#846 Chuck Berry - The Great 28

Chuck Berry is great, incredible. A brilliant innovator and performer with a power and style all his own. And this collection is great, but it does reveal how narrowly Berry cast his sound over the course of his first 11 years with Chess records. Is Reelin an Rockin really a different song than Too Much Monkey Business? Johnny B. Goode's signature opening riff is repeated almost exactly just two songs later on Carol, and the song has its own charms, but proceeds to be Johnny B. Goode part 2, or like, 1.5 maybe. And then again to open Sweet Little Rock and Roller, which sounds like a slower Rock and Roll Music. And so on. The songs are great, they're fun, but eventually its all basically one sound. I mean, what a sound! But it might have been better suited for a more tightly curated collection so as not to draw attention this fact is all.

The chronological arrangement of the collection helps to watch the sound evolve, and in particular draws attention to the last three songs, the only three on the collection recorded after Berry's 18 month prison stint. They don't shatter any molds (and No Particular Place to Go is even a reworking of a previous song), but they show a different energy, and an exciting swerve in the sound. Why did he never grow past this? Was it actually like Back to the Future said, where he just got his magical sound from the future past and then didn't know where to go without it? Or maybe he just didn't give a shit, as the legacy of his post-60's performing career attests.

Fact is, its an unstoppable sound. And if this was the only recording Chuck Berry ever did this would be a 10. And my scores go to 5. But as an album, I'd rather put on Chuck Berry is On Top or even After School Session, which are more varied and more tightly paced. Incredible artifact, merely great listen 4/5