The Essential Donovan
{{Short description|2004 compilation album by Donovan}}
{{Infobox album
| name = The Essential Donovan
| type = greatest
| artist = Donovan
| cover = The Essential Donovan.jpeg
| released = 17 April 2012{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2012/BB-2012-04-14.pdf |title=April 14, 2014 Billboard issue |date=April 14, 2012 |publisher=Billboard |pages=13}}
| genre = Pop rock
| length = 2:02:53
| label = *Sony
| prev_title = Playlist: The Very Best of Donovan
| prev_year = 2008
| next_title = Breezes of Patchouli: His Studio Recordings 1966-1969
| next_year = 2013
}}
The Essential Donovan is a greatest hits album by the Scottish musician Donovan. Originally released in 2004,{{Cite web |last=Marchese |first=Joe |date=2012-03-09 |title=Wear Your Love Like Heaven: New "Essential Donovan" Arriving From Legacy |url=https://theseconddisc.com/2012/03/09/wear-your-love-like-heaven-new-essential-donovan-arriving-from-legacy/ |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=The Second Disc |language=en-US}} it was re-released to higher acclaim as a part of Sony Legacy's Essential series in 2012.
Release
The album was released to coincide with Donovan's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |last=Horowitz |first=Hal |date=2012-05-08 |title=Donovan: The Essential Donovan |url=https://americansongwriter.com/donovan-the-essential-donovan/ |access-date=2024-09-05 |website=American Songwriter |language=en-US}}
Critical reception
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic (2004)
| rev1score = {{Rating|3.75|5}}
| rev2 = AllMusic (2012)
| rev2score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}
| rev3 = American Songwriter
| rev4 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=2004 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |page=253 |edition=4th rev. |ol=21112308M}}
}}
In a review for the original 2004 issue, AllMusic's John Bush states that it "merely reissues Donovan's Greatest Hits"; he notes that "the music is obviously excellent, beginning with Donovan's wistful debut 'Catch the Wind' and progressing through his psychedelic pop hits of the late '60s, but Donovan's Greatest Hits presents the same material with perspective and a flair that this series compilation lacks."{{Citation |last=Bush |first=John |title=The Essential Donovan [2004] - Donovan |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-essential-donovan-2004--mw0000330328 |access-date=2024-09-05 |publisher=AllMusic |language=en}}
Reviewing the 2012 reissue, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine states that the album is "perhaps better compared to the 1992 box Troubadour: The Definitive Collection, another two-CD set that delved deeply into Donovan's career", going on to state that the album "emphasizes Donovan's psychedelic mod hipster side over his wannabe Dylan folkie".{{Citation |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |title=The Essential Donovan [2012] - Donovan |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-essential-donovan-2012--mw0002343896#review |access-date=2024-08-20 |publisher=AllMusic |language=en}} Joe Marchese of The Second Disc stated the album is a "poetic rumination of diverse images that come together as a portrait of youth", going on to state the album's first disc includes "ten songs that truly made psychedelia mainstream."{{Cite web |last=Marchese |first=Joe |date=2012-04-17 |title=Review: Donovan, "The Essential Donovan" |url=https://theseconddisc.com/2012/04/17/review-donovan-the-essential-donovan/ |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=The Second Disc |language=en-US}}
Track listing
- Catch the Wind – 2:55
- Colours – 2:55
- Sunshine Superman – 4:40
- Season of the Witch – 4:55
- Mellow Yellow – 3:42
- Epistle to Dippy – 3:10
- There Is a Mountain – 2:34
- Wear Your Love Like Heaven – 2:24
- Jennifer Juniper – 2:42
- Hurdy Gurdy Man – 3:19
- Laléna – 2:54
- To Susan on the West Coast Waiting – 3:11
- Atlantis – 4:57
- Barabajagal – 3:18