Cozy Powell - 1997 "The Best Of Cozy Powell"

The Best of Cozy Powell is a collection of songs from Cozy Powell's solo works.

Polydor's The Very Best of Cozy Powell is culled from his early-'80s AOR and hard rock records. This wasn't the best period of Powell's career, suffering from a singular lack of imagination, but it had its moments, all of which are collected here. Even when distilled to this concise collection, these recordings are a bit thin and monotonous, but this remains the place to become acquainted with these records. 

Cozy Powell is a name that definitely gets recognized in the musicians circle, especially the drummers crowd. 'The Coz' was
and still is one of the hottest Rock drummers around. If your drummer can't get the job done...Then call Cozy!
Poydor-Chronicles has just issued a 'tour de force' CD The Best Of Cozy Powell which captures Cozy & friends at 16 of
their finest moments from Cozy's 3 Polydor albums- Over The Top '79, Tilt '81 & Octopuss '83. On this CD you'll find great
killer Rock mixed with fusions of Jazz & Blues and playing along side 'The Coz' you'll fine some of the leading musicians who
are top of the rank. Jack Bruce, Gary Moore, Jeff Beck, amongst others burn the tunes up with sky rockets flare! "The Blister,"
"Hot Rock," "Theme One" & "Killer" are untouchable. If you been missing Cozy's music (his original albums fetch a high $$$ in
collectors hands these days) it's time to pick up this CD. Boy! He burns on them 'skins'! All the material has been digitally
remastered and will blow your system out! For more Cozy checkout Rainbow's The Very Best Of
Rainbow/Polydor-Chronicles.

This is the best of his solo work, not the entire career. That'd be a 10 cd-box-set since he played with dozens of bands and projects. The songs here are from his three different solo albums, Over the top(1979)(#1-#5), Tilt(1981)(#6-#9) and Octopuss(1983)(#10-#16). I highly recommend this, rather than buying all three(unless you're a die-hard fan) since the song selections are great. The highlight is "Over the top"(#5), with a drum solo in the middle, completed with his world famous Tchaikovsky's "1812 overture" drum solo.

The recording members are:
-Guitar: Gary Moore, Jeff Beck(#6,8), Dave Clempson, Mel Galley, Bernie Marsden.
-Bass: Jack Bruce, Colin Hodgkinson.
-Keyboards, piano, moog bass, synth: Don Airey, Max Middleton, John Cook, David Sancious, John Lord. 

Cozy Powell is one of my favorite drummers of all time. I loved listening to his drumming on the old Rainbow albums, the later Black Sabbath albums with Tony Martin, the second album by The Micheal Schenker Group, and Robert Plant's first solo album Pictures at Eleven, but I never new he had solo albums. So I decided to buy one but, all the albums were either out of stock or way to expensive. Then I came across this compilation. I thought it was perfect and it was.
It has tracks from his first three solo albums: Over the Top(1979), Tilt(1981), and Octupuss(1983).
It has five tracks from Over the Top.
It has four tracks from Tilt.
It has six tracks from Octupuss.
Any drummer or fan of Cozy Powell's legendary drumming will adore this Cd.
Also there are many famous musicians on this Cd like Jon Lord, Jack Bruce, Don Airey, and Gary Moore.
This is great music. 

Tracks Listing

1 Theme One 3:36
2 Killer 7:16
3 Sweet Poison 6:26
4 The Loner 4:52
5 Over the Top 8:38
6 Cat Moves 5:12
7 Sunset 4:32
8 Hot Rock 4:38
9 The Blister 4:24
10 Up on the Downs 3:55
11 Formula One 3:21
12 Dartmoore 5:41
13 633 Squadron 4:13
14 Octopuss 5:53
15 The Big Country 2:56
16 The Rattler 2:57

Line-up / Musicians

Cozy Powell Percussion, Drums, Gong, Producer, Tympani [Timpani], Drums (Snare), Tubular Bells, Mixing, Handbells
Don Airey Bass, Flute, Piano, Trombone, Trumpet, Arranger, French Horn, Keyboards, Oboe, Moog Synthesizer, Moog Bass
Jeff Beck Guitar
Jack Bruce Bass
John Cook Keyboards, Moog Bass
Mel Galley Guitar
Colin Hodgkinson Bass
Jon Lord Keyboards
Bernie Marsden Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm)
Max Middleton Piano, Keyboards, Moog Synthesizer, Fender Rhodes
Gary Moore Guitar
David Sancious Synthesizer, Keyboards