20th Century Masters: The Best Of Burt Bacharach (Millennium Collection) [Original recording remastered]

20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (Series), Burt Bacharach | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 20, 1999)
• Original Release Date: July 20, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Interscope Records
• ASIN: B00000JMKC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,525 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It took the martini-fueled lounge music scene of the '90s and some campy placements in a couple of hit movies--Austin Powers and My Best Friend's Wedding--to re-establish Burt Bacharach's genius in the public's mind. Once that was done, his work could be heard with new ears: It was no longer merely elevator music, but rather pop composition at its finest, marked by peerless melodies and arrangements that were complex in subtle ways. To get the full effect of the hits he wrote for artists such as Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, the Fifth Dimension, and many, many others, you should hear them in versions that also feature Hal David's brilliant lyrics (the multidisc set The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection is worth every penny). But this brief overview containing instrumental takes (augmented occasionally by a female chorus and, once, Burt's own warbling vocals) of songs such as "The Look of Love," "Alfie," and "What the World Needs Now Is Love" offers some intrigue, too. If you still feel like having a martini, here's the appropriate soundtrack. --Daniel Durchholz

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Bit Surprising, March 13, 2003

By 

Quinn Wyatt "qthereader" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 20th Century Masters: The Best Of Burt Bacharach (Millennium Collection) (Audio CD)

I am a Burt Bacharach fan and I love "lounge" music and the easy-listening music of the '50s and '60s... so I was a bit surprised that this CD was just so-so in my book. Mr. Bacharach takes a great deal of artistic license with his tunes here (since he wrote them I suppose he's entitled) but not once are they played "straight" or in the familiar fashion we've all come to know. Rather, he presents them using strange arrangements and instruments to give the songs a different sound. A couple of times I even wondered whether the tracks were mixed properly. To me they are classics and don't need any jazzing-up. Sidenote: I could also have done without the "Burt Bacharach Girl Singers"; if he needed vocals he should have tried to get the women from Sergio Mendez to sit in on the recording session; it would have improved things a great deal.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Terrific Retrospective, April 13, 2000

By 

Nathan Southern - See all my reviews

This review is from: 20th Century Masters: The Best Of Burt Bacharach (Millennium Collection) (Audio CD)

This is a fun album... a collection of largely instrumental versions of Bacharach's biggest hit singles during the sixties and seventies... The same cuts were released on Burt's five or six solo albums during that era. Some of the orchestrations here are as heavy and baroque as anything during the late-Brill building period, but listening to them today creates an unmistakable feeling of nostalgia, and the absence of lead vocalists draws attention to the brilliantly-written melodies... a technique appropriate for a retrospective disc of a pop composer. This album would be even more enjoyable without the dated choral vocal accompaniments on a few tracks, but it's still a cool, relaxing, and fun listen. If you're only interested in the versions of these songs that became hits (sung by Dionne Warwick, B.J. Thomas, Dusty Springfield, et. al), look elsewhere.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why this one?, December 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: 20th Century Masters: The Best Of Burt Bacharach (Millennium Collection) (Audio CD)

You should consider buying "The Best of Burt Bacharach," an excellent colection with many more great compositions, or "_Master_ Series: Burt Bacharach" (not Millenium Colection) "The Best" is a collection that has This Guy's In Love With You as song #1 and Windows Of The World as #20. It includes wonderful recordings of Wives and Lovers, Knowing When To Leave, Make It Easy On Yourself, and Pacific Coast Highway. It does not include the great Reach Out... Even better, though, is another Master Series CD -- currently under IMPORTS; Raindrops #1, Knowing When To Leave #21; it includes also April Fools, A House Is Not A Home, Bond Street, and Reach Out.

BTW, two upcoming movies include Bacharach songs: Stuart Little (Walking Tall, with Tim Rice) and Isn't She Great (three songs, with Hal David).