie "Easy Rider". ("Born to Be Wild" reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.) The song has been re-recorded by numerous bands over the years, including Riot, Raven, Blue Öyster Cult, Krokus, Ozzy Osbourne, among many others. However, Steppenwolf's recording from the film, with the motorcycle sounds added, will always be the definitive version. The song has also been cited as coining the phrase "heavy metal", a term that has been used to describe the hardest of hard rock over three decades after the song was recorded. However, there was far more to John Kay & Co. than that one song.
There is also the psychedelic classic "Magic Carpet Ride", one of the band's finest songs and another timeless rock and roll classic. The band always had an edge, even back in the 60's. Good time rock and roll songs like "Hey Lawdy Mama" and "Rock Me" are testimony to this. There are solo the social commentaries including "Snowblind Friend" from the classic "Steppenwolf 7" album and the band's anti-drug anthem "The Pusher". (Both songs written by American country music artist Hoyt Wayne Axton.) Being anti-drug in the 60's wasn't exactly fashionable at the time.
My biggest complaint about these 20th Century Masters collections is the lack of songs. Only 10 songs? Why? The CD format allows for much, much more than that and it's not like it would have cost all that much more to add on two, three, or even six more songs. There are some classic songs missing from this collection including "Monster", "Desperation", "Ball Crusher" and "Straight Shootin' Woman". However, for the $5 I found this CD for, I suppose I can't complain to much. This CD compilation acted as a reminded to me that I need some more Steppenwolf in my CD collection.
Recommended for fans of The Amboy Dukes, The Doors, Iron Butterfly, etc. Helix recorded a cover of "The Pusher".
On vinyl:
Steppenwolf - 7
Steppenwold - Live