The James Gang - Thirds

The James Gang Rides Again set the stage for the group's third album to propel them to Top Ten, headliner status, but that didn't happen. The band was on its last legs, rent by dissension as Walsh became the focus of attention, and the appropriately titled Thirds reflected the conflict. Of the 9 original songs on the release, four were contributed by Walsh, two each by bass player Dale Peters and drummer Jim Fox, and one was a group composition. Album Description

The Third Great James Gang Album

THIRDS was the James Gang's third great album in a row. The centerpiece of the album was the riff-rocker "Walk Away", but the album shows the band moving in various different directions, a sign that the band were being torn by internal dissension. Walsh would decamp soon after for a solo career and work with the Eagles. Nevertheless, this album is a must-own for any fan of 60s and 70s rock. June 27, 2008

MUDDY REMASTER PRECEDED BY AUDIO-SUPERIOR IMPORT SET

In 2000, MCA re-issued all three Walsh-era James Gang albums in remastered format. Unfortunately, the remasters are particularly lackluster, suffering greatly in the clarity department.

However, the previous year, the German Repertoire label released a 2CD "Best Of", with their own dedicated remastering.

Quite simply, the Repertoire set is the James Gang album you literally never knew you really wanted, especially if you own all three MCA CD's. All the muddy sound of the MCA discs is gone; the percussion is clear, the bass thunders and Walsh is there in all his distorted glory, with the dynamic range of the original albums perfectly intact.

Unfortunately, the Repertoire disc has the abbreviated "Bomber Medley", which is an enormous sore point for JG fans. Also, Repertoire allotted a major portion of the set to the non-Walsh JG years; only 14 of the 40 tracks are Walsh-era material. I'm sure many JG fans will have their opinions over excluded tracks, but the selections were made with input from Jim Fox, who contributes a song-by-song synopsis of each track in the booklet. There is also probably the best essay on the history of the band of any JG CD ever released.

It's a shame that Repertoire didn't produce individual editions of the first three JG albums, because they would have blown away the lackluster MCA discs. But, I've heard just about every other JG "best of", plus the BGO discs, and the Repertoire set towers above them all. While less than half of the Walsh-JG tracks are contained on the Repertoire set, no true JG's fan's collection is complete without it. April 28, 2008

Best Album - Joe Walsh Rocks!

I played this album over and over again and will continue to play it on DVD. The singing was excellent and the guitar the best. I can't imagine anyone giving this less than a 4... February 13, 2008

Maybe old rock but great even today

The James Gang really hit it off with this album. I first had James Gang Thirds on a cassette that I played in my red Javelin while serving in the U.S.Army. I lost it somewhere as time passed on. It really brought back great memories of rock groups that put everything in their music. Most people would appreciate the stile of the James Gang. Yes, they are a little different than most rockers but I believe they never got their stardom that they really deserved. January 19, 2008

Joe had one foot out the door, but this is still a classic

This album was weaker than "rides again". Yet With songs like Walk away, midnight man and white man, black man, you have to give it 5 stars just for including those 3 classics. Overall it's a pretty good album, considering Joe had one foot out the door. February 16, 2007

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