The Best of Shangri-Las: 20th Century Masters (Millennium Collection) [Original recording remastered]

Shangri-Las | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 4, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1964
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B000067ARC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,730 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #60 in Music > Pop > Oldies > Girl Groups

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Budget-priced collection of unique girlgroup, June 25, 2002

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best of Shangri-Las: 20th Century Masters (Millennium Collection) (Audio CD)

The Shangri-Las were among the most engaging and memorable girlgroups of the '60s for several reasons. First, their bad-girl image was just a notch more outrageous than their contemporaries. Second, their hits were over-the-top symphonies of tragic relationships, dead boyfriends, runaways and other calamities. Third, producer Shadow Morton often underlined the emotional bleakness of the lyrics (both his, and the stellar work of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich) with stark vocals and instrumental touches that stood in contrast to Phil Spector's reigning Wall of Sound.

The group's quartet of top-20 hits, "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)," "Leader of the Pack," "Give Him a Great Big Kiss," and "I Can Never Go Home Again" are as solid as anything the girlgroup era produced, and as defining of the Shangri-Las sound as anything they recorded. In addition to these four essentials, this collection is filled out with excellent lesser-charting tracks, including the haunting "Out in the Streets," and the tragic runaways of "Give Us Your Blessings." Though the latter might have been just-another-teen-death-tune in lesser hands, Mary Weiss' emotional half-spoken/half-sung vocal, the Shangri-Las' harmonies, and Shadow Morton's thundering sound effects create a truly memorable piece of music.

Weiss' vocal also turned Jay & The Americans "She Cried" (recast here as "He Cried") from a pop hit into a truly gut-wrenching admission, and Morton's "Past, Present and Future," with its purely spoken vocal and vamping classical piano, is at once the most over-the-top piece in the Shangri-Las' catalog, and one of its most affecting. The soulful "Right Now and Not Later," riding a fat bassline, shows the Shangri-Las equally able of invoking the then-emerging Motown sound, as their cover of the Chantels' "Maybe" shows them capable of classic 1950s girlgroup harmonies.

Mercury's "Millennium Collection" provides a concise run-through of core Shangri-Las tracks, as well as one of their latter-day singles for Mercury ("The Sweet Sounds of Summer"), all in glorious mono. What's missing are the B-sides and non-hit tracks that fully define their career. Those looking for a budget-priced distillation of the Shangri-Las greatness will enjoy this collection; those looking for more intimate detail should seek out Polygram's 1996 "Best of the Shangri-Las" or RPM's import " Myrmidons of Melodrama."

3-3/4 stars, if Amazon allowed fractional ratings.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good--but nowhere near enough, March 10, 2008

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best of Shangri-Las: 20th Century Masters (Millennium Collection) (Audio CD)

20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection The Best Of The Shangri-Las is a budget priced CD that really doesn't give us all their best hits or ballads. This CD series always disappoints me; but I will admit that what we do get is rather high quality and the sound is very strong. The artwork is typical for this series.

The track set starts off with a big hit for this girl group entitled "Remember (Walkin' In The Sand)." The group sings this so well with a great deal of passion and style; the musical arrangement spices it up to make this a very memorable ballad. The Shangri-Las also harmonize at times to enhance the natural beauty of this number; and the bird cooing special effects impress me! In addition, you get another fine hit entitled "Leader Of The Pack;" the group sings this with a lot of energy and they harmonize well; again we get some very well done special musical effects; The Shangri-Las really do this right to bat "Leader Of The Pack" straight out of the ballpark! Great!

"Give Him A Great Big Kiss" is very upbeat and they sing of the man one of the young ladies has fallen for; they sing this really well and I always liked "Give Him A Great Big Kiss." The percussion also livens up this tune. "Maybe" also features The Shangri-Las doing another love ballad with all their heart and soul; it's very well done.

"I Can Never Go Home Anymore" has great singing and the others harmonize for the most part during this ballad; so many young women could still identify with this song about a young love that is frowned upon by their parents. The fine arrangement works wonders for this pensive, serious ballad and I think you'll enjoy this one as much as I do!

"He Cried" is changed from "She Cried;" and The Shangri-Las sing this mellow, melancholy number with a lot of sensitivity and all their might--wow. I really like "He Cried." The CD ends with The Shangri-Las performing "The Sweet Sounds Of Summer." This final number has great guitar work and they sing this beyond perfection! What an awesome ending for this album!

Overall, I have no gripe with the songs here; but I do want to complain about the paucity of tracks. There's just not enough to please me. I will take off two stars for that to make this a three star review. The casual fan is the person most likely to want this CD; the others who love this group a lot will want more extensive CDs or maybe even a box set by this great girl group.

1 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars some songs some just so so, January 2, 2009

By 

J. Humburg - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best of Shangri-Las: 20th Century Masters (Millennium Collection) (Audio CD)

some of the songs were great others oh well like buying an old record album.