The Greatest Hits: Why Try Harder (CD - 2006)

Audio Mixer: Simon Thornton.

Audio Remixers: Fatboy Slim; Norman Cook.

WHY TRY HARDER? marks a decade in the illustrious career of Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim. As one of the prime movers of the big-beat genre, Cook has arguably done more to popularize global dance music culture than any other artist. This collection highlights songs that have become not only club anthems but staples on mainstream radio, MTV, and throughout pop culture in general. Fatboy Slim's formula for chart-topping success is then all the more surprising since his tracks are not usually "songs" in the traditional sense--rather, they consist mostly of breakbeats and vocal samples from classic soul and R&B.

Tracks like "Rockafeller Skank" and "Praise You" are trademark Fatboy Slim--showcasing Cook's uncanny ability to weave samples as disparate as surf guitar and gospel vocals into a propulsive dance mix. If the entire collection featured such DJ-friendly material, it would make for a fine party album. But the song "Sunset (Bird Of Prey)" displays Cook's more contemplative side. Mixing a spectral Jim Morrison a cappella sample over ambient synth washes, the track is the emotive apogee of a triumphant career retrospective.

Who could have predicted that the bass player from a Smiths-ish pop combo called the Housemartins could change the face of dance music with a controlled noise jumble that was ridiculously infectious and extra thrilling, all while sounding virtually impossible? The story behind Norman Cook's evolution into dance music's savior is fascinating, but you won't find it here. With one of the most honest titles for a compilation, The Greatest Hits: Why Try Harder goes for the big numbers -- and sometimes the smaller numbers from the big full-lengths -- without pretending to be a history lesson or an attempt to define the scattershot career of Cook. Maybe it does try a little harder by including his remixes of Cornershop's "Brimful of Asha" and Groove Armada's "I See You Baby," both of which went "Ka-Boom!" across dancefloors worldwide. While it would complete the trilogy of important Cook remixes, the absence of his take on Wildchild's "Renegade Master" is telling, since the hit is just as important but a bit more underground and raw. Instead, Why Try Harder goes for the gloss, and does so triumphantly. "Praise You," "Weapon of Choice," and "Right Here, Right Now" are all instantly recognizable tracks and packed so tight together that they create a whirlwind of big beat excitement. The curious can now skip the so-so Palookaville since its best is here, but those bitten by the big beat bug will have to go further, because Cook's best productions weren't always his singles. Two new numbers -- "Champion Sound" and "That Old Pair of Jeans" with Lateef of Blackalicious on the mike -- fail to thrill, but with so much imagination and over the top brilliance elsewhere on the disc, they can't keep this collection from being vital for budget-minded clubbers. ~ David Jeffries minimize