Customer Reviews

Golden Hits Collection

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

 

 

These are not the studio versions of these songs. They are live acoustic versions. The album isn't bad --if you want a sort of "unplugged" version of the songs. But we aware that these are not the album or studio cuts from the 70's.

I always loved Melanie's hits when they were popular the first time around, so I was delighted to find this CD, not knowing that the songs were remakes. No description of this collection anywhere, not even the CD insert, mentions this fact. The versions are not as we remember them from "the good ol' days"! She has slowed them down and even given some a country/western feel. Her voice remains wonderful, but when I buy an album for the sake of nostalgia, I want to hear the original versions. That's not the case here!

Although a long-time fan of Melanie's, I was often put off by her overblown, heavily orchestrated studio albums. They overwhelmed her voice, which is her true instrument. "Leftover Wine" is my favorite album since it is a live, acoustic performance, which allows her words and voice to do the job of expressing the anguish and joy of life.

"Golden Hits Collection" is more of the same. INCREDIBLY intimate because it is simply Melanie, a few guitars, a little percussion and a few carefully placed harmonies for counter point. These are NEW versions of her old hits, and include a cover of "Long, Long, Time" wrestled forever from ownership to Linda Ronstadt. I was prepared to be disappointed in the absence of the Edwin Hawkins singers in this version of "Lay Down", but I was WRONG! Her new recording is a prayer, a salutation, enhanced by the restraint of not having the huge choir of voices behind her.

If you like the crisp, clear strokes of guitar strings as they celebrate, but not overwhelm her powerful voice with its huge range of emotion, this is the CD for you. Even "Brand New Key" carries certain poignancy in this new rendering. And her lament over the betrayal of her song in "Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma" is beautifully heartbreaking.

I can't stop listening to this CD.

The songs contained in this CD are re-recordings of Melanie's standards. The one exception is the wonderful new recording of "Long Long Time," made famous by Linda Ronstadt early in her career. ("Long Long Time" was originally released on the "Unchained Melanie" album.)

Some people will be disappointed by the new recordings. I am not. I think they're fun, full of spirit, and well done. They're not like the original recordings, but time and age bring a perspective to these songs. The new renditions enhance the songs. I especially like the spoken segment in "Brand New Key." It's funny and shows Melanie has a sense of humor about herself.

The cover photo is interesting to me, also. It's one of only two album photos that I can think of where Melanie is wearing glasses (the other one was published in the "Antlers" CD insert). Melanie reminds me of Lorraine Bracco (from the Sopranos) in this photo.

P.S.: "Golden Hits Collection" is actually an abridged CD from a two-disc set released on Lazerlight Records in Germany called "Her Greatest Hits Live & New, From Woodstock to the World." On the first disc these ten songs are included in the same order together with re-recordings of "Ring the Living Bell" and "The Nickel Song." Disc two is a concert recording from Belgium, dated 1992 (one of Melanie's discographers disputes the date on his website though). The concert disc has never been released in any other form as far as I can tell and contains fourteen songs.

Many of the recordings on "Golden Hits Collection" are also included on other compilations, for example "Solo Powered."

I was very disappointed that these were not the original songs I was looking forward to- Melanie improvised so many of the tracks, that it was annoying- hardly being able to "sing~along" ! you are better off buying the old original albums !

This cd is excellant. I think Melanie new versions of several of her classics are excellant. " Brand New Key" " Beautiful People" and " Lay Down Candles In The Rain" are examples of this. I also enjoy " Peace Will Come According To Plan", " Babe Rainbow", "Ring Around The Moon" and "Close To It All." It may take a while for this cd to come but it is worth it. These versions of Melanie's classic songs are amazing and her voice is still what it was back when she debuted, unlike several of her peers.... Joni Mitchell. This is a must have for all Melanie fans!

If any major woman recording artist from the late 60s/early 70s was truly a flower child, it would have to be Melanie. Maybe Grace and Janis were HIPPIES, but anyone who gave any thought to the matter would have to admit they were both way too edgy to be called "flower children." And very few of the other San Francisco based women rockers wore that flowery mantle all that comfortably either: Linda Tillery and Tracy Nelson and other blues-based singers were just too worldly and street savvy to even remotely conform to that stereotype.

NYC born and bred Melanie did fit the mold a little better. Her earliest records established her as something of a professional naif, and proudly so. Critics were quick to dismiss her as a lightweight, with a few quirky novelty songs under her belt (or tucked under her roller skates), but you couldn't deny that she came up with probably the best (post)Woodstock anthem of 'em all. "Lay Down" had it all over anything concoted, say, by Joni Mitchell (who wasn't even there but felt compelled to write about it anyway). And whoever thought of bringing in the Edwin Hawkins singers on that one...well, that was a stroke of pure genius.

But it was probably a bit unfair to paint Ms. Safka with too pollinated a brush. I remember listening to a tune from the LAY DOWN album called "The Good Guys," which had me convinced that this was a songwriter who was struggling with (and against) the pieties of the day. I suddenly realized that this was a much more complex individual than I'd ever given her credit for. Made me look back at earlier tracks like "Beautiful People" in a bit of different light too. That song was less sweetness and light than resigned sadness that we never quite get to SEE the light.

I was kind of looking forward to re-hearing "Lay Down" and some other old Melanie favorites on this bargain disc, marketed as a "Golden Hits Collection." I don't know if Melanie had any hand in its production or release, but for good or ill, the tunes included on this recording are NOT THE ORIGINALS (as most of the other reviewers on this page have noted). I hope Mel was not involved, 'cuz it's kinda false advertising and not the best example of ethical flower child behavior you're likely to dig up. There should have at least been some small print wording on the CD jacket to the effect that these are "re-recorded versions of the original hits."

On the other hand, these re-recordings ain't bad either. Melanie has always had something of a ragged, vibrato-laden singing style--sort of Buffy Sainte-Marie meets Grace Slick--which actually worked a good deal of the time. But her charm back then was a youthful one. There was always the lingering question of how well she might age, musically speaking--if she stuck around at all.

Well, the good news is that she HAS stuck around, even if she remains (unfairly) viewed as something of a hippie novelty act. Her takes on her old material--especially something as calulatedly innocent as "Brand New Key"--demonstrate an older, wiser and wittier singer--and with a smokier, sexier voice to boot. Her spoken vamp about the "serious" verse that no one GOT at the time, is charming and anticipates the sentiment of a somewhat later Melanie classic "Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma"--that is to say, a gently ironic commentary on music biz success and the almost inevitable distortions of one's "message" and one's self that it brings about.

Misunderstood could well have been Melanie Safka's middle name, I suppose. Of course, what popular recording artist ISN'T misunderstood after the marketers, journalists abd critics get through with you? She was a better, more interesting songwriter than she was ever given credit for. As vocalist, she may have been something of an acquired taste, but she could be very effective. Her ragged, emotional version of "Long Long Time" has always had its champions who favored it over la Ronstadt's smoother, more elegant take on the song. And there is certainly is an argument that she out-torches Linda on that number.

If she hadn't been viewed as such a hippie urchin, Melanie's roots in the popular song traditions of the 50s and early 60s might have been more apparent. She actually has a certain chanteuse-y appeal that could have been the gateway to a reasonably successful career as a cabaret artist. I don't see her with the gowns and the pearls, mind you, but this latterday recordings suggest that she was always capable of reaching that demographic.

If she was ever the type to worry about demographics.

It's been a long time since I have heard Melanie's music, and I am delighted that her music is still available. Glad to have this album of her music.

Had to look for this artist...but of course Amazon had it all. Melanie is timeless; her music is fun and entertaining.

I picked this CD because it seemed to have the songs I wanted, and the cost was low.

Clearly it's Melanie singing, but unfortunately neither "Lay Down" nor "Roller Skate" are the original recordings.