Customer Reviews

Collection

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I recently bought the collection by Juice. This is the second attempt at re-recording past hits. I honestly do not see the point at doing them again..... New material is always more welcomed in my opinion. I have been a fan of Juice Newton since the early days, and I have to say that this is the first cd that I have been disappointed with. Juice is not the problem here. She is in great voice as always. The songs are great songs. The production is the problem. Also, I noticed this collection is by Madacy. Their collections are usually at best mediocre. All of the recordings sound like demos. Juice is still my favorite female artist. I just hope that she will return soon with new material. Her new look is great, and It would be nice to see her get the recognition she so much deserves in the music industry. I know she still has some incredible recordings to deliver.

What is up with this cd? Sounds like a karaoke collection? Who is that really? The recordings sound like they were done in a tunnel. If you're looking for vintage Juice don't look at this one.

In thirty years as a reknown pop and country singer, Juice Newton has made hundreds and hundrends of recordings and has performed thousands of shows. It is a great challenge to pick 20 songs to be representative of her career to date. Many Juice fans will agree on ten or so "big hits", but picking the next ten will certainly vary from Juice fan to Juice fan. This new CD offers 20 chosen hits, all newly performed in the studio by Juice in 2003. Mostly from Juice's heyday in the 80s, but one from the late 70s and two from the late 90s. Her new 2001 work is omitted. I was particularly impressed with this album because it rings more to the live audience delivery that you hear at Juice's concerts, rather than to the studio atmosphere. Many of those few extras that Juice delivers on stage on tour are captured on those hits on the CD. "The Sweetest Thing" clearly demonstrates this, and "Angel of the Morning" is complete with the 19-second trailing note that Juice carries on stage. "Hurt", "Gently" "Cheap Love" and "Ride'em Cowboy" and "Hard on Me" likewise resemble their live counterparts. And "Make You Mine" went back to the original 1985 lyrics, as we are now beginning to see live!
Of course 9 or 10 of the numbers do not normally appear in shows, so they can only be compared to prior studio versions.
With the help of "invisiboy2001" I have investigated what CD's you would have to procure to get earlier studio version recordings of all of these 20 hits. Although each of the 20 hits has appeared on CD before, it would take 5 different CD's (4 out of print) to cover all of these songs. Even more if you went to the original release for each hit (some on vinyl).

In Summary: We have present-day Juice with her present-day voice singing a collection of 20 of her most memorable hits on a single CD with present-day insert pictures of Juice - PRICELESS

Here are the CD's it would take to get all 20 hits:

Anth - Anthology
GHits+ - Greatest Hits and More
GCHits - Greatest Country Hits
AmGirl - American Girl
AllAmC - All American Country

1. Queen Of Hearts (GHit+,GCHit,Anth)
2. The Sweetest thing (GHit+,CGHit,Anth)
3. Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me(GHit+,GCHit,Anth)
4. Crazy Little Thing Called Love (AmGirl)
5. Break It To Me Gently (GHit+,GCHit,Anth)
6. Angel Of The Morning (GHit+,GCHit,Anth)
7. You Make Me Want To Make You Mine (Anth)
8. Ride 'Em Cowboy (GCHit)
9. Hurt (Anth)
10. Old Flame (Anth)
11. Heart Of The Night (GHit+, Anth)
12. Cheap Love (Anth)
13. What Can I Do With My Heart (Anth)
14. Tell Me True (Anth)
15. Tell Her No (GHit+)
16. Sunshine (GCHit)
17. A Little Love (AllAmC)
18. When Love Comes Around The Bend (Anth)
19. Nighttime Without You (AmGirl)
20. Stuck In The Middle With You (AllAmC)

This CD is a set of newly recorded versions of all of Juice's greatest hits - it's the best selection I've ever seen. The arrangements and instrumentation sound great and are very similar to what we are used to, with some new twists to the original versions. Juice's voice sounds fine: husky and strong.

The only complaint: the mixes. They sound a little off. Juice's voice isn't featured front and center; instead she competes with the instruments. It sounds as if the songs were recorded "live" (though in a studio) so maybe this is how records used to sound "back in the day" but I kept fiddling with my CD player thinking I had the equalizer set wrong.

It's unfortunate because these are the best Juice songs and her singing is wonderful, it's just a matter of an uneven mix. THe tracks:
Queen of Hearts, The Sweetest Thing, Love's been hard, Crazy little thing called love, Break it, Angel, Make me want to make you mine, Ride Em Cowboy, Hurt, Old Flame (IMHO best version ever), Heart of the Night, Cheap Love, What Can I do with my heart, Tell me True, Tell her no, Sunshine, A little love, Around the Bend, Night time without you, Stuck in the middle (the only clinker is Stuck. I woulda preferred Can't Wait, First TIme Caller or I'm gonna be strong).

Overall a very good album. I'll probably get used to the mix soon enough. Oh - Juice looks great in the brand new cover shots!! (IT also includes old shots from "Heartache" promo and "Trouble with Angels" CD)

Just so we're all clear, this is not a "Greatest Hits" album of the original recordings: "Collection" features NEW versions of 17 Top-40 hits, plus three bonus songs. But sadly, this CD is a huge disappointment after her last two STELLAR CDs ("Every Road Leads Back To You" and "American Girl").

Although Newton's voice sounds GREAT on this CD, the producers did her astonishing vocals a grave disservice with the tinny, muddled, demo-like music backing her. The producers even go so far as to suppress Newton's voice in spots or add reverb on it to make it blend in with the mediocre music. The only above-average recordings on this CD are "What Can I Do With My Heart," "Sunshine" and "Stuck In The Middle With You." The worst it gets? An unforgivable, throwback version of "Tell Her No" and a listlessly produced "Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me."

If you are a hardcore fan, you know you'll buy this, so go ahead. But if you aren't, you can probably skip this CD--it contains no recordings essential to this great artist's career.

I highly recommend "Greatest Hits (and more)" (Capitol, 1987) and "Anthology" (Renniassance, 1998) for the original recordings of most of these songs. They are much better produced on those records. I sincerely hope Newton's next album lives up to the high standard she has set for herself. (Recommended Juice Newton CDs are "Juice," "American Girl" and "Every Road Leads Back To You.")

TRACKS:
1. Queen Of Hearts (Pop #2, AC #2)
2. The Sweetest thing (Pop #7, Country #1, AC #1)
3. Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me (Pop #7, AC #4)
4. Crazy Little Thing Called Love (nonhit track)
5. Break It To Me Gently (AC #1, Pop #11, Country #2)
6. Angel Of The Morning (Pop #4, AC #1)
7. You Make Me Want To Make You Mine (Country #1)
8. Ride 'Em Cowboy (Country #32)
9. Hurt (Country #1)
10. Old Flame (Country #5)
11. Heart Of The Night (AC #8, Pop #25)
12. Cheap Love (Country #9)
13. What Can I Do With My Heart (Country #9)
14. Tell Me True (Country #8)
15. Tell Her No (Pop #27, AC #13)
16. Sunshine (Country #35)
17. A Little Love (AC #7, Pop #44)
18. When Love Comes Around The Bend (Country #40)
19. Nighttime Without You (nonhit track)
20. Stuck In The Middle With You (nonhit track)

Juice has re-recorded some great songs! I too was a little disappointed that her voice was lost in some of the mix but still a very good CD! My favorite rendition on this CD was "WHAT CAN I DO WITH MY HEART as this was a top ten hit for her in 1986. NICE WORK JUICE!