Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Status Quo, earMUSIC 2022.
Nostalgia is big this month. Not only have I reviewed the latest box set release from the estate of Joe Strummer but I’ve got impressive releases from Status Quo, Sweet, and Madonna to come, plus Noiseworks are releasing a new album.
The latest offering from Status Quo covers their five studio albums released from the nineties to the present time in a two CD package or three CD Deluxe Edition.
It includes all the hits plus fan favourites, and the Deluxe version has an additional CD of 10 previously unreleased live tracks.
Many of the tracks have been rerecorded this year including classics such as Rockin’ All Over The World, Paper Plane, and Caroline.
The noughties onwards was an important period in Status Quo’s career and vital to their legacy.
They entered the noughties under quite a bit of pressure, musical tastes were changing, young grunge bands dominated the charts, and Quo were seen as yesterday’s men.
The band had also undergone some personnel changes and in a way, they felt weighed down by both relevance and expectations.
What hadn’t changed though was their drive and energy and as a live act they were outstanding.
As well as throwing themselves into the studio, they toured relentlessly.
I saw them in concert during this period, along with Deep Purple, and quite frankly they blew purple off the stage.
And of course, class wins through; their albums all entered the Top Ten and their tours continued to sell out.
The albums: Heavy Traffic (2002), The Party Ain’t Over (2005), In Search of The Fourth Chord (2007),Quid Pro Quo (2011), Bula Quo (2013), Acoustic Stripped Bare (2014), Acoustic 2: That’s A Fact (2016), and Backbone (2019) proved that they still had the chemistry and a loyal fan base.
The Deluxe Edition of Quo’ing In includes some rare gems such as a version of Raining in My Heart with Brian May of Queen and Fun Fun Fun with The Beach Boys!
Both the standard two CD and Deluxe three CD collections are due for release on 16th September.
