In 2002, Atreyu released their debut full length, Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses," hich would go on to sell well over 200,000 copies. Their followup continued their wave of popularity and eventually led to A Death-Grip on Yesterday, which debuted ninth on the Billboard 200 Charts. After releasing three successful albums for Victory Records, it was no surprise to see them make the switch over to a major label. Victory, knowing that Atreyu was one of their best-selling bands, saw the opportunity to release a ‘Best Of' collection highlighting the days Atreyu spent on Victory. Or they basically saw this as the last opportunity to earn more money off of Atreyu, unless they decide to reissue Death-Grip, which is highly likely in these present times.

So while the collection isn't the worst idea, it's clearly more of a novelty than a worthy purchase for the seasoned fan. Anyone that has followed the band throughout the years will probably have heard all of the songs here, so releasing this album for the fans simply lacks any purpose besides the fact that Victory will bring in money on this release. And that's honestly all this release really is. Maybe if the collection boasted a solid amount of extras it would be a slightly different story, but tacking on a DVD with seven music videos isn't cutting it, especially as all of the videos are already available online.

However, there might be a few people living under a rock that haven't heard of Atreyu and this release does a commendable job in introducing them to the band. While Atreyu's style of scream/sung vocals over a mix of metal riffing and melodic solos can hardly be considered original now, back in 2002 this style of music hadn't yet reached its point of saturation. The collection opens up with "Lip Gloss and Black," which may easily be the best song Atreyu has ever wrote, thanks to a use of piano leading into a remarkable solo. Included in all are the singles from their three albums with 14 more choices; some aren't the best pick for this release. While it may be because I think Suicide Notes is the best album these guys released, I was disappointed that "At Least I Know I'm a Sinner" and "A Vampire's Lament" were not included, as the former was highlighted by an admirable cameo by Death by Stereo vocalist Efrem Schulz.

Atreyu's Best Of is an acceptable release if you haven't heard any of their releases and want an easy way to get into Atreyu. However, anyone that has followed Atreyu will be disappointed with the lack of extras and the obvious attempt of the label cashing on the band's recent major label signing.