JAMES BROWN
THE GREATEST HITS OF THE FOURTH DECADE
1992-SCOTTI BROS
Various Producers
1. Living In America
2. Gravity
3. Static (Part 1 & 2)
4. How Do You Stop
5. Gimme Your Love
6. I'm Real
7. Get Up Offa That Thing/Dr. Detroit
8. Repeat The Beat (Faith)
9. King Of Soul
10. Cold Sweat
By the fourth decade, which in this case was the 1980's, the relevance of James Brown was in the past. There are a couple of legitimate hits here..."Living In America" from Rocky IV is a great moment when Apollo Creed enters the ring, and "Get Up Offa That Thing" is the theme from the Dan Aykroyd film Dr. Detroit. "Gimme Your Love" is a duet with Aretha Franklin. These are worth having, but the rest is all self bragging fluff. Attempts at hip hop and modern soul fail, although Brown does make it at least listenable. But by this time, no one was believing that he was the Real Super Bad, the King Of Soul, or anything other than an aging icon. If you want the 3 aforementioned tracks, this will work. Otherwise, it's nothing more than just average stuff.
Look for earlier hits compilations by Brown instead. This is just not the great James Brown. Not up to the standard he set for himself at all.
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BOB DYLAN
THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN
1963-COLUMBIA
Produced By JOHN HAMMOND
1. Blowin' In The Wind
2. Girl From The North Country
3. Masters Of War
4. Down The Highway
5. Bob Dylan's Blues
6. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
7. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
8. Bob Dylan's Dream
9. Oxford Town
10. Talking World War III Blues
11. Corrina, Corrina
12. Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance
13. I Shall Be Free
Freewheelin' is the album that singlehandedly started the protest song movement of the 60's, and that made Bob Dylan a legend. "Blowin' In The Wind" is still powerful and meaningful today, "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" still speaks volumes, and "Masters Of War" is still a stunning masterpiece. The most striking album from his folk period (Dylan is the only musician on the album), he had a recorded masterpiece with only his second record. This is an important album for fans of any genre. Sit down and listen to it with your kids. Unbelieveable that it's still this meaningful and powerful almost 50 years later.
Dylan's legacy as a songwriter and political voice all starts here. You must have this album.
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A bold statement. Baez went gold 2 or 3 years prior, Peter, Paul & Mary did so in 62...
You are pretty right about that, Norman. I do think that Bob was responsible for bringing it to a lot more ears with "Blowin' In The Wind", though. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
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JOHNNY ADAMS
WALKING ON A TIGHTROPE
1989-ROUNDEER
Produced By SCOTT BILLINGTON
1. Walking On A Tightrope
2. Lost Mind
3. Stand By
4. My Heart Is Hangin' Heavy
5. Danger Zone
6. Never No More
7. The Lover And The Married Woman
8. You're In For A Big Surprise
9. Look The Whole World Over
10. Baby Please
New Orleans born bluesman Johnny Adams took a more smooth and gospel inspired approach, giving his albums a warmer and jazzier feel. Walking On A Tightrope is a tribute to Percy Mayfield, with some of that writers better songs. Adams' voice is excellent, but it's the work of his band, particularly guitarist Walter "Wolfman" Washington, that really carries things. The title track, "Stand By", and the horn laden "You're In For A Big Surprise" are the standouts. Known as The Tan Canary, Adams shows his great range and warmth throughout. A fine collection.
Adams passed away in 1998 of stomach cancer. His excellent career covered four decades. All of his material is well worth hearing.
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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
GREATEST HITS
1995-COLUMBIA
VARIOUS PODUCERS
1. Born To Run
2. Thunder Road
3. Badlands
4. The River
5. Hungry Heart
6. Atlantic City
7. Dancing In The Dark
8. Born In The U.S.A.
9. My Hometown
10. Glory Days
11. Brilliant Disguise
12. Human Touch
13. Better Days
14. Streets Of Philadelphia
15. Secret Garden
16. Murder Incorporated
17. Blood Brothers
18. This Hard Land
Not ever to be confused with The Best Of Bruce Springsteen. Ever. This hits collection is proof that the strength of the Boss was not in his hits, but the depth of his albums. With a criminal 3 songs representing his first 4 (and best) albums, this collection is only for the curious and for those who are interested only in what they've heard on the radio. The greatness of Springsteen runs much deeper than this. Get the individual albums. The last four tracks were recorded for this album, but are not great enough to warrant this being a necessity except for completists.
Even as non-representative of how great Bruce's career has been, it's still Bruce. So despite the fact that it's not what it could be, it still sounds pretty great.. But this is not the best of...it's just the greatest hits.
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BANANARAMA
GREATEST HITS COLLECTION
1988-LONDON
VARIOUS PRODUCERS
1. Venus
2. I Heard A Rumour
3. Love In The First Degree
4. I Can't Help It
5. I Want You Back
6. Love, Truth And Honesty
7. Nathan Jones
8. He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'
9. Shy Boy
10. Robert DeNiro's Waiting
11. Cruel Summer
12. Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)
13. Trick Of The Night
14. Aie A Mwana
15. Help!
So, what happens when you take three hot young British Madonna wanabees, pop new wave synths and some catchy as hell songs? You've got a hit is what you have. But what makes this better than it looks like on the surface is not the girls, or the sheer new wave pop...it's the songs. Taking smart covers like "Venus" and "Help!", catchy songs like "Aie A Mwana", and sure hits like "Shy Boy" and giving them to a likeable (if not questionably talented) girls is pure genius. "Cruel Summer" is a great 80's moment. And while the rest is not the stuff you want to rock to, it's really well done and catchy. Kind of a poor man's ABBA. Not for everyone, for sure. But not terrible.
The run that Bananarama had on the charts and on MTV was impressive. It's also true that despite having three singers in the group, you have to sometimes hunt for the harmonies...but ultimately, this is just some fun music. And it doesn't suck. So, there's that...
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THE OUTSIDERS
COLLECTORS SERIES
1991-COLLECTABLES
Produced By RON FURMANKEK
1. Time Won't Let Me
2. Was It Really Real?
3. Girl In Love
4. What Makes You So Bad (You Weren't Brought Up That Way)
5. Chase Away The Tears
6. Respectable
7. Lost In My World
8. Backwards, Upsidedown!
9. Lonely Man
10. Oh! How It Hurts
11. Since I Lost My Baby
12. Help Me Girl
13. You Gotta Look
14. I'm Not Tryin' To Hurt You
15. I'll Give You Time (To Think It Over)
16. Don't Take Your Heartaches Out On Me
17. Gotta Leave Us Alone
18. I Just Can't See You Anymore
19. I'll See You In The Summertime
20. And Now You Want My Sympathy
21. Little Bit Of Lovin'
22. We Ain't Gonna Make It
23. Why Shouldn't I Have A Cry Now
24. Think I'm Fallin'
25. Loving You
During the British Invasion, there were quite a few American bands that flashed and were then forgotten. The Outsiders were one of those bands. Coming out of Cleveland in 1966, they hit big with "Time Won't Let Me", a rock & roll song with a touch of Motown, which was where the biggest hits in American music were coming from. They had 4 hit singles and recorded 4 albums in their brief time together. The later albums toned down the horns and strings, showing that they were a pretty good straight ahead rock band. This collection is all you'd ever want from them...a lost good band from the 60's. "Time Won't Let Me" still sounds great, and it's worth it just for that alone, but you'll find plenty of other gems here.
After the group drifted apart, lead singer Sonny Geraci began using the Outsiders name. He was sued by guitarist Tom King over the rights, and after King won, Geraci changed the name of his band to Climax, who had a run of hits in the 70's, including "Precious And Few".
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ROXETTE
LOOK SHARP!
1988-EMI
Produced By CLARENCE OFWERMAN
1. The Look
2. Dressed For Success
3. Sleeping Single
4. Paint
5. Dance Away
6. Cry
7. Chances
8. Dangerous
9. Half A Woman, Half A Shadow
10. (I Could Never) Give You Up
11. Shadow Of A Doubt
12. Listen To Your Heart
Roxette was the 2nd coming of ABBA for Sweden. They were huge, and Look Sharp!, their second album (not to be confused with the Joe Jackson album), turned out to be their biggest. Loaded with hits ("The Look", "Dressed For Success", "Dangerous", "Listen To Your Heart"), the album sold a gazillion copies. Catchy and melodic in the true sense of Swedish pop, there was one big difference...Roxette predominately featured guitar. Per Gessle preferred a heavier sound, and that keeps the songs from going over completely into the syrup bottle and keeps things bouncy and fun. Look Sharp is a good look back at a band that ruled the radio in 1988. This album represents their peak.
Roxette has so far recorded a total of ten albums, the last coming in 2016. They've never matched Look Sharp!. Pop rock for 80's people.
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Norman Bates
