Ecstasy's Dance: Best of [Import]

Narada Michael Walden | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 19, 1996)
• Original Release Date: November 19, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Rhino/Wea UK
• ASIN: B0000033WG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,916 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. White Night

2. Delightful

3. First Love

4. Rainbow-Sky

5. I Cry, I Smile

6. I Don't Want Nobody Else (To Dance With You)

7. The Awakening

8. I Shoulda Loved Ya

9. Tonight I'm Alright

10. The Real Thang

11. Blue Side Of Midnight

12. Reach Out

13. High Above The Clouds

14. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme

15. Divine Emotions

Editorial Reviews

16 tracks from the multitalented Narada Michael Walden, who as a producer had a hand in the success of everybody from Aretha Franklin to Whitney Houston while scoring more than a dozen R&B chart hits on his own! Includes I Don't Want Nobody Else (to Dance with You); I Shoulda Loved Ya; Gimme, Gimme, Gimme; Divine Emotions; Tonight I'm Alright , and more, with notes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music to Be Inspired By (for just about anything in life) !!, May 29, 2002

By 

Armando M. Mesa (Chandler, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ecstasy's Dance: Best of (Audio CD)

N.M.W. for me was just a name that I would see as credited for writing some of the most smoldering R & B pop hits for various soulful female acts (too many to mention). He also contributed to some of Kenny G's early works. There is no denial that this man is a pure gifted musical genius. The ethereal love ballad Blue Side of Midnight is pure proof positive that Narada can write the tunes to swoon the ladies and inspire romantic moments ! His impeccable way of delving into light rock (White Night) while changing with the trends of music is astonishing.
While greatly underrated as a solo singing artist Narada is one of the music industy's most underappreciated talents of the last two decades...This is a wonderful introspective and retrospective collection which demonstrates his awesome knack for changing with the styles of music during the late 70's and thru the late 80's.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "HIGH ABOVE THE CLOUDS" MUST BE COVERED BY SOME DIVA SOON!, August 11, 2000

By 

CHUCK WEST - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ecstasy's Dance: Best of (Audio CD)

I remember first hearing Narada Michael Walden's LP, "The Nature of Things," when I worked at my college radio station. "High Above The Clouds" quickly became one of my all-time favorite songs, and still is to this day, 15 years later. I began to follow his production work for, among others, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Angela Bofill, Jermaine Stewart, Dionne Warwick, Barbra Streisand, and himself. I listened to his earlier works and was just amazed at the depth and beauty this artist could achieve. I was so happy for Narada when I found out he would produce the theme song for the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, "One Moment In Time," by Whitney Houston. Then he bombasted us with his production of the James Bond theme song, "Licence To Kill," by Gladys Knight, still one of the best "bring-the-house-down" Bond themes ever produced. Then came his work on the exquisite Barbra Streisand single, "We're Not Making Love Anymore," part of the "more" in her CD, "A COLLECTION...GREATEST HITS AND MORE."

I was ECSTATIC (hence the title---I did the dance) when I found this "Best Of" collection CD in my local record store. His work has become very hard to find in any format, but to find this treasure chest on CD sent my soul skyrocketing! I agree...something MUST be done to get Narada Michael Walden's past works released on compact disc. This collection includes a good cross section of all his albums. My favorites include "Divine Emotion," "Gimmee, Gimmee, Gimmee (duet with Patti Austin)," and, of course, "High Above The Clouds." Speaking of which, I sincerely believe that "High Above The Clouds," if presently covered by some mega-"diva," could be a HUGE CROSSOVER HIT, transcending the boundaries of POP, R&B, DANCE, ROCK, ADULT CONTEMPORARY, ALTERNATIVE, and MODERN ROCK genres. Somebody please send this song to A&R for WHITNEY HOUSTON, TAYLOR DAYNE, MARIAH CAREY, or someone who wants a great Narada-penned MEGA-HIT SONG. In the meantime, let this CD take YOUR soul high above the clouds!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your best buy, until the rest (if) is released on cd..., February 20, 2000

By 

Torquemada "dunlopilo" (Atlanta, Georgia USA / Madrid, Spain.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ecstasy's Dance: Best of (Audio CD)

This album is only an introduction to Narada Michael Walden's music. Apparently, he made the selection himself, and picked one or two tracks from each album. This is what you have to buy since the rest of his work will probably never be released on cd. And he will probably not release anything new, because he has been producing in the past fifteen years, with great success. Did you know that "I love your smile" is his, and that he discovered Shanice ? Did you know he's produced Aretha Franklin's "A rose is still a rose"?, Stevie Winwood's "Junction seven"?, Curtis Mayfield's "New world order", Patti Austin's self titled BEST album, Jarreau's "Heaven and earth",or that he played all percussion, tambourine, drums, on "Phoenix Rising" ?. Did you know he's produced "License to Kill" and "9 and 1/2 weeks" soundtracks ?

He is so busy with all this "Behind the frontline" thing that we will just have to do with what we have. I have several of his albums on tape and vinyl record, and I can hardly choose any as being the best, but probably the earlier ones (this compilation goes chronologically) are the greatest. Just listen to the creative and lyrical power on the first four tracks. That was his more "Creative" period (he had just left the Mahavishnu, and played with the rebel Jeff Beck on the album "Wired"). Also listen to the guitars of Carlos Santana and Hiram Bullock on these tracks ! Then comes the more commercial side of Narada with 6, 8, 9, 10, always nice to listen to. The close up, "so long", seems to confirm that if you don't have anything from him, you must get this outstanding cd, because there won't be another one ! Besides, it will give you an idea of why some artists sound so good on some of their albums and what this man's contribution to music has been in the past 25 years.

This is one of the gems of my collection. And yours ?