Three years after the definitive four-disc box set
All Through the City comes the single-disc consolidation
I'm a Man: The Best of the Wilko Johnson Years. The delay springs from two intertwined events:
Wilko's successful (and public) battle with cancer and the 2014 hit album he recorded with
Roger Daltrey during the fight. This opened up a market for a new
Wilko-specific comp in the
Feelgoods' catalog and, at 16 tracks nearly evenly balanced between studio and live,
I'm a Man is pretty good. Presumably because the focus is on
Johnson and his slashing Telecaster, there are some odd omissions -- no "She Does It Right" or "I Can Tell," no "Stupidity" -- but that hardly diminishes from what is here, because every cut is high-octane rock, proof that for a brief period of time
Dr. Feelgood were serious contenders for the title of best rock & roll band on the planet. It's so good, in fact, that you'll wind up wanting more, so it's a good thing there's a box out there that has it all. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine