Darrell Mansfield - Ultimate Series (5CD Deluxe Box Set, 2012)

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Darrell Mansfield - Ultimate Series (5CD Deluxe Box Set, 2012)

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"Wielding a nasty blues harp, a smokin' band and a gutsy, soulful rock and roll vocal style, Darrell Mansfield can go toe-to-toe with the best of them – and if you don't believe me, let your ears prove it to you with The Darrell Mansfield Ultimate Series Collection.
In the annals of 'Christian rock' there aren't a whole lot of artists who can go up against the big boys from the other side of the fence and come away wiping the blood off their hands and smiling. You know what I mean – we're not talking about Bill Gaither here. Wielding a nasty blues harp, a smokin' band and a gutsy, soulful rock and roll vocal style, Darrell Mansfield can go toe-to-toe with the best of them – and if you don't believe me, let your ears prove it to you with The Darrell Mansfield Ultimate Series Collection.
The five discs that make up the collection total no less than 78 tracks broken down into the Live Collection, the Rock & Blues Collection, the Delta & Gospel Blues Collection, the Hard Rock Collection, and the Soft Hits Collection – don't be fooled by that last one, by the way, since Mansfields's 'soft' hits are closer to 'hard pop' than what the title might imply.
A true pioneer and icon of the Jesus Rock movement, Mansfield has often found himself on the outskirts of the more accepted community of Christian artists, and that just might be because of the authenticity of his blues-based hard rock style – a style that most CCM labels certainly shied away from and, frankly, a style that few artists were able to really acquire in their musical arsenal. Mansfield, though, kept it real. Maybe too real for Christian radio.
Even for fans of his work, it's been hard keeping up with Darrell's releases, so this collection is a real fan's treasure. Here you have the best of Mansfield in the studio and (thankfully) live. Nicely remastered, Mansfield's harmonica snarls through the speakers and his too-often overlooked vocal work shines with enhanced fidelity and minus the snap, crackle and pop of the vinyl releases. The only audio glitch here (on my set, at least) happens on the Hard Rock CD, where there's a puzzlingly abrupt end on "Heaven Southwestern" followed by a 30 secong gap before the last track, the blazingly energetic rocker, "Bible Study."

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Darrell Mansfield - Ultimate Series (5CD Deluxe Box Set, 2012)

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Darrell Mansfield - Ultimate Series (5CD Deluxe Box Set, 2012)

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