CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

.

Greatest Hits: Remastered

by: Janis Joplin

Release Date August 31, 1999
Although Janis Joplin's genius shines through all of these tracks, the selection is inadequate. An album with a title like greatest hits needs to contain Combination Of The Two (from Cheap Thrills, with Big Brother and the Holding Company) and Joplin's version of the Bee Gees' To Love Somebody (from Kozmic Blues).

Luckily there are more comprehensive compilations available, and this album would do as an introduction to the Joplin novice. It contains the impressive acid rock onslaught of Piece Of My Heart, the original version of the timeless Me And Bobby McGee (a huge posthumous hit for her in 1971), the wrenching Maybe from Kozmic Blues and her popular novelty song Mercedes Benz.

Most of the tracks are from Pearl and ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

.

Cheap Thrills: Remastered

by: Janis Joplin

Release Date August 30, 1999
This is generally accepted as one of the top 500 albums of all time. Listen to it and find out why. Not only that, but the live album captures the band at it best.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

.

Pearl: Remastered

by: Janis Joplin

Release Date August 30, 1999
For me Janis's albums (not bootlegs or compliations) split down the middle - those with Big Bro & the Holding Co and those without. Those with are the better, the happier, where she felt part of something. They're guitar based psychedelic rock at its best. They're raw, earthy, exciting, naive and bursting with energy. Cheap Thrills is best (live) and the studio Big Brother & the Holding Company an interesting, quirky innocent debut album.
Those without, Pearl & Kozmic Blues, are the unhappy Janis, full production, no band, orchestrated, brass and keyboard albums. They lack the passion and excitement and raw energy. I still play them often and love them dearly but they're not the best. The spark has gone. That said, Pearl is the better ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

.

The Essential Janis Joplin

by: Janis Joplin

Release Date January 27, 2003
Although most of the contents are undeniably 'essential Janis' it's hard to fathom why the record company chose to include the inferior studio pre-Monterey versions of classics such as 'Down on Me' and 'Bye Bye Baby' from their 1st album. The definitive versions of these 2 songs (live versions) are better known to most Janis fans (i.e. on 'The Ultimate Collection' for example and 'Live at Winterland 68')

In fact,with the fantastic wealth of material available from the great albums released in Janis' lifetime....Cheap Thrills, Kozmic Blues, and then the later posthumous 'Pearl' 'In Concert, and 'Live at Winterland 68', the mind boggles as to why anything from the inferior first Big Brother album (recorded 1966 but delayed for many months before its ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

.

The Very Best of Janis Joplin

by: Janis Joplin

Release Date July 07, 2003
My if you have never heard Janis' voice, you have never heard anything!

I had heard of her name but never actually heard HER : then they played "Try" on the radio and I was entranced by her electric voice, it comes from so deep inside the soul I was in another world right from the first tearing-soul-drenching sound of this incredible and inimitable voice.

On this album, some of her greatest sounds, the soul in such a voice plays havoc with your soul and you find there the enthralling "Try", her soulfull and passionate rendition of "Piece of my heart", her bluesy-gutsy version of "Me and Bobby Mcgee", just about everything to discover, rediscover or simply enjoy for the empteenth time the extraordinary ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

.

Big Brother & the Holding Company: Remastered

by: Janis Joplin

Release Date July 14, 2003
Simply titled Big Brother & The Holding Company (1967), the album is Janis's one attempt to be part of a group ensemble instead of the "star." The performances are proof-positive that Janis never succeeded at blending in - she had too much power. In the opening number, "Bye, Bye Baby," Janis's voice is double-tracked. Thanks to the elegant re-mastering job, the raw beauty of that performance can now be fully appreciated. The group itself produced a fine debut album, but it's doubtful that the album would have been treated to such a lavish re-mastering job without the historical connection that Joplin provided. This is the best of the San Francisco sound: raw, driven rock where the musicians were genuinely talented. Sounds great!!

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

.

Super Hits

by: Janis Joplin

Release Date July 17, 2000
SUPER HITS is a fine starting point into the music of Janis Joplin.If you've always wondered what she was all about then this album gives you just some of an impressive body of work from one of the finest singers ever. Also included is the posthumously released "One Night Stand" with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, how this was passed over until 1983 is a mystery. Go get it! You won't regret this!

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

.

Janis

by: Janis Joplin

Release Date November 30, 1998
I actually accidentally ordered this. I was just trying to work out the shipping costs when I clicked on one page too far, but I'm definitely glad I did. There isn't a song on all these three CDs I didn't like, although in my opinion CD no. 2 is the best. I was waaaaaay too young to hear Janis while she was still alive, and had only heard 'One Good Man' before I ordered this, but upon hearing her on songs like 'Kozmic Blues', 'Piece Of My Heart' and 'Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)', I was truly blown away by Janis' amazingly powerful voice, and was also immediately inspired to make my voice sound like that. I only succeeded in hurting my throat, but the thought (not to mention effort) was there.

Anyway, all Janis' best songs (in my opinion) are on these CDs, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

.

Pearl [2CD Legacy Edition]

by: Janis Joplin

Release Date June 20, 2005
Nothing has gone stale about Joplin and her band on the all-time classic Pearl. After all these years, it remains a magnificent listening experience because of the quality of the songs, the band's tight playing and the impressive emotional range of Joplin's vocals. The second CD includes some stirring live versions of her greatest songs.

Unlike Cheap Thrills, where there was mostly a cosmic battle between Joplin’s voice and Big Brother's heavy metal onslaught, here the voice is the star. My favorites on an album of classics include the poignant Me and Bobby McGee, the tender A Woman Left Lonely, the edgy Half Moon, the emotional Cry Baby, the buoyant Get It While You Can and the plaintive/humorous Mercedes Benz.

Perfect arrangements, brilliant ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

.

I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama: Remastered

by: Janis Joplin

Release Date August 30, 1999
Joplin's debut may perhaps be described as a glorious marriage of bluesand soul. Don't be mislead by the original psychedelic album cover - thisis not the acid-rock Janis. She turns the Bee Gees' To Love Somebody intoa wrenching torch song, an at times restrained, at times desperate, butalways brilliant rendition. The arrangements impress throughout,especially in the complex and moving As Good As You've Been and KozmicBlues. Another favorite of mine is Maybe, where she out-souls ArethaFranklin. It may not be as accessible as "Pearl," but this albumnevertheless amply rewards the listener and reveals another aspect of thismistress of the desperation blues.