Status Quo

Following the success of Piledriver, Status Quo opted not to change a thing, unfurling the mind-numbing boogie attack of Hello! The strategy worked, resulting in the group's first number one album and in "Caroline," its first top-five single. Mostly, the album succeeds in spite of itself. "Roll Over Lay Down," not immediately impressive, builds into a tizzy over the course of five minutes. It is one-upped by "Caroline," the definitive Status Quo rock song, a not particularly hard or fast four-on-the-floor stomp saved by a massive, deceptively simple guitar hook. "Forty-Five Hundred Times," less catchy but harder rocking, is brutally long, but is rescued by its placement as the album's closer.

Live performance from legendary British rockers Status Quo recorded at London's O2 Arena in December 2016. The band perform a number of hit tracks including 'Down Down', 'Whatever You Want' and 'Rockin' All Over the World'…

In March, Universal Music reissued a trio of Status Quo albums first released in the late 80s and early 1990s. These new CD editions offer a generous amount of bonus material. Perfect Remedy (1989) and its follow-up Rock ‘Til You Drop (1991) are both expanded to three-CD deluxe editions while Thirsty Work (1994) is a two CD set. The bonus content includes B-sides, 12-inch mixes, edits, outtakes, live performances and more.

After seven years at the top of the British charts, even Status Quo fans were beginning to wonder whether the band wasn't simply rewriting the same riff over and over again, then putting it out with a new catch phrase for a title. From "Down Down" to "Rocking All Over the World," Status Quo had enacted some of the most excitingly primal rock behemoths of the decade. But they'd also composed some of the most enduring clichés as well. However, nothing - repeat nothing - could have prepared the world for Whatever You Want, a record which, almost three decades later, still sounds like the most ruthless piss-take you've ever heard. And, of course, it became one of their biggest hits ever. Mercifully, the remainder of the album titled by this unfortunate monstrosity shows that there was more than one idea rattling around the band's heads at this point: "Living on an Island," with its acoustic wash and mournful melody…

This CD has all the Quo classics, from Matchstick men through Down Down to the latest releases. CD1 is non-stop heads-down rock'n'roll done as only Francis, Rick and the guys can do it. CD2 covers the later, pop period. This double CD includes everything in 12 Gold Bars (the previous best of) and more. 41 glorious tracks.

1994's Thirsty Work is one of those peculiar albums that Status Quo seemed increasingly prone to during the 1980s and 1990s, whereby they would follow a return-to-form corker with something that leaves you wondering just who you're listening to…