Album Review: Greatest Hits of the 20th Century by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

If you've seen the Dave Matthews band on the road and wondered who the opening act was, then Bela Fleck and the Flecktones' new album is worth a listen. Spanning nine years, the album features highlights from the band's eight previous releases. The Flecktones fuse jazz, funk and bluegrass into an eclectic mix of musical virtuosity that escapes the confines of any genre, using sounds ignored in mainstream rock, including Bela Fleck's Grammy-winning banjo skills and Future Man's synthaxe drumitar, a sort of percussion guitar that changes from rhythm to lead. Victor Wooten, arguably the best bass player alive, shines throughout.

While it reflects the band's growth as they have learned to combine their unconventional instruments, Greatest Hits is surprisingly cohesive. Unfortunately, "Communication" (from 1997's Left of Cool), featuring Dave Matthews' vocals, is an obvious attempt to recruit Matthews' fans, and doesn't fit with this otherwise purely instrumental album. Nonetheless, the album's two previously unreleased tracks, "Shocktime" and "Road House Blues," are melodic and Wooten's wizardry in the two alone make the album worth the money. A-