John Denver
The Unplugged Collection - Greatest Hits

THE REVIEW

16 classics in acoustic version for the artistic testament of a great songwriter, this is "The Unplugged Collection", an album recorded in Nashville (where else?) in 1996, shortly before the premature death of its author, which occurred in 1997 in a plane crash: John Denver, whose period of greatest artistic splendor in the early '70s is documented in this greatest hits unplugged, has gifted the music world with a handful of unforgettable songs in which country tradition and melodic sensitivity with an almost Beatles-like flair blend perfectly, especially in the minimalistic and acoustic guise of these renditions: acoustic guitars, piano, some percussion (maracas, triangle, handclaps), and little else for just under an hour of crystal-clear class and great music.

Although at first the album as a whole might seem very homogeneous and almost monotonous, the more you listen to it, the more you realize that each song has its own style and well-defined characteristics, with the result that the overall vision grows gradually with each listen; among the most immediate and distinctive compositions, the elegiac opener "Annie's Song" definitely stands out, a poignant waltz in a crescendo supported by choruses and violins, in which John Denver's deep and expressive voice assumes almost lyrical contours, along with the simpler "Perhaps Love," where piano, guitar, and voice are enough to create an unforgettable melody, and livelier songs like the catchy and captivating "Dreamland Express", "Rocky Mountain High", with its urgent rhythm and near country-rock crescendo, the carefree "Back Home Again", the delightful bluegrass of "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" up to the magnificent "Take Me Home, Country Roads", which stands to John Denver roughly as "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" does to Elton John, while requiring a few more listens to be fully appreciated in their value are ballads like the sorrowful "I'm Sorry", the poetic "Windsong", the bucolic "Whispering Jesse", the ethereal "Leaving On A Jetplane", the serene "Sunshine On My Shoulders", the intense and poignant "Seasons Of The Heart", and the short, almost elusive but moving "Christmas For Cowboys".

Perhaps he may not have been a "fundamental" artist in the history of music, but without a shadow of a doubt, John Denver is to be recognized for his absolutely valuable compositional talent combined with a great sense of melody and a top-notch interpretative ability, which gave life to wonderful and timeless songs, destined to keep the memory of their author alive over time.