Customer Reviews

Gold

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There has been so much going around with Universal and there Gold compilations of some of the most acclaimed artists of their eras, and while there have been some great artists highlighted well like Lionel Richie, Patti LaBelle, and The Supremes, there also have been a few overshadowings as well. That just hasn't been the case for them alone, Joe Cocker has also been one of the few that has shown his growth. His musical milestones have been around for almost five decades, and his last hits record, Ultimate Collection didn't really deliver what die hard Cocker fans had completely desired. Can his Gold be just be better reflecting on Joe as well?

Joe Cocker: Gold, the 2006 double-album does a much better job than his previous Ultimate Collection was conjured out to be. The album reflects on not only his time with the A&M era, but also branches out quite nicely with his times through Capitol and independent records through his 90's and 80's periods as well. The album includes some great Joe Cocker classics like You Can Leave Your Hat On, the #1 ballad You Are So Beautiful, Up Where We Belong with Jennifer Warnes from An Officer And A Gentleman, Civilized Man, and his bluesy rendidtion of Elton John's Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word. While the album does a better job reflecting Joe, there still are a few of his songs that were overlooked including his rendiditon of the Inxs classic Never Tear Us Apart from his 2002 album Respect Yourself, Don't You Love Me Anymore, and Feels Like Forever.

Nevertheless, Joe Cocker: Gold is a great album for anybody who doesn't own any of his classics pop gems, or heard of the Bluesy melodies he has performed through the years. This happens to be a mostly good hits package for anybody who still enjoys Joe's voice and soul, and that is something that is still so beautiful.


Album Cover: B+

Songs: A-

Price: A-

Remastering: B+

Overall: B+

Joe Cocker deserves every bit of his fame as one of the truly great singers of all time. Any sign of a great singer/performer is when they can take someone else's songs and completely make them their own. Joe did this over and over again. In fact in most cases his versions of others people songs are more well known than the originals. Case in point would be his cover of Randy Newman's "You Can Leave Your Hat On."

This 2 disc "Gold" release blows away the single disc Ultimate Collection CD which up until this set had been the best Joe Cocker compilation available.

The best part of Gold is that it covers his entire career from 1969 up through 2005 with his cover of U2's "One". All of the songs are remastered in crystal clarity and sound fantastic.

There are 36 tracks on this set with 18 songs on each disc. Disc One clocks in at a little over 70 minutes long and Disc Two at about 73 1/2 minutes.

The booklet details his entire career via some excellent liner notes that also show which albums/soundtracks that all of the songs were pulled from. There are also some really nice vintage photographs sprinkled throughout as well.

For the more passive fan, the Ultimate Collection might work better for that but for people wanting to dig a bit deeper, this 2 disc Gold set is highly recommended.

I've seen 4 or 5 greatest hits,retrospectives on Joe Cocker and all i can say is this one is the best out there. For an artist who has been around as long as he has he has alot of material to cover and this one comes as close to complete I've seen. If you have a friend who likes Joe Cocker and you have to get him a gift this is it,they will be happy with the selection of songs too. The sound is great.

While nothing is as good as hearing Joe Cocker live and in person, this album comes pretty darned close. His passion comes through as strongly as his talent. A raw, but lived-in voice, lends meaning to the words. A good solid portfolio of his work.

I bought this for my dad who was so excited to receive it on Christmas day. A great gift!

This 2 CD package is a must for Joe Cocker fans. I haven't heard him sing some of the songs on them, but I like his style. Patty K

The is a wonderful 2 CD set with great remastered sound. I always liked his earlier work and didn't follow him much after his "Up Where We Belong" duet with Jennifer Warren in 1982 but I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised with disc 2 that has his later work. Every song on disc 2 is at least very good and some, like his version of Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan" (2000), are just stunning. Same for Randy Newman's "You Can Leave Your Hat On" (1986) and John Hiatt's "Have a Little Faith In Me" (1994). Wow!!

Disc 1 has all the great ones you'd expect from the late 60's and early 70's except for one of my favorites - the bluesy "Woman to Woman", actually one of my all-time favorite Joe Cocker songs that was on some earlier non-remastered greatest hits CDs but not on Gold here. It's a shame because he even wrote the song and his wailing lyric in it, "Woman to woman, heartache to heartache..." backed by a relentless blues beat similar to "High Time We Went" and "Black-Eyed Blues" is just about the best blues-rock ever made. Oh well, maybe someday I'll get to hear this remastered but for now as far as I know it is not on any of the remastered collections by this artist. A shame really.

Other than that, I highly recommend this 2 CD set. Volume is not super cranked up like a lot of remastered CDs but is still higher than the older non-remastered compilations (a source of frustration because I can't rip the old "Woman to Woman" with some of these songs - too much of a difference in volume).

What a treat to hear a great talent sing these songs again. I had forgotten how pleasing it is to listen to Joe Cocker. This album invites playing over again and again. An excellent collection.

Joe Cocker is a living and performing legend. This CD chooses his trademark songs and delivers the nuances of sound and interpretation that are Joe's trademarks. I wasn't disappointed!

I gave this as a Christmas gift, hoping the recipient would like it. Wow! He just enjoys is over and over again. It has all the important songs he loves, done the way he remembers them. It covers Cocker's music from the beginning, pulling the best from each year. If you are a Cocker fan like he is, go for it.