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Critic's Review
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
For most listeners, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs are strictly a one, maybe two, hit wonder, since "Wooly Bully" and "Lil' Red Riding Hood" were the only Top 10 hits they ever had. Fans knew, however, that there was more to the group than those two songs -- beneath the cutesy persona, the group was a tight, crazed rock & roll band. Pharaohization went a long way to restoring their reputation, since it was the first compilation that treated them seriously, judiciously picking their best singles and album cuts. The result was a terrific, trashy listen -- and cuts like "Ju Ju Hand" and "Medicine Man" sounded nearly as good as "Wooly Bully." Rhino released the collection early in the '80s and it went a long way to establishing the label's reputation among hardcore record collectors, since it was done right. For a variety of reasons, they didn't re-release the compilation on CD until 1998, when they expanded the collection to a mammoth 24 tracks. It's generous, to be sure, but instead of reinforcing the argument that the band was unjustly overlooked, it detracts from the best moments on the album. Even so, Pharaohization is undoubtedly the definitive Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs compilation -- it may have packed more of a punch at its shorter length, but it remains the best overview of the group ever assembled, or that ever could be assembled.
