Definitive Collection

Dionne Warwick | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 13, 1999)
• Original Release Date: April 13, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arista
• ASIN: B00000IFVX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,184 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #34 in Music > R&B > Quiet Storm
  • #65 in Music > Pop > Vocal Pop > Contemporary
  • #69 in Music > Pop > Oldies > Traditional Pop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This 20-track career overview's problems are summed up by the differences between two songs. "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," released in 1969, came near the end of Warwick's classic collaborative period with Burt Bacharach and Hal David; contrast its witty approach to heartbreak ("What do you get when you kiss a guy? / You get enough germs to catch pneumonia / And after you do, he'll never phone ya") with "I'll Never Love This Way Again," the single that launched her chart comeback a decade later. That track encapsulates everything wrong with late-'70s easy listening, right down to the turgid Barry Manilow production. Saddest, though, is Warwick's capitulation to empty displays of technique over the perfectly sung vulnerability she specialized in with Bacharach and David. Skip this set in favor of The Dionne Warwick Collection, 24 masterpieces from the earlier period that will rarely be far from your CD player. As for Warwick's terrific 1974 meeting with the Spinners on "Then Came You," you'd do better to check out a greatest-hits set by those smooth-soul champs. --Rickey Wright

Product Description

European only Gold Disc packaged in an exclusive slipcase. The Definitive Collection is just that, a 20-track retrospective of the New Jersey songstress' entire career. Extensive liner notes trace her career from roots in gospel to session work as a background singer, on through her association with Burt Bacharach and many later collaborations with some of the biggest names in music. The first nine tracks are all classic '60s tunes written by Bacharach and Hal David. The songwriting team presented Warwick with such chestnuts as 'Walk On By', 'Alfie', and 'I Say A Little Prayer', and she croons them perfectly. 'Then Came You', Warwick's duet with The Spinners, shows how she changed soulfully with the times. In an age when every female R&B artist is being marketed as a Diva, the 25 years of music on this album prove that Warwick has indisputably earned her title. Arista. 2005. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Compilation Ruined, October 7, 2005

By 

zugzwang - See all my reviews

This review is from: Definitive Collection (Audio CD)

The Definitive Collection should have been one of the best compilations of the great Dionne Warwick's career yet. The song selection leaves out some of Dionne's' older '60s hits, but does encompass the full range of her successful career.

The remastering job sounds superb, and that is the top criteria I look for in CDs these days. They've applied 20-bit digital mastering from the original master tapes.

Unfortunately, and this is a real problem, on several of the tracks the first few seconds of the song have been truncated. Cutting off the first few notes of a song simply ruins it. It's unforgivable that professionals at a major label can publish something flawed this badly and no one notice. Yet I notice the screw ups the first time I listen to this CD.

The flawed tracks are: Alfie, Do You Know The Way To San Jose, Don't Make Me Over, I Say A Little Prayer, Message To Michael, Walk On By, The Windows Of The World, Deja Vu, After You, Love Power, That's What Friends Are For. The intro was truncated on practically EVERY single track. It's possible that I just received a bad CD, but that's not very likely.

Despite the great promise of this otherwise wonderful CD, cutting off the intros renders the CD unusable for listening - and a waste of money, unless you plan to just sample from it.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly mastered..., May 13, 2008

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Definitive Collection (Audio CD)

The problem with this CD is that whoever did the mastering didn't know how to insert track-markings. If you are scanning through the disc, you might think that the introductions of many songs have been cut off. What has happened is that [...] Arista placed most of the track markings AFTER songs have started (You have to back-up and listen to the end of a previous track in order to hear the beginning of the next one).

Naturally, if you play the CD from start to finish, you'll never notice this problem.

This is really sad because the quality of the sound is very good, and the CD is probably the best representation of Warwick's work. But I wouldn't recommend this disc because of the technical flaw.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Definitive, But As Close As You Can Get, April 28, 2005

By 

Anthony Nasti "Tony" (Staten Island, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Definitive Collection (Audio CD)

First of all, we have yet to have a truly definitive collection of Dionne's best work, which means a cd set that includes all of her 1960s' hits (including "(Theme From) The Valley Of The Dolls" and "This Girl's In Love With You", two top ten hits not on this cd), her 1970s' classics and her '80s' comeback hits. However, "The Definitive Collection" is as close as you can get to a perfect sampler of Dionne's biggest hits.

I'll start by saying that I think "The Windows Of The World" and "After You" could have been cut so they could include "(Theme From) The Valley Of The Dolls" and "This Girl's In Love With You", since those are two of her biggest hits and unless there were publishing problems - which I doubt - they should have definitely been here. Also, "The Windows Of The World" and "After You" are the only weak songs on this cd. Other than that, these songs are true classics. I mean, just look at the selections - "Anyone Who Had A Heart", "Walk On By", "Do You Know The Way To San Jose", "Alfie", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", "Then Came You", "I'll Never Love This Way Again", "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "That's What Friends Are For", to name a few (okay, about half) of the album's classic cuts from nearly 25 years' worth of recording. Her best work was recorded with Burt Bacharach and Hal David at the pen and the helm, although the Barry Manilow - penned "I'll Never Love..." is just as good.

As I said, this isn't exactly definitive, but it's pretty close. In my opinion, the definitive Dionne Warwick collection would be a two disc set that would include all her hits up to today. Here is what the track list should look like:

Disc 1:
"Don't Make Me Over"
"Anyone Who Had A Heart"
"Walk On By"
"A House Is Not A Home"
"You'll Never Get To Haven (If You Break My Heart)"
"Reach Out For Me"
"Are You There
"Message To Michael"
"Trains And Boats And Planes"
"I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself"
"Alfie"
"The Windows Of The World"
"I Say A Little Prayer"
"Valley Of The Dolls"
"Do You Know The Way To San Jose"
"Who Is Gonna Love Me"
"There's Always Something There To Remind Me"
"Promises, Promises"
"This Girl's In Love With You"
"The April Fools"
"Odds And Ends"
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"
"I'll Never Fall In Love Again"

Disc Two:
"Then Came You"
"Once You Hit The Road"
"I'll Never Love This Way Again"
"Deja Vu"
"After You"
"No Night So Long"
"Easy Love"
"Some Changes Are For Good"
"Friends In Love"
"Heartbreaker"
"Take The Short Way Home"
"How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye"
"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"
"That's What Friends Are For"
"Whisper In The Dark"
"Love Power"
"Reservations For Two"
"What The World Needs Now Is Love"

Overall, however, this is definitely a great collection for any music fan. Pick this cd up as soon as you can. It won't change your life, but it's excellent msuic.