New Release: Quoin‘in -The Best of the Noughties

Indeed it is

Surprisingly, there are two songs from Heavy Traffic on there. But nothing from either Riffs or Famous...!

Seriously though, seeing as this compilation is to try and show off Quo's noughties material, how could the Don't Stop/UTI material get mixed up in there? Serious answers only!

Don't understand the point in these releases these days...

With Spotify, rightly or wrongly, we can all make our own playlists

Here's a balanced review I wrote that won't see the light of day in print. No point wasting it


Just occasionally something turns up that cannot escape comment. Quo’ing In – The Best Of The Noughties, due from Ear Music on 16 September, is a double CD set. 28 of its 35 tracks – a full 80% - are not from the noughties. The “noughties” is the decade 2000 to 2009; leaving aside its 2022 studio re-recordings of ‘Caroline’, ‘Paper Plane’ and, quelle surprise, ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’, this compilation spans the period 1995 to 2019. Reflecting a wider timeframe is fine, but why then title the release as something it patently isn’t?

Not a single one of its declared “rarities” is in the slightest bit rare by any generally-recognised definition of the word. ‘It’s Christmas Time’, highlighted in the promotional blurb as appearing here “on a Status Quo album for the very first time”, has previously appeared on two Status Quo albums (Pictures – 40 Years Of Hits and Collected). We’re certainly not averse to the idea of a latter-day ‘best of’, there’s so much great material deserving of a wider audience (much of which is absent here – where’s fan favourites ‘Dust To Gold’, ‘Heavy Traffic’, ‘You’ll Come ‘Round’, ‘Frozen Hero’, ‘Bad News’, ‘Solid Gold’, ‘Movin’ On’, ‘All Stand Up’, ‘GoGoGo’?) but even then it regurgitates the ubiquitous 70s standards as though the overseers simply daren’t release any product without yet another slog through the overexposed tropes.

A whole bunch of sub-par mid-90s throwaway B-sides most certainly do not represent anything approaching the best of any Quo period in any way, shape or form. And what does Quo’ing In even mean? At best it’s Jabberwockyesque nonsense, at worst it’s illiterate nonsense (what’s with the apostrophe?). The front cover illustration, a subsection of the Out Out Quoing (see, no apostrophe – at least let’s have some consistency) tour imagery, has a generic clip-art guitar silhouette more akin to a Stratocaster than a Telecaster.

A limited edition 3CD version boasts a bonus live disc that the press release says contains something called ‘Bye Bye Johnny Be Good’ (sic.), plus a selection of other “unreleased live songs from Westonbirt 2008” that were released in full as a double CD set in 2008. This could – and should - have been great; I just don’t understand the thinking behind this package at all.

You couldn't make it up!  Even Quo fans, who are used to a fair bit of inaccurate nonsense over the years, wouldn't have seen that one coming 

New mixes and 2022 versions? Doesn't ANYONE have any new material? 

Nicely summed up 👍

Apart from the very obvious inclusion of numerous tracks that are not from the 'noughties', I guess we have to assume that they (as in the music company/PR media people) needed (wanted?) something to promote whilst the band were on tour? Not quite sure why because I understand that gigs are selling pretty well and I can't imagine this package will be on sale at the gigs. They never are. I suppose they'd say it's the other way round. The CD's promote the tour. 

I see we still have the incorrectly titled I'm Not Ready. But we're used to that sort of thing. However, Quo releases often bring out the anorak in me     Call me old fashioned but I expect things to be accurate. Even now for some reason despite years of incorrect information. 

Incidentally, do we know what the "live medley" (track 16) is and where it's taken from? Mixed in 2022 is vaguely interesting. Mixed by who? Or is it whom? Never been sure