Platinum & Gold Collection

Canada's Jeff Healey enjoyed success in the early '90s with a pair of flame-throwing covers of John Hiatt songs, "Angel Eyes" and"Confidence Man," both of which are included on this collection of tracks drawn from his four Arista albums. The blind guitarist's unorthodox laptop playing style, coupled with a solid rhythm section of Tom Stephen on drums and Joe Rockman on bass, gave the songs a bluesy, hard-rocking, and slightly edgy feel, a template the trio never abandoned, and which gives this compilation a comfortable feeling of cohesion. A cover of George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" works well here, as does a gospel-tinged take on Jimi Hendrix's "Angel." But the most affecting track may well be the album's closer, a loose-limbed, barroom romp through Big Joe Williams' "Highway 49," which just plain rocks, pure and simple.