Customer Reviews

Decca Years 1962-1972

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Of all the acts that swept across the pond as part of the British invasion during the middle 60's, the Bachelors are the least likely fit to the image normally associated with those acts. Irish actually, not British, this trio had spectacular success in the U.K. and in other parts of the world and though not quite as popular chart-wise in the U.S., they did place nine singles in the top-100 here led off by their top-10 "Diane". With soaring harmony and sophisticated arrangements of mostly older songs and standards, these guys managed to appeal to both the adult and younger market. Part of what made their appeal more widespread across the generation gap was their ability to use harmony so effectively but to also instill many of their recordings with passion, excitement and intensity. Feel the way they take the listener through the rising strength of "No Arms Can Ever Hold You" building to a musical and emotional crescenco reminiscent of the best of Gene Pitney's trademark songs. One of the most underappreciated Bachelors' songs that is often left off other collections finally appears here. Their musical intensity is grandly evident in "Can I Trust You", an anthem to those who just can't indure one more relationship failure.

This two-disc collection of 54 tunes contains all their American charted hits, several U.K.-only singles and selected album cuts. The 20-page liner notes booklet contains bios, pics, backround and track details. Sound quality is superior to other Bachelors sets with many of the tracks (disc 1 tracks 1,3,5,7,9,11,13,14,18-21,24-28; disc 2 tracks 1-6,8,10-16,20-26) in stereo.

Though comparatively pricey, this is the most complete, best-executed Bachelors collection available. A richly rewarding experience for fans of this exceptional, yet often underrecognized group of performers.

This is the Bachelor's collection to purchase. Being from the USA, I was not familiar with most of the songs on these CD's. I've been a fan of the Vogues and Lettermen for years, however, and have now added the Bachelors as favorites. Songs like "Love Is All", "Diamonds Are Forever", "Turn Around, Look At Me", "Can I Trust You" and "The Sounds of Silence" are very well produced and sung. The Bachelors clearly have a great catalog - this is easily the best collection available to date.

Best known for their biggest hit, Diane - it was number one in Britain and was also their biggest American hit, the Bachelors tackled a diverse range of material, always stamping their own identity on whatever they chose to record.

On this, the most comprehensive collection of their music ever released on CD, yow will find all their hits, including Charmaine, Diane, I believe and Sound of silence, and their misses - Faraway places, Whispering, Long time ago (a Christmas song), but a wide sample of their varied repertoire. There are children's songs (The unicorn, Land of the other way round), gospel (I'll walk with God, He's got the whole world in his hands), traditional folk (Michael row the boat ashore, Danny boy), movie songs (Everybody's talking, Diamonds are forever) and oldies from the Great American Songbook (My foolish heart, I'll see you in my dreams).

In some ways, their music was a relic of a bygone age even while they were recording it, but they brought a freshness and a charm to the old songs that allowed them to appeal to all ages. They recorded the occasional contemporary song - besides Sound of silence, you will find two other Paul Simon songs here (Punky's dilemma and Homeward bound) - but mostly they recorded songs of an earlier vintage. Many of those songs remain popular even now. If you enjoy those old songs and you also enjoy sixties music, this is for you.

This is a good compilation of the Bachelors music.
They are remembered best for "Diane" in 1964 and "Marie" in 65.
Those two were their only top 20 hits in the U.S.A.
They charted a total of 9 songs between 1964 and 1967, all are here but NO b-sides.
The Bachelors charted songs have always been some of my favorites.
They have such beautiful harmony and music.
This 2 disc set continues with many great songs,
but also has many slower, laid back songs from their albums and extended play records.
There are several songs here that lean more toward a folk style,
rather then the flowing harmonious style of their singles.

Another reviewer feels these may not all be the original recordings, such as "Diane".
In comparing my copy of "The best of The Bachelors" ALL ORIGINAL RECORDINGS from Varese Sarabande,
to the same songs on this "Decca Years" collection I beleive them to be exactly the same, -
meaning all original recordings.
Specifically "Diane" is 2 min 34 seconds on both C.D.'s,
the vocal tones at numerous exact points in seconds on both recordings are identical.
Other song comparisons had the same results.
And I beleive this collection to be just as is stated on the Decca Years front cover,
"54 ORIGINAL RECORDINGS"
The sticker on the front of the C.D. case states, "Digitally remastered from original recordings".

This compilation is from Decca Records in 1999. The C.D.'s are made in Germany.
This set includes a nice 20 page booklet of pictures and information of the Bachelors career.

While I personally think they have released better renditions of "Diane" (I think this one is almost 5%-or so slower and less "brilliant") overall this cd is wonderful. Of particular strength is the excellently written biography. All too often we buy cds that have little if any information about the performers but not in this case. Put this cd in a rotating cd player along with other cds by, say, the Four Freshmen, The Four Lads, The Ames Brothers, and of course The Four Preps...select one cut at a time rotation, sit back and close your eyes and enjoy the pictures in your mind's eyes as you listen.