Customer Reviews

The Best of Anita Baker

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This collection is long overdue. The best of Ania Baker is in full effect on every track on this CD. There is no one in contemporary R&B who is as unique as Anita Baker. The CD covers her incredible five albums. Many of the classics are included, Sweet Love, Giving You The Best That I Got, You Bring Me Joy, Fairytales, Angel, Body & Soul, etc. Anita sings with such heart and conviction. Her voice caresses you like a warm blanket and ignites you like a quiet fire. My only complaint with the CD is that the single versions of many songs are present, and not the full length versions. Anita is sheer artistry and perfection. She is a singer's singer, a true classic, divinley unique and a testimony to craftsmanship. Although such gems as Watch Your Step, Been So Long, Whatever It Takes and Soul Inspiration, are not included, this CD remains a must have for your collection. Enjoy The Songstress at her best and get Caught Up In The Rapture all over again.

I just got this CD the other day and really couldn't figure out what took me so long to get it.

Anita has true vocal talent and this is a collection of her best.
This cd is a collection of beautifully written and performed songs. Most fans always want their favorites on a greatest hits, but of course there has to be a limit. It's nice to not have to switch from cd to cd to hear the songs that I like.
Noticeably missing is, Been So Long.

I am glad that this CD contained a lot of her great work from all of her Cds including her debut. I am happy to see "No More Tears" (which wasn't a big commerical success, but in my opinion it was one of her ver best songs.

In all honesty, of the 18 songs on this cd, there is only one song that I would have excluded (and that's simply because it is one that never got my attention). This is a must for Anita Baker fans.

It has been almost twenty years since Anita Baker made it on the scene with The Songstress. Now, her legacy of R&B has finally a collection of its own.

The 2002 album, The Best Of Anita Baker is a showcase of 18 of Anita's most loved songs, from all five of Anita's albums: The Songstress, Rhythm Of Love, Compositions, Rapture, and Giving You The Best That I Got. Each song reflects beauty and elegance, with a dash of the old school R&B that many radio stations continue to overlook today. The album also includes mega-hits like Body & Soul, Sweet Love, Fairy Tales, plus her Grammy winning song, I Apologize.

Although the album is pretty fair, many of the songs were compressed down to single versions, rather than the full versions from Anita Baker's albums. Still, some other songs could've been on this album, like When You Love Someone from the Billy Crystal film, Forget Paris, and Perfect Love Affair. Nonetheless, it is a pretty decent greatest hits album.

I've loved Anita Baker since she came on the scene in the 80's with her RAPTURE album. Then I discovered she was in the group Chapter 8, and her solo debut was Beverly Glen's "The Songstress" (remastered on Elektra several years later). This collection is the cream of her Elektra years, featuring many of the single versions of tracks I did not know existed. I am so use to the album versions, as I've stopped buying 45's a long time ago. However, I did have "Same Ole Love" single, based on the picture sleeve & a live version as the B-side. Now having these single versions of her classic "Caught Up In The Rapture", "Angel", "Just Because", my personal favorite "Giving You The Best That I Got", "Fairy Tales" and others, my collection is somewhat complete with these alternate shorter versions. Though a 5 star product, I am a bit disappointed the set did not include at least one track from her Chapter 8 years, another duet with Howard Hewett from one of his Electra albums, and the "Witchcraft" duet done with Frank Sinatra on his first "Duets" CD. These would have added the drizzle & cherry on top of a great layer cake of songs. For those who love Anita, this is a great set for the walkman or car stereo for a quicky when you don't want all the albums out. I highly recommend it.

Buying this album reminded me that there was some great music in the 80's. Most of it was on Anita Bakers "Rapture" album. The most stylish voice in pop or jazz.

This is a great CD with all of Anita's hits and then some! For anyone that likes true and genuine R&B needs to get this CD. Has song's on here from early, early stuff all the way to her most recent string of hits. Not much left to say here about this CD...it's great and anyone who is a fan of Anita Baker knows what's up and anyone who would like to hear one of the originators of R&B should purchase this Greatest Hits package!

Anita Baker has one of the best female voices out there, and she has put it to great use throughout her career. If you like R&B/soul at all, you will love some of these songs. But if you look at the distribution of songs on this collection across her 5 albums, you will see a pattern that is not accidental: 5 great songs from Rapture (her 1st); 4 hit-or-miss songs from Giving You the Best that I've Got (2nd); only 5 songs combined from the final 3 albums; and a few forgettable non-album tracks mixed in. "Best Of" is worth getting, but I would start with Rapture first -- its 8 tracks make up one of those rare consistently excellent albums and are a more enjoyable listen than this mixed-bag collection.

Anita Baker is one of the best R&B singers of all time, and this is a great CD. But my favorite Anita Baker song is not include, and only available on The Final Frontier, Mad About You CD. Anita kills the theme song, Final Frontier. Maybe it will be included in the next greatest hits CD.

Eventhough Anita Baker has been away so long, this Rhino compilation does provide relief for Anita Baker fans, new and old. Although this CD is missing "Been So Long", which is from her sublime 1986 "Rapture" album, it still provides a supreme listening experience. This CD contains serious highlights from each album and does great justice in its selections. It represents the fine choices in adult contemporary and soul ballads that was made very popular by Anita Baker during the 80s and 90s. Every song is a gem and continually proves why she will always be a Diva, forever.

I'm glad this collection isn't on vinyl, or else I would've worn this poor album out long ago! Yes, a lot of the songs are the shorter "single" versions of her original releases, but I would venture to guess that it was necessary to get this many of her songs on a single CD.

Including "Mystery" (from "Rapture") and her "Witchcraft" duet (on Frank Sinatra's "Duets" CD) on this CD--in addition to yanking the Winans song--would have made me very happy. I am very happy with this collection, however, and just hope there'll be a 2-CD set that will have full-length versions of her songs, as well as the ones that should've been crammed into this CD.

Buy this CD, Super Glue your CD player shut and play it till Anita releases a new album!