November 22, 2008
Miller's 30th Anni-Edition Is Classic
Steve Miller's 30th Anniversary Album is packed with his classics done new.
The box-set revolution that began in the '90s almost finished off anniversary "greatest hits" albums. But now that the early FM-radio gods are growing into retirement age, there is more of a call to celebrate their collected works, particularly for singular artists whose music has endured even though they slipped from the spotlight.
The 30th anniversary edition CD/DVD of The Steve Miller Band's landmark album, Fly Like an Eagle, is exactly that kind of an album. This is the record that did more than launch Steve Miller into orbit around the sun – it turned rock into "classic rock" for an entire generation of longhairs coast to coast.
Thirty years after its original release, three of the albums' biggest hits remain unavoidable staples of classic rock. The bluesy, guitar-driven "Rockin' Me," "Take the Money and Run" and the title track are as evocative and enduring as anything released in the '70s during disco's halcyon days and the early wandering years of punk rock.
Steve Miller now swaggers in 5.1 surround sound.
Two of the best facets of the anniversary package are the early demo recordings and the lengthy interview with Miller. He's not your typical rock star. Miller's music is far more famous than he is, and the interview affords a little insight to the well-known recluse.
Those who don't remember and those who never knew much about Steve Miller will find many segments revealing. In particular scene, Miller plugs in his Stratocaster and demonstrates licks learned as a child from family friends T-Bone Walker and Les Paul, as well as Chuck Berry, whom he backed in concert during his early days in San Francisco.
Along with the interview and the revealing and rare demos ("Take the Money and Run," "Rockn' Me," "Fly Like an Eagle"), the package includes a two-hour concert DVD recorded at San Francisco's Shoreline Amphitheater in 2005. Special guests include a crusty George Thorogood on "Your Cast Ain't Nothing but Trash" and famed guitar-slinger Joe Satriani, who manages to control his excessive, self-involved tendencies.
Fair warning, Satriani more than helps stretch the title track to plus-20 minutes (talk about your extended jams ... make sure you have snacks.)
Miller is even allowed to express some of his world music and jazz influences on the disc, most noticeably with "Dance, Dance, Dance" and "Abracadabra," featuring the gypsy/Cajun nuances of fiddler/harpist Carlos Reyes.
From top to bottom, it's a quality offering of some of the most important '70 classic rock.

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