The last couple of years have been turbulent for Enuff Z'Nuff. "Favorites" puts a temporary stop for the fertilized co-operation among
Donnie Vie and Chip Z'nuff.
11 albums justify the first Enuff Z'Nuff compilation ever. "Favorites" contains 19 tracks spanning through Enuff Z'Nuff's entire career. Enuff Z'Nuff have written so many great tunes and all their albums are consistent with only a minimum of album fillers - 99 percent of their songs are hits in my book. Therefore it is impossible to encircle the 19 songs that most accurate represent the band.
The cornerstone to the music of Enuff Z'Nuff is Chip and Donnie's overwhelming sense of melody. Their music is the perfect blend of power pop with Hard Rock guitars and distinct inspiration from Beatles's legacy.
"Favorites" is a collector's item for fans and if you are not a fan - be open-minded enough to give "Favorites" a listen and you will find that you missed 11 solid albums, which I truly recommend to everyone.
From their first album released in 1989 the 2 MTV hits
New Thing and
Fly High Michelle are of course included. To this date the 2 songs are the bands biggest hits. Enuff Z'Nuff have received lots of critical acclaim, but they never sold truckloads of records. However, their self-titled debut album nearly received gold status in the US.
New Thing is the characteristic in your face rocker, while
Fly High Michelle is a touching ballad about the death of one of
Donnie Vie's friends. Also from the first album is
She Wants More, which is a great example of guitarist Derek Frigo's unique playing style, which flavored the first 3 records.
My all time favorite record is "Strength". Even though the band at the time was labeled "Hair Band" their lyrics were not about partying and screwing chicks. The first single from "Strength"
Mothers Eyes had anti racial lyrics supporting the 60's peace and Love philosophy outlived by the band. Another thing that differentiated Enuff Z'Nuff from other Hard Rock/Glam bands were the use of violin and mellotron on "Strength". Could have really cool to have included the title track or
Goodbye to show the diversity of the band.
The love ballad
Right By Your Side is definitely among the best tunes in the EZN catalogue. The song is off "Animals with Human intelligence", which represents the last full-blown Hard Rock album from Enuff Z'Nuff. It was also the last album to feature Eddie
Van Halen inspired guitarist Derek Frigo.
"Tweaked" is Enuff Z'Nuff's darkest album and the album reflects the state the band was in. It was their first non-major label album and welcomed the bluesy guitarist Gino Martino, who played with EZN before they got signed. The song titles
Stoned and
My Heroin speak for themselves. The last mentioned is sung by Chip and deals with Donnie's drug addiction.
My Dear Dream displays Donnie abilities on the piano.
A really odd choice is
5 Smiles Away from Enuff Z'Nuff's most mellow album "Seven".
5 Smiles Away is definitely not among the ones I would have chosen, which also goes for the
Cheap Trick cover
Everything Works if let it. The song selections from the later Enuff Z'Nuff albums does not reflect the strong albums that the band kept releasing.
There Goes My Heart is the exception, since it's very accessible and catchy power pop song, which should have been a huge hit.
The tracks are in chronological order except for
Time to Let You Go, which naturally marks the end of previous released tunes. A minus is the lack of tracks from "1985", "Peach Fuzz" and the most recent album "Welcome to Blue Island". Most interesting for true fans is the inclusion of an unreleased studio track. On the CD it's listed as
Man Without a Heart only to be confused with the same titled song from their latest studio album. The new track is an in your face Rocker with a pounding beat. It has 2 short guitar solos. It sounds like Donnie did the solo parts on his Gibson Les Paul, since the sound is very bluesy. Furthermore it an excuse for fans, who own their previous released to buy "Favorites".
If I could have chosen my personal favorites, the album would have been graded perfect 10. My only criticism is the song selection, which doesn't agree totally with my personal Enuff Z'Nuff favorites. Also I am Scrooge McDuck of RevelationZ Magazine, so that explains the overall grade not being higher :-)
Written by
Michael Monday, November 3, 2003
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