With The Best of the Band, Capitol Records began the inevitable process of repackaging the music of the Band, which the company would do at increasing length without solving the fundamental problem that the Band, despite the quality of their individual songs, was not a singles act and was hard to summarize in a compilation. That said, for the real neophyte, this single-disc, 11-song album may be as good as anything. It contains the Band's two most famous songs, "The Weight" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," as well as the group's only Top 30 hit, "Up on Cripple Creek," and such songs as "Tears of Rage" and "Stage Fright" that they probably played at nearly every show they performed. It's true that if you really want to understand the Band, you have to hear all of Music From Big Pink and The Band. But if you just want a snapshot, here it is. ~ William Ruhlmann, AMG
Disc 1: THE WEIGHT STAGE FRIGHT ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN UP ON CRIPPLE CREEK THIS WHEEL'S ON FIRE AIN'T GOT NO HOME THE PROMISED LAND THE GREAT PRETENDER LIFE IS A CARNIVAL CHEST FEVER WHEN YOU AWAKE I SHALL BE RELEASED THE SHAPE I'M IN TIME TO KILL TEARS OF RAGE TO KINGDOM COME WHISPERING PINES ROCKIN' CHAIR THE UNFAITHFUL SERVANT