Old Enough to Forget

Book of Dreams from 1977 was essentially the second half of The Steve Miller Band’s Greatest Hits 1974–78 . Steve Miller released one of rock’s great one-two punch combinations: Fly Like an Eagle in 1976 and Book of Dreams in 1977, records that cemented him as one of the defining artists of the ’70s. The bed tracks for these watershed albums were essentially recorded at the same time, which is part of what makes them feel so cohesive. I remember a friend once calling Book of Dreams the best collection of leftover material ever recorded. I’m not sure how much water that comment holds, and I suspect Mister Miller was more concerned with pulling together the songs that best fit together stylistically. Besides, the answer to the question, “What if all the great songs were released as one album?” was already answered in 1978 with Greatest Hits 1974–78 . Does one really need to hear Book of Dreams ? Kind of depends. Here’s my conundrum: I don’t have the greatest hits collection, so ye...

As a kid who didn't love Steve Miller? His Greatest Hits 1974–78 is essential listening. Although full disclosure, I never owned a copy ... but my friends did. By the time I was able to buy my own records I was busy trying to keep up and didn't have a lot of budget to go back in time. Italian X Rays was the follow up to his platinum 1982 release Abracadabra . It was a goofy song too, and while it was an earworm of the highest order and contained one of the worst (but still oddly cool) guitar solos of all time it was a song I still have a love hate relationship with. Steve Miller returned in '84 with Italian X Rays an album what was supposed to be the next crown in his jewel. Turns out this is the album no one wanted. I do recall seeing, or hearing "Shagri-La" and thought it was ... strange. Of all the Steve Miller albums I've found recently it was a toss up between this one and Abracadabra . I figured this was the one to go with as it seems to the one that m...