Amazon.comAfter mounting successes with the Commodoresduring the late '70s, Lionel Richie exploded into one of the biggest stars of the '80s, then enigmatically disappeared from the music business for nearly a decade. Fourteen of the tracks on this 20-track anthology (which also includes a five-cut bonus disc compiled by Richie) topped the charts, ample testimony to Richie's remarkable success in shifting from the Commodores' roots in the Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye Motown to a pioneering career as a crossover balladeer. His willful drift to the middle of the road found that its yellow line was nothing but gold. This collection charts the singer's upbeat successes with his former band, segues gracefully into the ballads and party-lite sensibility that made him such an unlikely '80s icon, and touches on his late-'90s reemergence. A newly recorded duet with Enrique Iglesias on "To Love a Woman" suggests that the elder popmeister hasn't lost his touch; indeed, his voice seems more warm and soulful than ever. --Jerry McCulley
REVIEW
Really Enjoyable! I know he has a lot of cheesy love songs, but he sings them GREAT!!!!
I like nearly every song on this CD, and have really enjoyed it!
Good CD to listen to when you are chilling out!!!!
Amazon.comIs there anything that simply screams the 1970s' most indelible pop cultural clichés--the sunny romanticism, perfect vocal hooks, feathered hair, stacked heels, and flared sateen britches--more than the Swedish pop phenomenon Abba? And while many a pundit snootily dismissed them during their prime as some sort of prefabricated aberration, their worldwide popularity peaked somewhere just south of Beatlesmania. Indeed, Abba's music was as finely tooled and crafted as anything to come from a Volvo or IKEA factory--if occasionally more economically potent. This double-disc, 37-track anthology comes neatly on the heels of Mama Mia!, the smash, if unlikely, Broadway show based on the band's hits, and documents every single released by the band's Polar label in their home country as well as key tracks released internationally.
This is the canon from whence the term "Europop" sprang. With a continental sense of vocal neoclassicism, informed by just the right ethnic clichés (and oft wed to the era's insistent 4/4 disco beat) to make songs like "Mama Mia," "Fernando," "Chiquitita," and "Voulez-Vous" work on a global scale, the writing team of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and their respective partners in music and life, Agnetha Faltskog and Frida Lyngstad, developed the seamless, wall-of-sound productions contained herein. The Definitive Collection features a rare single remix of "Ring, Ring" and a 1979 promo-only extended mix of "Voulez-Vous" as bonus tracks, as well as a concise, illustrated history of the band and each track. --Jerry McCulley
REVIEW
Amazing ABBA This product was spottless. It had no scratches, no markes, no skips. It was just as brand new as if you would of bought it at the store. I was pleased.
Album DescriptionFrom the 1963 U.S. number one single 'Fingertips' (part 1 & 2) through to the 1995 single 'For Your Love' this two CD-set brings together songs spanning Stevie Wonder's long career with U.S. soul label Motown. The album also includes the UK number one singles 'I Just Called To Say I Love You' & 'Ebony & Ivory' Stevie Wonder's duet with the former Beatle, Paul McCartney. Universal Music TV. 2002.
REVIEW
As Good As It Gets! The title of this one really says it all: The DEFINITIVE Collection. And since there has been a number of Wonder compilations issued thru the years, that truly is a bold yet worthwile statement. One must accept the fact that there'll probably never be a perfectly flawless disc(s) of this sort featuring Stevie's very best music - that would take more than 2 CD's and, inevitably, always include the dreaded "I Just Called To Say I Love You". So this, honestly, is as good as it'll ever get.
I've wracked my brain since I got this collection earlier this year and can only come up with two songs I find amiss from it; "Until You Come Back To Me" (in my opinion, superior to Aretha's later hit version of it) and the mighty "Superwoman" - three if you count the 1982 Top 5 U.S. hit "That Girl", which isn't very good although it was a big hit. The European origins of this collection might explain That Girl's exclusion from it though.
That said, if you happen to be looking for some of the best Pop/Soul music of the '60s and '70s (before disco and, in Stevie's case, sickenly sentimental smothness came along and ruined everything), a lot of it is right here. Enjoy.
Amazon.comLike the Beatles' The Beatles 1, this rundown of Stevie Wonder chestnuts is merciless in cutting a huge list of classic tracks down to a single disc's worth of the most recognizable. Anyone who's treasured even one or two of these songs and yet never bought a Wonder record will be more than pleased with the acquisition of The Definitive Collection. These records continue to ring with importance and history, but more important, all except two or three remain fresh and capable of surprising even veteran fans. Those listeners may note, though, that Wonder is among the few performers who could release a retrospective containing 15 No. 1 R&B hits and still invite the complaint that the album felt incomplete--not least in explaining how the man transformed himself from a multitalented teenage hitmaker into the funk-pop visionary of Talking Book, Innervisions, and Songs in the Key of Life. --Rickey Wright
REVIEW
Stevie Wonderful This is a great CD with all of Stevie's solid hits, with the exception of "Isn't She Lovely". This was the only disappointment for me. Every other song is a step in the musical history of this great artist.
The (Far From Being) Definative Louis Armstrong It's an OK album of his later stuff, but in NO WAY is it definative (to have a REAL greatest hits album, you'd need to put it on at least 6 discs). The people at Hip-O had a lot of nerve calling this "Definative". This doesn't even come close to defining Satchmo. Where's his stuff from King Oliver days, his Dreamland material, his hot 5's & 7's material, his duets with Ella Fitzgerald (Both Decca, and Verve), his material with Louis Jordan, his material with Fletcher Henderson, his material with Bessie Smith, and any of his 30's material. How many people know that Satch was one of those rare master musicians that continued to be a successful working musician through both the depression, and WW2?
To take a historical Icon like Louis Armstrong who had so many great songs with so many people, slap his last works on one disc, and have the nerve to call it definitive is a slap in the face.
Actually, Sony / Legacy's The Essential Louis Armstrong is a better selection disc wise if you want a slightly better definition of Satch, but I still say that a 6 disc Box Set would be more definitive.
Amazon.comOf all the side projects cooked up by former cast members of Saturday Night Live, none had the creative legs of the Blues Brothers. Two whiteboy blues enthusiasts fronting the best band money could buy, the project spawned a hit movie and a No. 1 album (the debut, Briefcase Full of Blues). It also helped revive the moribund careers of revered heroes such as Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. What Belushi and Ackroyd lacked in technique--a lot, really--they made up for with enthusiasm and devotion to the music. The 20-track Definitive Collection compiles their best material, including "Soul Man," and "Who's Making Love," and "Rubber Biscuit." It's hardly the best blues album you'll ever buy, but there's plenty here to make you get up and shake your tailfeather. --Daniel Durchholz
REVIEW
We welcome you Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues... ...the Blues Brothers! Well, here they are showing you what they can do best and what they love most: keeping alive forever the legacy of blues and soul music. John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd took
their Saturday Night Live skit and turned it into an actual band
backed up with some of the most revered horn and rhythm section members ever from guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn of Booker T. & the MG's (no wonder it sounded so good), Matt "Guitar" Murphy, who often gave Chuck Berry a hand, and a knockout brass section with Alan "Mr. Fabulous" Rubin on trumpet, sax player Lou Marini, and trombonist Tom "Bones" Malone. The disc is like one unforgettable concert spawning tracks from their two albums and the movie soundtrack.
Songs like their opening "I Can't Turn You Loose", "Rubber Biscuit" with Elwood on lead vocal (hilarious), "Soul Man" "Who's Makin' Love", "Everybody Needs Someone To Love", "Sweet Home Chicago", "Expressway to Your Heart" among others. You'll really enjoy how the band performs the songs and
how together the sound is. These guys had it! Also in the mix you'll find the two songs from the film backed up by the band: "Shake Your Tailfeather" with Ray Charles, and "Think" with Aretha Franklin. If there was one great blues revival band, the Blues Brothers were it.
Career-spanning but not nearly definitive Most listeners are probably familiar with only one or the other of the Isleys' soul and funk sounds of the '60s and '70s, or their "Quiet Storm" R&B of the '80s and onward. For those few whose interest spans the group's entire career, this is an interesting single-disc, made possible by the on-going consolidation of record labels. Fans of only the early- or late-period, particularly the early period, will find this disc disappointing. Compacting a long career made of two disparate portions onto a single disc inevitably led to missing essentials, including the seminal radio and chart classics "It's Your Thing" and "That Lady (Part 1)." The former redefined the Isleys as harder and funkier than their turn at Motown, and the latter recast one of their earlier songs into an influential rock-funk style. The absence of these tracks alone makes this collection anything but definitive.
Super Fine Lady of Rock and Roll, Blues and Soul I've been a fan Of Etta James's singing ever since hearing her sing "My Dearest Darling" and my true, true, favorite of all her songs, "At Last". I think she's a rare and very touching soul singer. Her singing always has touched my heart and soul in a very emotional way. This lady sings feelings and emotions that you know she's really livedthrough. And when she sings happy more upbeat songs she rocks and rolls your heart too. In fact I did'nt even know that that was her singing "Dance With Me Henry" back in the fifties. Of course I was just about nine or ten and I was just discovering all the great rock and roll music of the fifties. That's why when I hear her singing "Something's Got A Hold On Me" "Tell Mama" , "All I Could Do Is Cry" "Stop The Wedding" whew that girl's singing still blows me away. Etta has that powerful voice that even in her later years can still sway your heart just listen to her version of the Eagles "Take It To The Limit" or Otis Reading's "I've Been Loving You Too Long", her voice is a little deeper but can still grab your soul. God Bless Etta James she's a national treasure.
Album DescriptionImport only double-disc collection. The 34-tracks are presented in chronological order, through 1996. The liner notes feature a track-by-track guide with extensive notes. All Music Guide says, 'The Definitive Collection is about as precise as a hits package can be from this band, short of a box set. The sound is pristine, and the cover and packaging are apropos to the band's style and music. This absolute collection lets the listener combine all of the ideas and concepts of Parsons into almost two hours of music, as each song aptly signifies his brilliant career as both musician and engineer.' Sony/BMG.
REVIEW
A must have ! Every single track is enjoyable. This collection is one of the best "best of" I ever found. Even the inside brochure is well done and interesting. These CD's will soon become one of your favorites.
