Customer Reviews

Definitive Collection

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

ERIC CARMEN-DEFINITIVE COLLECTION: Eric Carmen was the great lost chord connecting the Beatles to the Beach Boys. Blessed with a high pop-perfect voice and the ability to write hooks that could catch Moby Dick, the Cleveland native's first group, the Raspberries, sounded too good to be true, let alone last long (they didn't). Their bubblegum-meets-hard-rock efforts bore chart fruit GO ALL THE WAY and I WANNA BE WITH YOU school dance ballad LET'S PRTEND and the flawless autobiography OVERNIGHT SENSATION, which kick off this compilation disc in grandiose style. What follows are Carmen's slightly mellower, but equally classy solo career highlights, not the least of which are a pair of biggies he wrote for teen throb Shaun Cassidy (THAT'S ROCK & ROLL, HEY DEANIE), heard to best advantage here in their power-poppin' original versions. The Beach Boys-channeled SHE DID IT, the yearning angst-fest ALL BY MYSELF, and DIRTY DANCING-era guilty pleasures HUNGRY EYES and MAKE ME LOSE CONTROL round out the fun. Maybe his recorded output has been a tad slight compared to say, Billy Joel or Elton John, but I'd rather hear one TRULY GREAT greatest hits like Eric Carmen's than a bloated box set of almost anyone else.

RATING: FIVE RASPBERRIES

Note to Calrocker1@aol.com and others reading their review. Eric never recorded "Without You". The original hit version of this song was done by Harry Nilsson and can be found on his "All-Time Greatest Hits" CD, sold on this website. The song was originally written and recorded by Badfinger on their "No Dice" album.

Eric Carmen will always be known as the man who wrote and hit with "All By Myself", which sounds very much like Nilsson's version of "Without You". But Carmen could also rock out, and was the inventor of "power-pop". So if you like tuneful, uptempo pop songs inspired by The Beatles and The Beach Boys, and heartfelt pop ballads that would make Barry Manilow envious, then this CD is what you want.

I suppose if you had to have just one Eric Carmen CD, this would be the one. Ever track is classic EC and a good sampling of songs throughout his career, particularly the singles. Be advised that this disc is contagious. A couple of listens and you're going to want more, in fact all 4 Raspberries albums, and all 6 solo albums. Eric Carmen is the most underrated and misunderstood singer/songwriter/performer of his time. His infectious melodies are custom made for the most expressive voice in the biz. This disc goes along way to demonstrate EC's versatility, effortlessly moving from scorching rockers such as "Tonight" and "Go All the Way" & "That's Rock and Roll" to smooth as silk ballads such as "Boats Against the Current", "Desparate Fools" and the famous "All By Myself". Take a listen and you'll be amazed. The liner notes are great. This guys got class, and boy can he write, sing, and play.

I'm gonna carried away with this review! I can't help it. This set is incredible!

This collection really is the cream of Carmen! Included are his biggest hits with "The Raspberries" and goes on to include all his solo successes.

His days as lead singer and songwriter with the Raspberries are well represented here. "Let's Pretend", sounding like a second cousin of "Wouldn't It Be Nince" is my favorite, along with "Go All The Way" and "I Wanna Be With You". These are all unabashedly feel good power-pop classics of the early 70's. This is feel-good music defined!

"The Raspberries" grew up a little with "Overnight Sensation" as many critics agree this songs is a masterpiece.

After Eric split from "The Raspberries" his music showed a marked change. Gone were the boy/girl bubblegum love songs, replaced by songs with an amazing depth and maturity, "All By Myself" being the prime example. This song, along with "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" are very much influenced by classical music, and have become classics in their own right.

To round off the set, you have the achingly beautiful "Boats Against The Current", the Beach Boy Inspired "Make Me Loose Control" and the Dirty Dancing smash "Hungry Eyes".

Also included are the bouncy "Hey Deannie" and "That's Rock and Roll". Eric wrote and recorded both of these songs, and they both hit the top of the charts with cover (and vastly inferior, in my opinion) versions by Shaun Cassidy.

This is a must for all fans of power pop!

Eric Carmen first entered my consciousness from my small radio, singing as the lead in GO ALL THE WAY, the Raspberries' incredibly sexy pop hit, featuring Eric's trademark classically-infused melody. His pop music is truly intoxicating, and is drenched with some of the most gorgeously melodic sounds ever to hit the airwaves. This may be the "definitive collection" of hits, but I want the BOATS AGAINST THE CURRENT album on CD -- it is his most ambitious and grand album ever -- some of the tracks are here, but not the best -- and the one I wore out three copies of in vinyl.

As a casual fan of Eric, this is exactly what I was looking for; I own the Raspberries hits collection on vinyl, and wanted something longer with good coverage of the solo hits on a single CD. One particular feature of this that I liked is the fairly complete liner notes (mostly written by Eric himself); so many CD collections of old vinyl hits have liner notes that are a) generic terse Cliff Notes of the artist, b) generic terse "this was the greatest band of ... [insert era/style]" or c) missing entirely. Not here.

I have been an Eric Carmen fan since his Raspberries days. Most
of his music I have enjoyed. Not all, but most. For a definitive
collection this is a pretty good album. All the songs on it I
thoroughly enjoy. My only two complaints is that one, it ignores his Geffen album. My other complaint is that it is not long enough.This could easily of been a 2 CD set. Not everyone will agree with me but that's okay. Everyone has their own tastes in music.I would of liked to see such songs as "I Want To Hear It From Your Lips", "Spotlight", "Baby I Need Your Lovin", and many others on this product to make it a 2 CD set. Since the Import
CD prices seem to be pretty outrageous, than this CD is a great
value. I do recommend his Geffen album intitled "Eric Carmen" and
his latest album "I Was Born To Love You".

In my opinion, there is only one bad song from Eric Carmen and Raspberries, "Hands On You." But in a group or solo, he's the best. This album really makes you want a hell of alot more of him.

Five stars for a casual fan, but not perfect for a great fan of Eric Carmen. Two obvious omissions; the long version of "All By Myself" with his amazing middle solo and "I Can Remember" from the Raspberries debut album. Not sure if "No Hard Feelings" was a great choice for this compilation other than its position as a goodbye to former Raspberry bandmates. That being said, this is perfect for having in your car for some of the finest music offered by the gifted Eric Carmen both solo and with the fabulous Raspberries and worth every penny you spend.

I bought this,Definitive Collection, of Eric's from Amazon a few years ago because it was a decent (and inexpensive)sampling of his days not only as a Solo Artist but it also has Five songs on it (Tracks 1 thru 5) from his earlier days with The Raspberries and although I thought his Solo career was good (especially the, Hungry Eyes, and, Make Me Lose Control, era in the 80s) I have even a fonder memory of The Raspberries. The reason is because I owned a couple of their Albums on 8-Track back then; but getting back to his Solo career; the very popular 70s tunes, All By Myself, and, Never Gonna Fall In Love Again, are here plus other good Solo efforts including, Hey Deanie, (a popular song penned by Shaun Cassidy). Personally; as many memorial songs Eric has gave us over the years; I believe you are better off purchasing The Raspberries songs separately from his solo songs but if you are just wanting the basics; this collection is ideal.