Customer Reviews

Collector Series

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's only too easy now to say the Raspberries deserved way better than they got in their own time. But this Cleveland quartet gave new meaning to the idea of "back to the future" long before that phrase was even coined. The pouf-haired, cream-suited foursome (they looked like they'd grown up spending too much time watching the British Invasion on "The Ed Sullivan Show") held fast to the best of the early Beatle era, threw in a few unlikely additional influences (they were, judging by most of their harder rockers and "Go All The Way" in particular, equally influenced by the Who and Free), and caught the 1972 audience completely off guard when "Go All The Way" smashed into the Top 10 and spent damn near the entire summer there (take THAT, Gilbert O'Sullivan!).

The Raspberries managed to shove open a radio door through which it would soon enough become more than acceptable for what became called "power pop" to take and keep hold, even if much of what followed them didn't have the Raspberries' breezy chutzpah (or Eric Carmen's early way with power chords - just listen again to "Ecstasy" and tell me Carmen and fellow guitarslinger Wally Bryson were phoning in those slash-and-spine-crunch chords and that gloriously chiming final bridge), freewheeling harmony style ("Drivin' Around" notwithstanding, the Raspberries' vocal style owed way more to the Beatles, the Hollies and the Zombies than to the Beach Boys), and salacious winking - unless you still really think "Go All The Way" was talking only about getting that first kiss.

And for those who still want to write them off as prissy-looking lightweights, pick up this set - the absolute best anthology ever assembled on the band - and have another listen to the likes of "Tonight," "Ecstasy," "I Wanna Be With You," the gorgeous "Let's Pretend" (Paul McCartney once wanted to write a song as good as "Wouldn't It Be Nice"? Eric Carmen did), "I'm A Rocker," "Drivin' Around," the surprisingly introspective (and lovely) "Starting Over" (the absolute best near-power ballad Carmen has ever written) and "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)," the last and perhaps the best single-pocket exercise in confessing the rock and roll dream and its frustrations in the chasing (which was pretty good for a band who'd actually gotten three decent enough tastes of the Top 40 before they cut the song!).

They looked and sounded almost out of place in their own time - even the band's name sounded, well, dorky as all get out. But they ended up having three (count 'em) top 40 hits ("I Wanna Be With You" and "Let's Pretend" got there, though the latter just barely) and that isn't exactly sneezing matter. Their image probably got the better of them after awhile; by the time they cut their fourth and final album, the cream suits were gone but so were the prime gigs at places like Carnegie Hall (where they played to a sellout crowd in 1973). But the Raspberries ended up having an influence beyond their time regardless. What came to be called "power pop" would likely have been as impossible without them as without Alex Chilton's Big Star. One friendly critic called them a two-straw milkshake. Three decades later, they still have the taste. Put another dime in the jukebox, baby.

Although more successful commercially than, say, Big Star, their popularity at the time (and even to this day) doesn't begin to match the influence they've had on pop music. And their legacy seems to be much less overt than that of Big Star.

This 20-track collection opens with their debut (and only top-10 hit) "Go All the Way," featuring one of the top 10's most ripping guitar intros, and Eric Carmen's completely unapologetically balladesque vocals (and accompanying background harmony vocals). The interplay between Carmen's singing and the band's raucous pop-rock is one of my favorite things about the Raspberries (well, along with all the Beatlesque song hooks).

For me, though, the most transcendent moment of the entire disc is the Raspberries virtual last gasp of Pop Immortality, "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)." A stellar production from start to the very end of it's 5'34". This CD compilation features the "superior" single mix. I've never heard the LP mix, so I can't compare, but this is a track that was born to be heard through an AM car radio (not that the stereo mix and lush vocal harmonies sound poorly on a hi-fi!).

Other fave singles include "Tonight" (which can't help but make me think of The Rubinoos), and "I Wanna Be With You." The Beach Boys vocal arrangements just drip from this disc.

Budget price. A hard bargain to beat.

I have all four Rasberries albums on vinyl. They are available today in the "Powerpop Vol I & Vol II" releases. This CD is great for either casual fans of the Rasberries or simply the early 70s. As one reviewer noted, the Raspberries never really created their own sound. Although this is true, very, very few bands actually do. Even the greatly revered Beatles modeled virtually all of their music from true pioneers: their early work from Chuck Berry, their middle work from the Beach Boys, the Byrds, and Dylan, and their later work from Cream and Hendrix. The Raspberries carried through as the Beatles proved to be a short-lived phenomenon, and the Beach Boys faltered in the early 70s, releasing not one but easily six chart-topping singles: Go All the Way, I Want to Be With You, Let's Pretend, Tonight, Ecstacy, and Overnight Sensation (Hit Record). Eric Carmen is the genious behind most of the writing, arrangements and production.

The Rasberries may end up being a mere footnote in rock history like the Hollies, the Grass Roots, etc. Nevertheless, the music was great, and sometimes greatness is simply overlooked. And this is an nice introduction. 5-stars

THIS CD GOES BACK TO THE EARLY 70'S WHEN MUSIC WAS MUSIC AND ROCK WAS ROCK. SURE THESE GUYS HAD A FEW SLOW SONGS THAT SOME PEOPLE DON'T LIKE BUT THE ROCKERS ON THIS DISC MAKE UP FOR THAT. ERIC CARMEN WAS AND STILL IS A GREAT MUSICIAN BUT HE WAS ONLY A FOURTH OF THIS GROUP. ALL THE GUYS WERE TALENTED. WALLY BRYSON WENT ON TO BE WITH FOTOMAKER ( A NEW YORK BAND THAT WAS VERY UNDERRATED). jUST LISTEN TO SOME OF THE SONGS ON THE DISC BEFORE YOU BUY IT. THIS IS A GREAT CD IF YOUR APPROCHING FIFTY AS I AM. MAYBE THEY WILL GET BACK TOGETHER SOMEDAY FOR A REUNION TOUR. THAT WILL PROBABLY NEVER HAPPEN BUT WE CAN DREAM CAN'T WE!

Power-Pop seems like the easiest of all popular music genres to create. All one has to do is mix the proper ingredients of Pop. We need soaring harmonic vocals (Go All The Way, Overnight Sensation), a solid rhythm (I Wanna Be With You), some luscious string arrangements (Don't Want To Say Goodbye), puppy-love lyrics (Starting Over), and a melody that you just can't get out of you head (Let's Pretend).

Next, we can push Pop to Power-Pop by turning up the rhythm (I Wanna Be With You, Tonight) with either the kick-drum or bass, and add some screaming guitar lines (Party's Over).

Many bands have mixed all the ingredients, but few have created a musical dessert as delicious as the Raspberries. The booklet accompanying the CD includes several photographs of the band members performing. One thing you may notice about the photographs is that the Raspberries are always smiling. Which brings me to the key ingredient of the Raspberries lofty Power-Pop - don't take yourself too seriously.

Let's face it, there's not a clinker on here. There may be a questionable inclusion or two, but for the most part this cd wildly succeeds in presenting an overview of an incredibly talented band that left us all too soon. It's all here (with the possible exception of their incredible Who homage "I Don't Know What I Want",) and some bonus stuff also. (You'll notice that the counter on your cd player shows 22 songs instead of the listed 20. Very cool. I wish this happened more often, and the bonus cuts are pretty neat.) This is a can't miss collection and if you even have a passing interest in this band it will be a part of your travel collection from now on.

Have to correct the last reviewer. Cheap Trick from Cleveland? Sorry. Rockford, Illinois. Though the opening lick to "Go All the Way" is a classic.

It's a tragedy the Raspberries never achieved the acclaim they deserved.

They worshipped on the altar of Lennon/McCartney without going off on White Album-ish tangents.

These guys seemed to try to duplicate -- and elevate -- "Fab Four" era Beatles by throwing everything but the kitchen sink at AM radio: rock-solid power pop hooks, soaring vocals, catchy melodies and an unmistakable love of 60s rock and roll.

"Go All the Way" joins "Little Bit o' Soul" and "No Matter What" as power pop gems -- paving the way for later classics like "What I Like About You," "My Sharona" and "Centerfold" as all-time power pop anthems.

These are songs you can't get out of your head. It's like Big Star [with an ample helping of Beach Boys] tossed into a blender with every British Invasion band and the result being a completely fresh sound.

No wonder rock radio -- and audiences -- had no idea what to make of them. The Romantics, the Knack, Paul Collins' Beat and dozens of other new wave bands of the time owe a big debit to the Raspberries.

Maybe I thought they were "The Srawberry Alarm Clock", because of the fruity name confusion. Maybe I was just too busy being pregnant in 1973, and I lost track of music for a decade or so...but if somebody told me that here in the year 2000, one of my favorite albums would be this collection of songs by a group called The Raspberries I would have laughed.

Several times in the past year, however, I heard bits from a song, from long ago, I thought was called "Hold Me Close". I tried searching for it on the net. I asked friends. I was hearing the name of the song, "Go All the Way" wrong, of course, and nobody could help me locate the group because of this. They all thought I was an idiot. I desperately wanted to include this mysterious song and group in my rather eclectic CD (read: I know what I like, and what I like, I LOVE, and it is from all decades) collection. Finally a friend in Oregon(I am in NY), who worked for a time in a record store, sang my lame rendition of the tune to her former boss, and he lit up and KNEW it was THE RASPBERRIES. Surprisingly to me, he likes them, too. They are not a "secret" crummy band you have to hide your affection for. I was embarrassed that I liked this song so much, but when I read the reviews of this album by the other people who have written here, I realized it was from a time and genre I had missed out on and decided to give the CD a shot.

Now, I listen to it all the time. It is not just a one-song CD. It is a collection of excellent songs, really well-produced, in a number of styles within what everyone else here has called Power Pop.

I am not so cool that I really could define Power Pop for you, but it is not bubblegum music.

I am not so cool that I could disect this album song by song and tell you exactly why I like this music. It does fall together extremely smoothly, yet it is not slick. It is not weak, either. One the other hand it delivers what I was looking for with a lot of uniqueness yet familiarity. Sort of Beatles meets Queen meets Kinks? Somebody else mentions the Who. You tell me.

All I know is, I totally recommend it, I totally love it, I listen to it every day at the moment, and I am REALLY glad I have a friend in Oregon whose former boss knew the Raspberries song "Go All the Way" from my stupid little redition that went like this: "Please...baby hooold me cloooose...". Thank the lord for record geeks. I am in heaven. Buy it.

The Raspberries were the first band that I really got into. This collection covers the absolute best of Eric Carmen's early work. Classic tunes such as "Go All The Way" and "I Want To Be With You" are included here-not to mention the non-top 40 hit "Tonight." This collection is a must for fans of early 70s pop music and also Eric Carmen "solo" fans. Great to see the Raspberries on CD!!