Customer Reviews

Best Of: Anthology

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

 

 

An extensive look at the group's eight year stay at Motown Records. The 2 disc collection offers every hit and a survey of the many songwriting and production styles the group sampled. Note that "Every Beat Of My Heart", "Giving Up", and "Letter Full Of Tears" are not the original versions that Knight & co. recorded before signing with Motown. Remakes are numerous (from Motown's own "I Wish It Would Rain" to Etta James's "All I Could Do Was Cry"). Knight's vocals approached a new peak of strength and maturity as the group left the label. Ballads such as "All I Need Is Time" foreshadow what their Buddha Records period would produce. Attractive packaging includes rare photos from the mid to late '60s and excellent track annotation. This still isn't the definitive Motown retrospective. That will have to include, in place of a few of these selections, 1967's scorching "Ain't No Sun Since You Been Gone", the wrenching "And This Is Love" and Knight's deeply funky take on "Who Is She (And What Is She To You)", both from 1973.

Gladys and the Pips are certainly overdue for the box treatment. With a career longer than most marriages, Knight and her Pips practically helped write the book on soul singing and harmony. Those she never gets as much credit, Knight's voice is just as much a force of nature as Aretha's, Chaka's or Patti's and it has only gotten better with age. Witness her performance on Divas Live or Motown 45 and you'll agree. That said, it's time to give the lady and fellas their due. I'm partial to the groups Motown output although I agree that some of the material is filler at best. But I do think they have the definitive versions of "Grapevine", "I Wish It Would Rain" and "Tracks of My Tears". No disrespect to Marvin Gaye, The Temptations or Smokey/Miracles, but GK and the Pips can do no wrong when it comes to a soulful remake.
Motown get David Nathan on the horn and let's get crackin' on that box set please.

This is pretty much a very thorough 2 CD set of Gladys & The Pips tenure at Motown, and only includes the songs they did for Motown. This set is very in depth , and features the big hits, near hits & album tracks. I got this very cheap & couldn't pass it up for the price. Contents - for the booklet & liner notes - are stellar. Being objective, I had the biggest hits here already on THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION and MOTOWN COMPACT COMMAND PERFORMANCES. Those will do a fan who loves the group, but doesn't want all the extra non-hit songs on this 2 CD set. It does have quite a bit of padding to fill out a 2 CD set. Just don't expect anything that came AFTER Motown, which includes some of the group's biggest hits from the 70's through the 80's, like MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA, I'VE GOT TO USE MY IMAGINATION , LOVE OVERBOARD, etc. The CD's that are the best for all their biggest hits on all the different labels are THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION and GOLD.

Ms. Knight is absolutely phenomenal. Here pre 1972 recordings are timeless treasures. The emotion that she places into her music is matchless. Gladys sings through her soul and her soul sings through her. Her post 1972 is a bit more sophisticated and musically styled. I think she losing the innocence and passion of her earlier recordings, however she still is a force. Her voice is absolutely distinct, when you hear her you know that it is Gladys. I rate Gladys Knight as the Second greatest female r&B singer of our time. My top Five:

Aretha Frankling - A incomparable voice and range Gladys Knight - Passion, emotional and voice to match Mary Wells - The personification of Class & Style Patti Labelle - The greatest female stage performer bar none 5 A. Whitney Houston - The Girl has some pipes, the jury is still out

5 B. Lauren Hill - If she last, she will past whitney, Patti, Mary, Gladys and maybe Aretha. If she fades - just another name.

This CD was excellent. The sound quality was perfect. I would suggest this CD to anyone interested in Gladys Knight and the PIPS.

a wonderful and pretty darn complete track list of their best music. ms. k's voice is so arresting that everything she sings has a depth and life that makes it good listening even today, decades later.

Gladys Knight&The pips had alot of hits but with so much Talent At Motown some of it got lost.The Nitty Gritty,Neither one of us,Friendship train,I Heard it through the Grapevine before Marvin Gaye's chilling Version.If I were Your Woman is Soulful classic.you don't understand Gladys Knight&the Pips Impact until you go by Decade.just Incredible Music&Soulful music.

Unless you're really big on Gladys Knight & The Pips, don't bother about this Anthology which has possibly up to a dozen killer tracks which make rivetting listening and are "must haves" - think "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", "The End Of Our Road", "Neither One Of Us" etc. The sad truth is that there wasn't nearly enough top drawer material recorded by the group during their Motown years when they were treated like second liner acts by their label to fill a 2CD Anthology. Too much weak or filler material, or great songs like "I Wish It Would Rain", "Cloud Nine" and "I Know I'm Losing You" already recorded definitely by the Temptations, which given Motown's conveyor belt treatment, doesn't do justice to Gladys' tremendous vocal abilities. Here, Gladys' urgent throaty rasp and vocal gymnastics quickly grate and wear you out due to the often unimaginative and assembly line arrangements and production. I'd go straight for the older "All The Great Hits" Motown compilation which has EVERY ESSENTIAL HIT the group ever recorded for the label. Sure, the minor or UK hits like "Help Me Make It Through The Night" may not be included, but these are minor omissions and unless you're a completist, you're MUCH better served by listening to this gem packed ten tracker than by the Anthology.

Unless you're really big on Gladys Knight & The Pips, don't bother about this Anthology which has possibly up to a dozen killer tracks which make rivetting listening and are "must haves" - think "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", "The End Of Our Road", "Neither One Of Us" etc. The sad truth is that there wasn't nearly enough top drawer material recorded by the group during their Motown years when they were treated like second liner acts by their label to fill a 2CD Anthology. Too much weak or filler material, or great songs like "I Wish It Would Rain", "Cloud Nine" and "I Know I'm Losing You" already recorded definitely by the Temptations, which given Motown's conveyor belt treatment, doesn't do justice to Gladys' tremendous vocal abilities. Here, Gladys' urgent throaty rasp and vocal gymnastics quickly grate and wear you out due to the often unimaginative and assembly line arrangements and production. I'd go straight for the older "All The Great Hits" Motown compilation which has EVERY ESSENTIAL HIT the group ever recorded for the label. Sure, the minor or UK hits like "Help Me Make It Through The Night" may not be included, but these are minor omissions and unless you're a completist, you're MUCH better served by listening to this gem packed ten tracker than by the Anthology.