oh yeah!
either one of these discs would be worth the price, but to get two discs of this quality of blues tunes, this is truly a bargain. song after song done by hall of fame blues artists - hound dog taylor, james cotton, albert collins, johnny copeland - that's just the artists on the first 3 songs. if you are just beginning to get into the blues, get it. if you are a big fan of the blues, get it. if you don't like the blues, get it anyway.

Outstanding Blues Compilation
This is a great collection of songs celebrating the 20th anniversary of one of the preeminent blues labels of all times. Bruce Iglauer has managed to amass some of the great blues talent under one roof, and the results show throughout this two-CD set.

Some standouts are all of the songs taken from the superstar collaboration of Albert Collins, Robert Cray, and Johnny Copeland entitled Showdown, which includes "Black Cat Bone," Sapphire's "The Middle Age Blues," "Drowning on Dry Land" by Roy Buchanan, and Son Seals' terrific "Going Back Home."

This is a great collection to own for any blues lover.

They're all here
The reviewer who said that SRV was not on this set obviously did not read the liner notes, which indicate that SRV played on the Lonnie Mack tracks from the Strikes Like Lightening sessions. The other artists the reviewer stated that were not there ARE, but are not the featured artist on the tracks.

I bought this set, and the 25th, when they came out and was really wowed by what I heard. Houndog Taylor is my favorite, followed closely by Koko Taylor and Albert "Master of the Telecaster" Collins. There is some really fine musicianship, great feel, and real respect for the blues displayed on this set.
Higly recommended.

Some good old blues
Amazon keeps inter-mixing the reviews for the 'Alligator Records 20th Anniversary Collection' album and the similarly named 'Alligator Records 20th Anniversary tour' album. So I will include a review of both here to set the record straight.

The 'Collection' album is by far superior to the 'tour' album. The collection has many artists on show and offers a bit of everything. The best tracks are AC Reed's 'These blues are killing me' with SRV brilliant on guitar, Little Charlie and the Nightcats with 'Rain', Roy Buchanan's classic 'Drowning on dry land', Koko Taylor with 'That's why i'm crying', Katie Webster with 'Pussycat Moan', Son Seal with 'Going back home' and Hound Dog Taylor and the classic 'Give me back my wig'. The album is uneven as you would expect for a label show case but well worth it as a introduction to a variety of blues styles and artists.

The 1993 20th aniversary tour album has only Li' Ed, (the late) Kattie Wester, Elvin Bishop, Lonnie Brooks and Koko Taylor. The album does typify Alligator records music that by my definition is mostly reasonable blues without being great. This live album has plenty of energy and is listenable, but fails to scale the heights I expect of the blues.

I discovered most of my favorite blues artists from this CD
Alligator records has some serious talent on it's label. Many of them are big names that you will recognize if you have been into blues for very long. I have tried samplers from other blues record labels and have been very disappointed with the mediocre talent on their label. Usually there are only one or two people -out of fourteen or fifteen - that stand out on other blues samplers. You will recognize that the vast majority of artists on Alligator Records are true talents - even if you don't like their style. This album is definitely worth the investment.