Unbreakable: A Retrospective 1990–2006

• Artist: The Afghan Whigs
• Rating:
• Release Date: June 05, 2007
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Rock

Review

Unbreakable's track list looks much like a latter-day Afghan Whigs set list, albeit one without valiant attempts at covering the Rolling Stones or Stevie Wonder. Plenty enough is provided to ensure satisfaction, but like a Whigs live set, several songs are missing in action, lost to time constraints -- and, of course, since there are no visuals, you're not going to get the odd juxtaposition of pent-up Dulli-ites moshing to ballads involving devilishly delivered lines like "'Cause she wants love, and I still wanna f*ck," not to mention on-stage antics suited for a DVD titled Ex-Altar Boys Gone Wild. What's just as deserving of placement on this disc? A wide assortment of anthology-worthy material that, as effectively as the content included, contains a wicked mixture of desire, lust, lechery, hate, and regret. Among the missing and worthy are "You My Flower," "Band of Gold," "My Enemy," "Honky's Ladder," "Somethin' Hot," and all the unincluded songs from Congregation and Gentlemen; any 80 random minutes from Up in It through 1965 are likely to pull up a set that's every bit as pleasurable as this one, despite the wrongness that comes with breaking up two front-to-back works of genius. Two inclusions were recorded by a briefly reunited 1965-era lineup: "I'm a Soldier," despite its uncharacteristic subject matter, sounds characteristically sleazy, while "Magazine" slinks and pulses along without reaching true lift-off. The non-chronological sequencing works to the band's advantage, covering up a gradual development of overambitiousness and increased reliance on trite come-ons. ("Come on and taste me/Come on and take me" is no "If I stepped it off, walked outside your trance/Crawled inside your mind and got my hand inside your pants.") Hopefully Rhino -- or Rhino's Handmade division -- will eventually make a box containing all the albums, (mostly excellent) EP and single tracks, and (often graphically extreme) videos. This band's catalog is filled with blackhearted soul carrying a swashbuckling swagger that no other band -- including Dulli's Twilight Singers -- could possibly touch, and all of it should be left to circulate as much as possible. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Retarded (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(3:25)
Crazy (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(4:05)
Turn on the Water (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(4:18)
Debonair (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(4:14)
I'm a Soldier [#]	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(4:21)
66 (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(3:24)
Be Sweet (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(3:38)
Come See About Me (Lyrics)	Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland, Brian Holland	The Afghan Whigs	(3:47)
Uptown Again (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(3:12)
What Jail Is Like (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(3:30)
Magazine [#]	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(3:20)
I'm Her Slave (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(2:59)
Going to Town (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(3:17)
Gentleman	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(4:09)
Let Me Lie to You (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(4:35)
John the Baptist (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(5:36)
Crime Scene, Pt. 1 (Lyrics)	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(5:57)
Faded	Greg Dulli	The Afghan Whigs	(8:23)

Credits

Charles Peterson (Photography), Greg Dulli (Producer), Ross Ian Stein (Engineer), Mathias Scheeberger (Guitar), Jack Endino (Engineer), Greg Dulli (Mellotron), George Drakoulias (Bass), Rick Steff (Organ), Jeff Powell (Engineer), Michael Horrigan (Drums), Doug Falsetti (Vocals), Alex Chilton (Vocals), Sam Holden (Photography), Mason Williams (A&R), Dana Hamblen (Vocals), Chris Cuffaro (Photography), John Curley (Engineer), Roderick Paulin (Saxophone), Dave Hillis (Programming), Cesare Zappalà (?), John Hampton (Engineer), Mathias Scheeberger (Clavinet), Marc Salata (Project Assistant), Cole Cartwright (Project Assistant), Jimmy Edwards (Project Assistant), Keith Hagam (Project Assistant), Dave Hillis (Engineer), Scott Ford (Art Direction), Corey Henry (Trombone), Joe Hadlock (Engineer), Greg Dulli (Vocals), Christa Wells (Vocals), Greg Dulli (Guitar), Liuba Shapiro (Product Manager), John Curley (Keyboard Bass), Robin Hurley (Project Assistant), Peter James Bond (Drums), Steve Earle (Drums), Ryan Hadlock (Engineer), Cory Frye (Liner Notes), Smokey Creamwell (Art Direction), Steve Ferrone (Drums), Harold Chichester (Vocals), David Bianco (Engineer), Rick McCollum (Guitar), Sergio Hurtado (Percussion), Steve Woolard (Project Assistant), Marina Chavez (Photography), Dan Reed (Liner Notes), Harold Chichester (Piano), Greg Dulli (Piano), John Curley (Compilation Producer), John Curley (Guitar), Susan Marshall (Vocals), Danny Clinch (Photography), John Curley (Bass), Lisa Liese (Product Manager), Scott Ford (Design), Harold Chichester (Organ), Greg Dulli (Clavinet), Barb Antonio (Cello), Harold Chichester (Clavinet), Karen LeBlanc (Project Assistant), Jessy Green (Violin), Greg Dulli (Compilation Producer), George Drakoulias (E-Bow), Bill Inglot (Remastering), Jeffrey Reed (Effects), George Drakoulias (Percussion), John Curley (Photography), Cory Frye (Associate Producer), Rick McCollum (Theremin), Donna DeChristopher (Project Assistant), Dan Hersch (Remastering), John Srebalus (Project Assistant)

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