REVIEW: Donnas Greatest Hits Not the Focus of New “Greatest Hits Vol.16″

BELOW: Hear the Donnas’ new album for free and check out a video hit from 2003.

It’ll probably never stop bumming us out that bands like the Donnas are unfailingly introduced as “all-girl band, the Donnas,” (seriously, nobody ever says “all-boy band, the Rolling Stones”), but these California girls are tough enough to handle it.

Friends since elementary school, the band is celebrating 16 years of catchy rock tunes with equal doses of Ramones-inspired bop and Motley Crue-style swagger, the Donnas have just released their first greatest hits collection. Jokingly titled Greatest Hits Vol. 16, the album is packed with b-sides, rarities and live takes of old favorites.

Oddly, the few hits included in this collection almost seem to be afterthoughts.

We’re only guessing, but perhaps the exclusion of early tracks comes due to potential legal issues arising from having switched labels a few times throughout the years. Notably signed to Atlantic Records for a number of years, some of the band’s earliest material was released by Lookout! Records, former home to Green Day. However, the group’s roots run all the way back to their days as the Electrocutes, issuing tracks through gold-standard garage-rock imprint, Sympathy for the Recording Industry.

The band recently split from Atlantic, and now issues music through its own Purple Feather Records imprint.

Fans expecting this disc to simply herd up their favorite Donnas tracks into one convenient package may be disappointed to find that the original versions of hits such as “Take it Off” and “Fall Behind Me” have been tossed aside in favor of live versions. However, there is no need to be disappointed, as the live takes actually give the band a chance to show what they can do without the super-slick production that took some of the group’s rock edge off on Spend the Night and Turn 21.

Left to their own devices, the Donnas seem to favor fuzzy stompboxes, hair metal attitudes and ’80s arena-rock choruses, and while this kind of  Spandex-y Camaro rock is sometimes cheesy, it’s always fun (the band has even been featured in Guitar Hero). It may be silly party rock, but it’s a breath of fresh air.

In an era dominated by soulless pop tarts and wussed-out emo boys crying through their eyeliner, it is nice to see someone having fun for a change.

In short, while this may not be a greatest hits collection in the usual sense, the inclusion of a handful of hits may be enough to get listeners’ attention long enough to give them a taste of the band’s new material (unfortunately, mostly b-sides, which are respectable, but b-sides for a reason)-and simply remind listeners that the Donnas are still around-and we’re glad to have ‘em at the party.

We’re more interested to hear what they come up with next time around, now that all of the b-sides and remixes have been cleared out of the closet.

LISTEN: Songs from Greatest Hits Vol. 16 are currently streaming on the Donnas official website and Spinner.

BELOW: The Donnas explain the origins of the band and perform the hit “Take it Off” on Swedish TV in 2003.

TRACKLISTING: The Donnas-Greatest Hits Vol.16

1. “Get Off”
2. “Perfect Stranger”
3. “We Own The Night” (Unreleased Bitchin’ B-side)
4. “She’s Out of Control” (Unreleased Bitchin’ B-side)
5. “Take It Off” (Live)
6. “Fall Behind Me” (Live)
7. “Get You Alone” (2009 Version)
8. “Play My Game” (Remix)
9. “You Make Me Hot” (2009 Version)
10. “Get Rid of That Girl” (2009 Version)
11. “Hey I’m Gonna Be Your Girl” (Alternate Version)
12. “I Wanna be With a Girl Like You” (Alternate Version)
13. “I Don’t Want to Go to School” (2009 Version)
14. “Teenage Rules” (Previously Unreleased)
15. “Don’t Wanna Break Your Head” (Previously Unreleased)
16. “High School Yum Yum” (2009 Version)