Customer Reviews

Anthology

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So, I have the Loleatta albums "Loleatta Holloway" and "Love Sensation" on CD, as well as the Greatest Hits CD. The only album not on CD is "Queen of the Night," although a few tracks appear on Greatest Hits. I thought this CD would fix that. It brings me the remaining tracks from that LP, including You Light Up My Life, Two Side to Every Story and I'm in Love...and then what it CLAIMS are the original LP versions of Mama Don't Papa Won't and I May Not Be There When You Want Me. But this is not the case. These are the same edited versions that are on the Greatest hits CD. Mama Won't runs 30 seconds shorter than the 5:02 length on the LP, and I May Not Be There runs 30 seconds shorter than the 7:33 length on the LP. So while this is a good anthology, it's not the ultimate solution to completing your Loleatta collection on CD. Not to mention that there are quite a lot of versions on here that proudly state they are the 7" edits. They should have just gone for it-a 3 or 4 disc set with EVERYTHING, full length. Oh well. Maybe in another 20 years. By the way, the track listing isn't the exact order here on Amazon. track list in order and times:

1. Two Sides To Every Story (4:30)
2. Hit & Run (3:35)
3. Ripped Off (Original 7" Mix) (4:52)
4. Greatest Performance Of My Life (4:44)
5. Catch Me On The Rebound (3:20)
6. I May Not Be There When You Want Me (6:55)
7. All About The Paper (6:12)
8. Runaway (4:44)
9. Love Sensation (6:02)
10. Mama Won't Papa Won't (4:31)
11. Dance What Cha Wanna (5:09)
12. Short End Of The Stick (3:24)
13. Good Good Feeling (4:15)
14. I'll Be Standing There (4:50)
15. Seconds (Original Shep Pettibone 12" Mix Edit) (5:02)
16. Dreamin (4:49)

CD2

1. There'll Come A Time (3:23)
2. What Now (5:03)
3. Only You (6:08)
4. That's How Heartaches Are Made (3:02)
5. I've Been Loving You Too Long (4:42)
6. We're Getting Stronger (The Longer We're Together) (4:32)
7. You Light Up My Life (4:04)
8. There Must Be A Reason (6:04)
9. That's What You Said (3:26)
10. . I'm In Love (4:16)
11. Baby It's You (3:56)
12. Sweet Mother Of Mine (4:40)
13. Long Hard Climb To Love (4:32)
14. My Way (5:24)
15. Two Became A Crowd (5:22)
16. It's Just A Man's Way (3:43)
17. Worn Out Broken Heart (4:31)

Amazon does not identify what type of versions are on this compilation.
Most of them are the "Original Album Version". Here are the remixes:

Disc One
15. Original Shep Pettibone 12" Mix Edit
Disc Two
9. Special Edit

The following tracks are "Original 7" Mix:
Disc 1: 2 & 16
Disc 2: 17

All other songs are the "Orinal Album Versions".

There is really no point in releasing anything of this magnitude without going all the way. All of these mixes have been butchered. Loleatta has to be heard in full length or nothing at all. The Greatest Performance is one of Ms. Holloway's greatest but sadly it has been edited. Not only that but it is very hard to find on CD if it was every released full length on CD. Plus what happened to "Were Getting Stronger".

Disco is about the music. There are very rare exceptions to this rule and one of them is Loleatta. You need the fantastic music and her vocals in order to feel her magic in the right way. This CD is real sad indeed. Hold on to your money and try and get the full length versions through other means. You can find some on Walter Gibbons fantatic compilation.

Loleatta sadly passed away earlier this year and is sadly missed by soul and disco fans alike. Whilst this fantastic double CD collection does not include Cry To Me, Loleatta's pre-disco heart-wrenching ballad, there are plenty of knockout performances of the smooching or dancing kind to keep you engaged throughout this truly awesome Anthology. It captures the essence of this formidable, gospel-tinged singer, who put more life into a single song than most singers do in their entire catalogue. Highlights include, We're Getting Stronger, which was recently sampled by Whitney Houston on her Million Dollar Bill hit; Worn Out Broken Heart; Hit and Run; Runaway; Good Good Feeling; Love Sensation - notoriously sampled and taken to the top of the UK charts by Black Box; My Way; Dreamin; and What Now. Frankly, there isn't a bad song in this collection, including Loleatta's gob-smacking version of I've Been Loving You Too Long. This astounding anthology is worth every pound in your pocket. Buy this Anthology today; your ears, heart and feet will appreciate it. There are many singers, but there is only one Loleatta Holloway. Grace Jones once said, "I can sing, but I'm no Loleatta Holloway". Rest in peace, dear lady of song and soulful dance, and thank you for the music and the kiss... You're now an amazing angel.

Yes, there are other CD collections of the divine Loleatta Holloway out there, but this compilation contains the only known CD recording of one of her alltime dance floor classics, "I May Not Be There When You Want Me (But I'm Right on Time)" and therefore qualifies as a must-have. No, this version doesn't have the "What's the Name of This Song?" spoken intro that was on the original vinyl, nor does it have the legendary "Rollas in my hair" break, but it's still the most complete and ONLY version available of this over-the-top piece of fabulousness by one of the greatest singers, bar none, of all time, complete with the final window-rattling, soul-shouting "Here I go!" Anyone who says "disco sucks" after listening to this CD needs to account for their presence on this earth.

I know a lot of Loleatta Holloway's house and garage songs and that was why I bought this 2-CD compilation. It's only really the first disc that plays in that territory. If all you want is the dance cuts then that first CD is good actually. However the 2nd compilation takes you way into the depth and quality of her discography, into some great old school soul songs that I never knew she did. A few Bobby Womack penned gems in there too. Great liner notes as well.

Simply a fantastic compilation. After listening to 2 CDs of Loleatta this thing made me think I gotta go and track down all the original albums. And that's probably what a good compilation should do.

What I also loved about this compilation was the many songs where you really get the full picture of what this talented singer is capable of. In our day and age you have over-the-top singers like Mariah and Aguilera proclaimed as singers but Loleatta demonstrates, much like Jocelyn Brown in her heyday, that true singers are those who can make an impact when singing gently and not just as belters.

As a side note for the Philly soul/Philadelphia International Records/Gamble & Huff fans, this compilation also is effectively a compilation of a lof of great cuts played by Baker/Harris and and penned by Felder/Harris. Those guys were ridiculously talented and it shows up here. But no question Loleatta is the star of the show here and her ability to shine through a wide variety of music from various writers, producers and bands is a testament to he otherworldly gifts.

Jeepers...there are lots of connoisseurs here. I have only recently discovered Loleatta, and I am left wondering, WTF was I? I mean, I figure I'm from Chicago so I SHOULD have heard of her, and I've heard "Good Vibrations" about a thousand times, but people here look bewildered when I drop the name. Seriously guys...where were you on this? You should have told me WAY, WAY sooner.

Now that I've found her, I don't know how I ever lived without her. Loleatta Holloway is absolutely, 100% THE MOST underrated singer I have EVER heard, and the QUALITY of her material is simply out of this world. When I bought this collection, I figured there would be a few good singles, and the rest would just be filler. But this was absolutely not the case. There is not one bad song on that first disc, and I will take Loleatta over Whitney any freakin' day of the week.

All of the other collections I looked at seemed much skimpier than this, and I can tolerate a little editing if I get 16 songs that are SOLID gold. I am "All About the Paper," and if you have never heard "Short End of the Stick" you don't know what you are missing. "Two Sides to Every Story" and "I'll Be Standing There" are fantastic as well, and "Dreamin" holds a very special place in my heart.

Seriously, this is better than a lot of Motown stuff, and I think Martha Reeves is the only one that can even compete. The Salsoul anthology IS the superior collection, and don't let all of the negativity convince you otherwise.

For me this collection is a gift, it's really wonderful. Fine ok it doesn't include all the original full length mixes but you can imagine that things like these cost money to the label and you know they haven't sold many of these. But focusing on the content on the cd, I cannot do anything but praise it. I have fallen in love with this singer. I love Salsoul and Loleatta Holloway is a fantastic vocalist.
I think that the second cd might even be stronger than the first one, where her emotion really shines through, the emotion... I feel the ballads or love songs on the cd are really, really amazing.
Also a note to that reviewer who complains that ride on time and good vibrations are not on here...erm, ride on time "by" black box was an illegally sampled song and is not a Loleatta recording, nor is the other sampling on the marky mark & the funky bunch song, they would have NOTHING to do on here! lol

I loved this compulation although I have most of the songs on other cd's.true loleatta fans will love it to.

Well If you are going to go all the way you might as well go all the way. I'm sure the songs on that CD are great, but first they are to be the original recordings, and second they have to be recorded in full length. Some great songs are still missing like her famous club anthem " Crash goes love" which to me was as powerful as "ride on time" with the same vocal intensity " good vibration" too with marky mark ( mark walberg) too is missing. I mean loleatta is known for her strong vocal, her late 80s stuff were the best, her 70s were not that great but if you want to fall in love with her, listen to her 80s songs, you'll ask for more. If one must buy this Cd it must be off the chain and from what I can see there are still some improvement to be made, not quite there yet, save your money for now!!