Ultimate!

Disc 1
1	Boom Boom
2	Honey in Your Hips
3	A Certain Girl
4	I Wish You Would
5	Too Much Monkey Business (Live) Live
6	I Got Love If You Want It (Live) Live
7	Smokestack Lightning (Live) Live
8	Here 'Tis (Live) Live
9	Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
10	Got to Hurry
11	I Ain't Got You
12	For Your Love
13	I'm Not Talking
14	Steeled Blues
15	Heart Full of Soul
16	I Ain't Done Wrong
17	You're a Better Man Than I
18	Shapes of Things
19	The Train Kept A-Rollin'
20	New York City Blues
21	Evil Hearted You
22	I'm a Man
23	Still I'm Sad
24	Questa Volta
25	Pafff... Bum
Disc 2
1	Lost Woman
2	Over Under Sideways Down
3	The Nazz Are Blue
4	I Can't Make Your Way
5	Rack My Mind
6	Hot House of Omagararshid
7	Jeff's Boogie
8	He's Always There
9	Turn into Earth
10	What Do You Want
11	Happenings Ten Years Time Ago
12	Psycho Daisies
13	Stroll On
14	Little Games (Single Version)
15	Puzzles
16	White Summer
17	Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor
18	No Excess Baggage
19	Drinking Muddy Water
20	Only the Black Rose
21	Ten Little Indians
22	Ha Ha Said the Clown
23	Goodnight Sweet Josephine (U.S. Version)
24	Think About It
25	Knowing - Keith Relf
26	Mr. Zero - Keith Relf
27	Shapes in My Mind - Keith Relf

Barnes & Noble

Few bands experienced as many internal revolutions as the Yardbirds, and fewer still revolutionized the music world around them as greatly as this short-lived but long-fused combo. Boasting 50 songs recorded between 1963 and 1968, this two-disc set is the first panoramic view of the Yardbirds' legacy, with spotlight time granted to all three of the guitar legends that pulled stints in the band. Eric Clapton held down the fort in the band's early days as purveyors of blues-laced pop ("A Certain Girl," the reverb-laden "I Wish You Would") and flat-out blues (represented here by raw demo versions of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" and the slinky original "Honey in Your Hips"). By 1965, with the recruitment of Jeff Beck, the Yardbirds had taken a more experimental turn, as evidenced here by an off-the-wall version of Mose Allison's "I'm Not Talking" and darker tunes like "The Nazz Are Blue" and "Evil Hearted You." The band reached a brief creative peak when Beck and Jimmy Page shared six-string duties on sonic mind-blowers such as "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" and "Stroll On" (a shadowy reenactment of "Train Kept A-Rollin' "). Along with a few rarities, Ultimate! collects tracks from all of the band's original albums (including Five Live Yardbirds and the Little Games) -- classics that featured such signature tunes as "For Your Love," "You're a Better Man than I," "Shapes of Things," and "The Train Kept A-Rollin' " -- plus three 1966 solo songs from lead singer/harmonica player Keith Relf. The beautifully packaged set also includes a 54-page booklet with photos and track-by-track notes and an essay -- both by the late writer Cub Koda -- that reveals little-known bits of info, like the fact that future Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen played organ on "Ha Ha Said the Clown," a 1967 Yardbirds track. David Sprague

All Music Guide

It had to happen sometime, and after about 30 years of piecemeal Yardbirds compilations, here it is: a lengthy best-of anthology that manages to cross-license material from the Clapton, Beck, and Page eras. The result is a two-CD, 52-song anthology that includes all of their big hits, most of their outstanding albums tracks and non-hit singles, and a few rarities. If you're looking for one Yardbirds compilation, either as a starter or a summary, this is it. Previous anthologies almost always had to be divided in early 1966 after the "Shapes of Things" single for licensing reasons, but finally you can hear early blues-derived Clapton sides, 1965 initial British Invasion hit singles, "Shapes of Things," "Over Under Sideways Down," "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago," and the (comparatively slight) highlights of the 1967-1968 Page lineup all in one place. As quite minor quibbles, one could argue that some of the album tracks that were passed over -- like "Respectable," "Ever Since the World Began," and "Glimpses" -- would have been better choices than some of the cuts that did make it. A few relatively obscure items are included -- the late 1963 recording "Boom Boom"/"Honey in Your Hips," the 1965 B-side "Steeled Blues," the 1966 B-side "Psycho Daises," the Blow-Up soundtrack item "Stroll On," the weird Italian pop single "Questa Volta"/"Pafff...Bum," and particularly the three pop-folky 1966 songs from Keith Relf's solo singles. Some of those lesser rarities are at cross-purposes with the overall tone of a set largely selected on the basis of quality, rather than collectability. Still, with fine liner notes and packaging, overall it gives the music of one of the greatest rock bands the respectful, high-class presentation it deserves. Richie Unterberger