Customer Reviews

The Best of Kim Carnes

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Don't get me wrong...this album's selections are certainly the most recognizeable of her chart songs, but a more appropriate title would be a variation on "Greatest Hits." If that distinction is lost on you, you can skip the rest of this review, and simply buy this solid and appealing release if the features appeal to you.

For those of you who are familiar with Kim's body of work, you know that any "Best Of" would include material that spans twenty years of recording, not just the duration of her time at EMI-America. Again, those WERE the hit years, though none of her singles ever came close to "Bette Davis Eyes" in world-wide popularity. I believe all her Top 40 entries are included on this recording, and most of the Top 100. However, with the exception of "Don't Fall In Love...", none of Kim's duet songs appear. This is a major omission in my opinion, as is the lack of songs she wrote that were big hits for other singers. Some of this can be blamed on label-laziness...relying on in-house material instead of making arrangements to get rights to songs recorded on various labels. It's a shame that Capitol didn't want to invest the work in a box set or anthology. There's a wealth of great music spanning 1979 to 1986 that they have in their own vaults, and it's annoying to see a minor hit like her cover of "Cry Like A Baby" make the cut when some great tunes from "St. Vincent's Court," "Voyeur" and "Cafe' Racers" didn't. Speaking of which, what's wrong with just releasing "bargain" versions of these albums in their entirety?

Before I digress any further, let me say one last time that this is a VERY good album, showcasing some great tunes and a fine performer. If your main interest here is a particular song or two, you can't go wrong with the whole album. Hell, I'm tempted to buy it just to have another copy of "More Love."

This is a fairly decent collection of her hits, but i'm only giving this collection 4 stars because they didn't include one of her best dance hits, which was the song called Invitation To Dance. It was a huge club hit for her back in the 80s, and in my opinion is one of her best songs ever. But i guess that song wasn't on the EMI label, so it was left off. Actually, with that song missing from the disc, the main reason i bought this was for the duet with Kenny Rogers, "Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer", which is one of her most well-known and successful duets she ever did. If you listen closely to that song you'll see how really difficult the harmony range is for both singers, and it must be a challenging song to sing and hit all the notes right. They do an amazing job together. It's one of my 50 alltime favorite songs ever. It was worth the price of the disc alone.Even though this collection of hits is far from complete, as she had many more hits after her EMI days, this is still worth owning.

Betty Davis eyes was one of those defining songs for my college years in the early 80's. Hearing it again always brings up many memories of the era. This CD provides a good sampling of the unique sound and delivery of Kim Carnes at a value price.

This is a good collection of Kim Carnes's songs. "Bette Davis Eyes" is on here of course, but my favorite is "More Love". This does have most of her biggest hits like "Crazy In The Night(Barking At Airplanes)" and "Voyeur". If you are looking for a little collection of her songs, then get this because it is to the point, short and sweet.

Kim Carnes has a unique voice,and NO ONE could have made "Bette Davis Eyes" a hit,but her.I love her voice,and reviewers who put who vocals down forget that Kim is also a GREAT songwritter.This artist was one of the HOTTEST singers in the early 80's,and had alot of hits.This CD is a nice sample of Carnes body of work.

Another quality compilation from EMI that refuses to let Kim Carnes fade into memory, and until Carnes releases a totally new cd, these suffice very well. All the tracks on this cd are from her EMI years, which were great, but do not include her later recordings in the late 80's/early 90's. There is a great extended dance mix of "Invisible Hands" and "Voyeur" makes an appearance on this very audio friendly cd. Sure to please any Kim Carnes fan, or eighties music aficionado. And a great price!

Compilation from her EMI albums "St. Vincent's Court" (1979), "Romance Dance" (1980), "Mistaken Identity" (1981), "Voyeur" (1982) and "Barking At Airplanes" (1985). Also includes 1 track from "Gideon" album (Kenny Rogers) and 1 remix (12") - "Invisible Hands" (1983).

Lyric sheet / booklet is no enclosed.

All tracks charted on Billboard Magazine.

About the Grammy Awards:

February, 1981 - "Bette Davis Eyes" won "Record Of The Year" and "Song Of The Year" at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards. Other nominations included "Mistaken Identity" for "Album Of The Year", "Bette Davis Eyes" for "Best Vocal Pop Performance (Female) and Val Garay for "Producer Of The Year (Non-classical).

February 1983 - Kim Carnes was nominated for a Best Pop Vocal Performance (female) Grammy Awards , for "Voyeur."

February 1984 - Kim Carnes was nominated for a Best Pop Rock Performance (female) Grammy Awards , for "Invisible Hands."

Not a bad CD for less than six bucks!!! What a sexy voice!

this is a good compilation, but, i really liked her earlier stuff too. her best was on a&m "SAILIN". that was how i started listening to her. and wow what a great talent. however the bad news is you can't find on cd.
they need to do a best of with all her old songs on it too.

THE BEST OF KIM CARNES is a "greatest hits" cd well worth buying. The tracks are all hits. The ONLY bad thing is that the same songs keep reappearing, compilation after compilation. How about a Volume 2? Or better yet, release the albums from which these songs are from.