Customer Reviews

Anthology of Bread

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Editorial Reviewer sure was hard on this album, and I don't know why. Sure, Bread's sound as well as their lyrics were rather sweet. So what? They were love songs, for heaven's sake! Those somehow work a bit better when they generally are sweet.

I think that anyone who can recall the person who was the object of their affection some twenty or more years ago at the time when "Everything I Own" was first heard probably feels pretty good about that song, and hearing it again brings back good memories. Ditto for "Sweet Surrender".

Among my personal favorites are "It Don't Matter to Me" and "Guitar Man". Bread had a pleasing and gentle sound, and this anthology contains every one of their many wonderful hits. A must have for fans of music of the sevties and eighties.

Just who is this Steve Gdula you have writing reviews for you? I own every Bread LP, so I don't need to own this particular CD to write a review. David Gates' ballads, such as "If," are among the great American Standards. "Everything I Own" is one of the greatest love songs ever written. David Gates wrote the song for his late father. The song brings my late Dad vividly into my mind each time I hear it. The music of Bread is simply some of the most meaningful pop music ever, because the music touched the hearts of so many people. Hey, Gdula, that's what music is supposed to do! I guess you didn't learn that in Music Appreciation 101.

Between Bread and the Carpenters, they were responsible for creating some of the loveliest melodies and soft rock classics of the seventies.

Lead vocalist and guitar player David Gates wrote all the group's hits. The band rarely stepped outside its role as pop balladeers--and certainly not on their singles. [The lone exception was 1971's "Mother Freedom," which only went to No. 37 and is not included here.] Album tracks like "Fancy Dancer" show that Bread could rock when it wanted to, but they're best known for make-out classics like "Make It with You," "It Don't Matter to Me," "If," "Baby I'm-A Want You" and "Everything I Own." These are all pop gems. Nobody recorded as many memorable mellow pop standards as Bread. RECOMMENDED

The editorial "reviewer" Steve Gdula and his fellow phillistine, jpcii are obviously insensitive souls that wouldnt know the work of genius if they FELL over it..... To dismiss the remarkably beautiful music of David Gates in such a harsh and off-handed way is reprehensible. I grew up in the 60's and 70's, and while it's currently fashionable to denigrate the oeuvre of artists such as Bread and Abba, I think it's safe to say that the best of their work will stand the test of time. Classics such as "IF" with its truly heartwrenching melody, or the haunting "Aubrey" are aging like wine. When you compare such pieces to the current banalities you hear on the radio (or MTV and VH1), is it any wonder how Gdula and his tone-deaf colleague became so insensitive to TRUE art ? I think not. Suffice it to say that the lovely and TIMELESS melodies and lyrics of David Gates & Bread will LONG be remembered......unlike the collective "reviews" of one Steve Gdula.

It is easy to think of Bread as the 1970s version of Air Supply, but the truth is a bit more complicated. They were actually decent songwriters who knew that a good hook is the key to great pop music. I'd compare them more to Abba, another band that was critically reviled in their day, but knew how to get under the skin with their skillful melodies. Bread didn't have nearly as many great songs as Abba, but cuts like "Everything I Own," "Guitar Man" "Make it With You," and "Baby I'm a Want You" have a definate resiliancy that elevates them above mere pop fluff.

That having been said, "Anthology" is a bit overlong at twenty songs, and most listeners will likely find themselves skipping tracks. But the best of this material is well worth the price of admission.

I heard Sting say that the test of a well-crafted song is how it sounds with a single voice and unaccompanied acoustic instrument. I play out on a regular basis, and I can tell you, these songs carry. If you sing them with conviction, subtlety, and tap into your romantic side, they are powerful, almost primal. Every song has a surprising, original chord progression. The melodies sound like they were discovered, not contrived. People 2000 years ago would have felt the simple sentiments of these songs accompanied by the guitar. A lot of insecure and untalented snobs dismissed the band, but as taste and talent erode, man do these songs sound better all the time. Sure, there are a few unfortunate arrangements ( the wah wah wah in if) that date the music) but fortunately, the songs do not sound dated. The band name is embarrassing, and inappropriate, because, though chosen in the right spirit, the music doesn't "feed" you. It's more sugar, maybe a little cotton candy. It's a little earthy, but more the sunny plains with the scent of the Rockies on the wind. A little of David Gate's Oklahoma. It's very American. Love these guys, because they're the real deal.

If you are a Bread fan, you have to like this c.d. It contains all the good ones. Granted, they have been over played by light rock stations. But some of us never tire of the classics of this band.

This is a CD that you cannot tire of. Each time you play it you will just blend into the music and its deep meanings. I disagree with Steve Gdula - this is super music from a fantastic group who wrote all their own music with lots of top ten hits... something modern artists can't do.

...I mean, "If" gets my vote for world's greatest love song...Bread did it in the 60's and it still has that "hmmmm...yeah" quality about it. Those other jams--"Baby I'm-A Want You", "Everything I Own" (think of how many times that's been sung in a song and it sounded as if it were really true? Gates gets plus, plus stars for that alone), "Make it With You", "Sweet Surrender"--Getouttahere! This is good music. Groove with it.

It is hard to pick a favorite on this CD. There is the beautiful simplicity of love songs like "Make It With You" and "Baby I'm-A-Want You," and there is the gentle heartbreak of others, "Everything I Own," "It Don't Matter To Me," "Diary," and "Look What You've Done," and there is the dreamy romanticism of "If" and "Aubrey."

The beautiful secret of Bread is simplicity and sincerity. The instrumental accompaniment is kept at a minimum, which lends the music such a simple, accessible folk sound and emphasizes beautiful voices of David Gates. Anything more would have detracted and drawn away from the music's pure emotion. No, the lyrics are not usually terribly clever, but they don't feel cliched either. Performed by anyone else they might have seemed that way, but Bread has a way of taking a seemingly ordinary love song and making it connect with your emotions on a much deeper level. The music and lyrics are exactly what they need to be: simple and heartfelt. It has an almost dreamlike quality of purity and love. The music is incredibly human, yet it's almost other-worldly. It is the sort of music to be shared with someone you love.