Best of Friends

Loggins & Messina | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 6, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002585
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MiniDisc  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,181 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great songs, short content, February 12, 2000

By 

J. McCranie (Brunswick, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best of Friends (Audio CD)

There are several great songs here. The flaws with this CD are (1) there are only 10 songs on the CD, (2) the total length is less than 39 minutes, and (3) most of the great song "Angry Eyes" is chopped out, cutting it down to only 2:23. With nearly 40 minutes of unused space on the CD, why not include the entire song (and some bonus tracks).

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good primer - but you'll want more, October 13, 2004

By 

B. Huck (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best of Friends (Audio CD)

There have been some comments in previous reviews regarding this album's length/number of songs, and about the "Angry Eyes" "edit".

First, this was originally a vinyl album, which explains its length, and as a "Greatest Hits" album, it does contain the songs that L&M were most known for at the time, at least to casual radio listeners.

Second, the notes on the album jacket explain that "Angry Eyes" was, in fact, NOT edited (cut) for this album. Rather, the version on this collection is an alternate "short" version that was recorded at the same time as the original "long" version for their second album. I, too prefer the full version, but at least this short version has a more cohesive feel than most songs that get cut down (by engineers) for time.

Anyone who is really into L&M, of course, won't be satisfied with just this collection, but it has a few things to recommend it. It IS, after all, a collection of L&M songs, and you can't go wrong with that - no matter how you slice it. If (as was my case many years ago) a casual listener buys this collection and then seeks out more L&M albums, then it has done its job. After all, I didn't become the really avid L&M fan that I am until I started listening to and appreciating the entire "Loggins & Messina" album, which I had bought specifically for the full version of "Angry Eyes".

Also, this album contains a stand-alone "single" version of "Peace Of Mind". The song here is identical to what's on their "Sittin' In" album, except that it begins on its own, rather than beginning as a segue from "To Make A Woman Feel Wanted". Having this version is handy if you wish to make your own expanded "best of" compilation, but don't wish to include the entire "Trilogy: Lovin' Me/To Make A Woman Feel Wanted/Peace Of Mind".

At any rate, this is a good taste of Loggins & Messina's (and their band's) fine songwriting and musicianship, and it whets the appetite for more.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Ain't never gonna change my tune", May 25, 2002

By 

The Sanity Inspector (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best of Friends (Audio CD)

For three generations their laughing faces on this cd have been looking out at us from the record store racks: Furball Kenny Loggins in that hideous velour sweater, and denim semi-clad Jim Messina looking like he just let off a terrific sneeze. They've been there for three generations because this very slender collection of L&M favorites is a good an early Seventies music milepost as there is. Male listeners of a certain age may have dismissed this as girly music from their big sister's record collection, but it's time to give another listen. It's enough to make you take the much-derided singer/songwriter era seriously again.

At only ten tracks, it's not quite right to talk about "highlights". But my favorites include the wonderful nautical fantasy "Vahevala", Messina's arts-&-crafts fair acoustic confection "Be Free", and Loggins' two childhood meditations, "Danny's Song" and "House at Pooh Corner." I never could stand "Your Mama Don't Dance", but it was a huge enough hit to demand inclusion.

An excellent bit of judgment here is to delete the long instrumental section of "Angry Eyes", and present a simple A-A-B-A version. It is a good tune, but it is at heart an AM radio pop song, and should never have been inflated to "Low Spark of High Heel Boys" dimensions in the first place.

Too short? Maybe, for many fans. But most fans will agree that there's not a wasted bar of music in this collection. See? Your big sister had good taste after all!