Customer Reviews

20th Century Masters: The Best Of Burt Bacharach (Millennium Collection)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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).

Burt Bacharach remains a titan of musical genius from the 20th century; and this CD features twelve of his works mostly from the 1960s that he composed with Hal David. The sound quality is very good; and the song selections are great. However, these aren't the versions of the songs that we have come to know and love; and that is a big disappointment. Moreover, the selection of songs represents only the work Bacharach produced with Hal David; there is no work here by Bacharach alone or by Bacharach with another composer or lyricist.

The CD boasts twelve songs written by Bacharach with the help of Hal David; and there are many fine choices for easy listening on this CD. My favorites are the classic ballads "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head;" "I'll Never Fall In Love Again;" "Do You Know The Way To San Jose?;" "What The World Needs Now Is Love;" and "(They Long To Be) Close To You."

The aggravating down side to all this great work is that these tracks are instrumentals with a sporadic women's choir helping out minimally on vocals. I would much prefer to hear the songs as we know and love them. For example, in 1963 Dionne Warwick did a flawless interpretation of "Don't Make Me Over." That version of the song is simply not here. Arrgh!

Moreover, the twelve songs on this CD clock in at 37 minutes; there was time for more music on this disc. Another disappointment; but if the producers of this album want to give us this strictly average level of quality then perhaps it's just as well if they do end at 37 minutes.

The line notes contain an excellent essay about Burt Bacharach's career by Joseph F. Laredo; and the photos of Burt in his younger days are terrific.

I give this CD three stars for the quality of the sound, the unfamiliar yet somewhat relaxing versions of each song and the great liner notes. The women's choir also helps somewhat but it cannot fill the shoes of great vocalists like Dionne Warwick. This CD is for the casual fan who just wants a very basic and cursory introduction to the work of Burt Bacharach. If you want to have a much better understanding of Burt's great work as an artist, I recommend what another reviewer recommends: the three CD box set entitled The Look Of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection.

I'm a big Bacharach fan, but Hal David's lyrics were too essential to the beauty and success of these songs to be left out, and most of these versions are just instrumentals. These songs sung by the artists who made them hits would be a great collection. Otherwise, I'd prefer covers by artists with more contemporary interpretations. Who wants to listen to cheesy, 70's arrangements with no vocals or lyrics? Not me.

I would suggest that fans have a listen to the listening tracks that Amazon have provided and then make up their own minds.I had a listen and it is beautiful relaxing music.The kind of music that you can relax to of classic tracks.I'm buying it.

I purchased this CD with high hopes, because all of the songs on this CD are good songs. However, the arrangements presented here will leave you cold.

The first two songs on the album ("The Look of Love" and "Raindrops Keep Falling...") are the instrumental versions of the song and not the versions that you might expect. As you get deeper into the album you realize none of the songs are the hit versions that you remembered and enjoyed.

This is essentially the greatest hits of Bacharach the way you won't remember them. I listened for 1/2 an hour trying to find something that would make the purchase worthwhile. I found none.

If you like Burt Bacharach and want to listen to the songs as you remember the, it looks like you'll have to try "The Look Of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection ", which unfortunately is 4 times the price.

As a Bacharach fan, I was dissapointed in this largely instrumental album -- would have preferred covers instead. The CD just takes up space on my rack.

"In the 1960s, Burt Bacharach catapulted to the forefront of popular music as the most celebrated contemporary composer on the planet. He is a living legend of popular music. This collection is a welcome opportunity to enjoy a master at work." ~ Joseph F. Laredo, Liner Notes ~

Burt Bacharach is truly a living legend of popular music. His name is synonymous with some of the grooviest hits of the sixties and the seventies such as "This Guy's In Love With You," "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" and "The Look of Love."

This CD is a looking-glass of twelve of the best works he collaborated with a fine lyricist, Hal David, starting off with "The Look of Love" and wraps up with "Don't Make Me Over." This collection is a combination of purely instrumentals and a few tracks with vocals. It's so hard to pinpoint any favorite tracks since they all are my absolute favorites. But the most noteworthy tracks are "This Guy's In Love With You," "What The World Needs Now Is Love," "They Long To Be Close To You," "I Say A Little Prayer" and "One Less Bell To Answer."

Burt Bacharach is one of the respected names in composing, conducting and arranging. He's also a recording artist in his own right and has recorded vocal versions of "A House Is Not A Home," "Close To You" and "This Guy's In Love With You" on separate covers.

This is one of the best Burt Bacharach collections. Give it a listen and enjoy!

Very highly recommended.

This 20th century masters compilation of the Bacharach/David repertoire (plus collaborators) is an odd selection of re-arranged material. All of the songs are instrumental pop performances of their classic hits; vocals are present either in the form of faceless female singers or Bacharach himself; if there are any. Having said that, the material doesn't lack quality. For those who are not familiar with the obscure solo albums that bacharach released under his name on the late 60s', the song selection will appear as unfamiliar interpretations. Every song in the collection is indeed not only a Bacharach composition, but also arrangements that had been credited to Bacharach as a performer in his own albums. As I mentioned, Bacharach as an arranger is quite masterful; the songs are very enjoyable and do not lack in flavor. However, Bacharach's material tends not to be recognized by these types of obscure interpretations by the author, and although true to the fact that it is a compilation of Bacharach 'as a performer', the material alienates the listener in terms of portraying an accurate retrospective of the interpretations that highlighted the genius of the composer. Because the compilation does not address this well, it tends to leave the listener with a different perspective upon Bacharach's compositions, but ultimately confused about the full scope of the artist's career.