Customer Reviews

Anthology (Exp)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I always liked this group from day one! John Waite has an excellent voice and it didin't surprise me that he was successful as a solo artist in the 80's. The Baby's put out excellent ballads such as "Isn't It Time" and "Everytime I think of You" (both big hits) as well as great rock n' roll. Songs such as "Head First", "Love Don't Prove I'm Right", and "Back On My Feet Again" (to mention a few) are extremely catchy and very radio friendly. The Baby's (in my opinion) never really made it as big as they should have, but atleast they left us with some great songs and a nice collection of l.p.'s as well. Highly Recommended!

I had given up hope on this CD. I had stopped checking the bin after about 10 years of frivolously wishing to hear these top-notch tunes like they should be heard. In short, I'VE BEEN WAITING 15 YEARS FOR THIS CD TO BE RELEASED!!!!

There's been a few major gaffes in the world of artist compilations...one being the incredibly ill-advised inclusion of CUT Supertramp songs on the A&M 75th Anniversary disc ("Goodbye Stranger" sliced and diced anyone?). However, none tops the incredibly shoddy original run of this CD released in around 1987. Sounding like Journey's early material (a la recorded on Pluto), I knew it had to get better with the quality of their production team--Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd), Ron Nevison (Heart), Keith Olson (Fleetwood Mac)? A-1 Producers. It had to get better.

Finally, it did. You mean "Isn't it Time" has horns panning out to each channel in the chorus? "Everytime I Think of You" actually has Vibes? Tambourine? An organ finale? All of that was buried under the original horrendous mastering job.

I didn't even know Chrysalis was [signed] up by Capitol in recent times, but thank the stars it was! Thanks to that, possibly the two top songs EVER (IMHO) now sound better than I ever thought they would. I may even let this regular CD share time with the new Aaron Neville DVD-AUDIO disc (a knockout in its own right!) ;).

I have just one more question:

Who the heck is (Jack) Conrad and (Ray) Kennedy...and are they aware (IMHO) they wrote two of the best songs of ALL TIME??????

Growing up around the time the Babys were popular. I am very familiar with their records. I must add that this Anthology is missing too many hits. Too of the biggest radio hits at the time were "She's My Girl" and "Too Far Gone". They should be on here. It's a disappointment to me that they are not.

I don't know what is it about The Baby's and John Waite Compilations they are notorious for picking obsecure songs over more popular ones.

I'm posting this in response to the previous reviewer's request for knowing which tracks are the "extras" not released on the earlier 10-song anthology; it occurred to me that others might have questions about this as well. The extra songs are tracks 2-4, 7, 11, 14, and 17.

This is an excellent cd and what makes it even better it's finally been remastered the sound is very good plus the addition of some cool bonus tracks.Now if they would only remaster their entire catalog hint!

Waite described Chrysalis as a strange record company, the Babys were certainly in the shadow of other Chrysalis acts Blondie and Leo Sayer. The name the Babys was used by this hard rock group to get a contract in the pretty boy oriented industry of 1976. They wore makeup for the second album cover.
Isn't it Time was number one in Australia but the record company failed to capitalise. They could have led the way for other bands and changed the face of music. Mike Corby put down his guitar before Head First and never played again. The three member group recorded most of the album. Their last two albums Union Jacks and On the Edge took a completely different course in production and highlighted the desperation in Waite's "give it everything you've got" voice.

Here follows 7 reasons why the Babys are not considered part of the pantheon of "classic rock" deities:

#1: Their name. In England, most people got the joke, but in America it caused them to be dismissed as teenyboppers, which led to:

#2: Problems with the media. In every interview, they continually had to assert, "We're not the Bay City Rollers, we're more like UFO or Bad Company," and boast about their bad-boy exploits to gain credibility, which led to:

#3: Overblown machismo. Their 5 studio albums all contain the requisite share of "Come hither little girl" clinkers, three of which ("Head First", "Midnight Rendezvous", and "Sweet 17") unfortunately appear on this collection. While good for a few laughs today, this led to:

#4: Record company interference. One can only imagine the meetings with the suits where they were told, "If you'd just be good boys and do everything we tell you, we'll all make lots of money," and the band replying, "We want to play ROCK'N'ROLL, not bubble gum," which led to:

#5: Cover versions/strings/horns/female backing vocals/session musicians. Some of these were really successful and became their biggest hits ("Isn't it time?", "Every time I think of you", and "Silver Dreams"), while others were only saved by John Waite's wonderful belt-it-out voice ("I love how you love me" and "Money").

#6: Spinal Tap-like daffiness. Space does not allow a recounting of all the hard knocks and bad luck this band survived, but how can you not love a band that straight-facedly uses a lyric like: "Give me your love - oh I need that thing real bad."

Greatest hits collections usually exist to take songs out of their original context and repackage them to make money for the record company. Since The Babys' songs had no real context to begin with, I can highly recommend this album in spite of the inevitable clinkers. This brilliant but snake-bitten band was the absolute best at what they did: power pop meets arena rock. Forget the Knack and listen to their best songs: "If you've got the time", "Love don't prove I'm right", "Back on my feet again", "Anytime", and "Turn and walk away". All still sound great today (love those remasters) and are nothing to be ashamed of or laughed at.

Let's not forget reason #7: No "Stairway to Heaven"-like anthem for the "classic rock" radio stations. I would like to hereby nominate the last and best song on this collection for that notoriety. "Gonna be somebody" PERFECTLY epitomizes what this band was all about: the desire for respect, the chance to "make it" that is never quite achieved. Oh, and if they ever do a reunion tour, I will not be able to get my money out fast enough.

This ten track collection of John Waite's pre-solo, pre-Bad English band's greatest hits seamlesly straddles the line between Beatle-esque rock and roll and soulful ballads. Two of their efforts in the latter department, ISN'T IT TIME and EVERY TIME I THINK OF YOU, made for some tasty AM radio fodder in the 70s, with Waite's slightly gritty voice augmented by gospel-rich female choruses. On the harder side, MIDNIGHT RENDEZVOUS' new wavish strains, the teen angst-filled bopper SWEET 17, and a rousing take on Motown oldie MONEY raise the bar in the Babys' favor. The band's time in the spotlight may have been brief, but their legacy as a poor man's Badfinger or Raspberries remains intact.

RATING: THREE DIAPERS

Emerging as a pretty faced bubble-pop band in the 70's, The Babys quickly evolved into a first rate power-pop outfit and scored several top-40 hits. Eventual solo star and Bad English member Johnathan Waite was the focal point, with his clean and soulful vocals. Keyboardist Jonathan Caine, while not an original member, found later success as a member of Journey.

The band excelled at pop-rock, like "Midnight Rendezvous" and "Back On My Feet Again." While no-one would ever classify them as heavy, a song like "Head First" had echoes of "Hot Blooded", or maybe Rick Springfield fronting Cheap Trick. The ballads pretty much are what you'd expect if you followed Waite's solo career. Much better than average, and good for 70's nostalgia, The Babys called it quits in 1981.

I remember my brother getting a Baby's cassette back in the day. It was a few years after the hay-day of The Baby's, so for him it was a nostaglic trip. Needless to say I was an unwitting bystander to the music. It eventually grew on me.

When I was perusing some music from that time, I came across a couple of Baby's songs and as my brother probably experienced, the nostalgia trip ensued.

This album is a great buy. It has quite a number of memorable Baby's tunes. There's definitely more than on the album (cassette) my brother had that I must have heard from other sources.

Normally I cannot stand live albums and get even more annoyed when a single live track is slipped into a normal album. The quality always gets to me and the audience is not very enjoyable to me. The live track on this one is actually worth listening to.