The Greatest Love Songs of All Time

Barry Manilow | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 26, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arista
• ASIN: B002XNEIKK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,821 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

In this brand new collection, Manilow presents loving interpretations and arrangements of classic love songs certain to be nostalgic for the Manilow and music fan alike. The album selections include Jazz and American standards, as well as songs from the Great White Way and silver screen.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bee-YOU-Tee-Full ! ! !, January 26, 2010

By 

Kathy W (Baltimore, MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Greatest Love Songs of All Time (Audio CD)

OMG! What a wonderful way to start off the new year! Thirteen Bee-YOU-tee-full songs, sung just for you, by Barry. About 45 minutes of listening pleasure. He sings so pretty. He always sounds like he's singing right to you. I can feel every one of these songs right inside my heart. If you've been around long enough to remember these songs from before, you will certainly find yourself singing along. (Well, you might not have been around for #13 in 1898. I missed that one myself. But I bet you heard it sung before somewhere.) No kidding--the more I listen to this album, the more I love it!

1) (Our) Love is Here To Stay--I loved this song, and still do. It opens with a big orchestra sound, then eases into more of a night club sound with the background sax.. This is a song that has always felt so comfortable to me.

2) The Look of Love - soft cha cha

3) Where Do I Begin? (Theme From "Love Story")--another song that was very very popular and often played at weddings in the 1970s. B really gets into this one, too--so much feeling.

4) I Only Have Eyes For You--another song that I have always felt very comfortable with. It was also one we played often in the dance band.

5) I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Baby)--easy "Bop" or, I guess you could do a "hand dance" to it. Sung so "clean".

6) The Twelfth of Never--so beautiful--the words are so pretty.

7) We've Only Just Begun--another "wedding song"--played at almost every wedding in the 1970s as the first dance for the bride and groom. This one and "Close To You" had to be the most played wedding songs of that era.

8) Nevertheless--I would not have recognized it by its name but I did know it when I heard it. "Maybe I'm right, and maybe I'm wrong. . .but nevertheless I'm in love with you." Babababooooooom. Real nice group harmonizing in this one. Might have been done by the Mills Brothers before--not sure.

9) Love Me Tender--Elvis' big hit, among many. Yes, Barry does most certainly do it justice. Very simple. Very soft. Very pretty. I might get beat up for this BUT I like Barry's version better than Elvis'. It's sung with so much feeling.

10) You Made Me Love You--OMG! How many of us remember this song when Judy Garland sang it in that movie? I have been singing the heck out of it since I heard Barry promo it on QVC for this album. I remember Judy Garland singing it to Clark Gable in the movie where she was a teenager and had a crush on him.

11) It Could Happen To You--This is the big band style, like Sinatra type.

12) How Deep Is The Ocean?--My mother used to walk around the house singing this one. (sniff sniff).

13) When You Were Sweet Sixteen (1898)--Ohhh, this is just so pretty. I remember my mother singing this one too. OMG! Time for a good cry. BTW, I remember Barber Shop Quartets doing this on TV many years ago, too.

As I have said before, Barry is my absolutely FAVORITE singer and one of the few who can sing the songs just as good as or better than the original hit-maker. He not only keeps the integrity of the original version, but many times he enhances it when he puts his special spin on it. If you recently heard Barry perform some of these songs on QVC, this album is better than that performance.

The little booklet inside was a wash, but we won't hold that against him. It just gave the names of the songs, well spaced out. Might have been nice to provide a little background on each (period it was originally from and some verbiage about it).

This is a gorgeous album and it is full of many of the very special songs that we played in my days with the dance band. Most of them got an immediate "ohhhhh" when I first heard them on the album. For many of them, you can just immerse your heart into the music and the words. As in the Twelfth of Never, if you just listen to the words, they transport you into such a feeling of beauty and love. I heard Barry say he wanted to make sure these wonderful songs were never forgotten. I will always love these songs and I'm so very happy that Barry is re-circulating them. This is the type of music that lives in my soul. This is also a collection that transports me back in time, to a happy place where life at least seemed less complicated. Memories. Ahhhhhhhh. It's a great album to put on in the car, surrounded by speakers, in your own private sound box, where you can really get the most out of it.

Another wonderful collection of songs, made available by the Magic of Manilow!

(Side Note: You know, sometimes stress is intense for many of us, especially with so much going on around us. It is especially during those times of intensity that I reach down deep inside and touch the music in my soul, no matter where I am, and use it to keep going. This is the type of music collection that I have buried deep inside.)

Update: Jan 29, 2010--I had to run to McLean, VA for a meeting and I took this CD with me. The ride south down the Capital Beltway and around the Rockville area is the pits! With intermittent traffic backups and Kamakazi drivers down and back, this CD kept me at peace while playing dodge-em on the interstates. I sang along with "The Greatest Love Songs of All Time," arriving unscathed and at peace.

BTW: If you are in the area of International Drive and Chain Bridge Road, check out the Silver Diner. They have a "Summer Citrus Salad" to die for. It has fresh strawberries and mangos, dried cranberries, and walnuts on a bed of fresh spinach with a citrus vinaigrette dressing. Add grilled shrimp, chicken or salmon. Whenever I go to McLean, I stop by for it. Say hi to Roza at the counter.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it!, January 30, 2010

By 

Lori (Duluth, MN USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Greatest Love Songs of All Time (Audio CD)

This is a wonderful new album from Barry Manilow. I love the song selections, especially The Twelfth of Never, Love Me Tender, and When You Were Sixteen--I really think there is true emotion coming through on them. Barry's voice is as good or better than ever. I love this album and know that I will be listening to it often. I have always been a Barry Manilow fan--I saw him first in Evansville, Indiana in the 60's! He was just starting and my brother said we should go see this new guy that was supposed to be pretty good! I've been a fan ever since and find this album to be as good as any he has done.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars That Classic Manilow Sound Is Back!, January 29, 2010

By 

ET Boy (South Carolina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Greatest Love Songs of All Time (Audio CD)

Love this album! Although this isn't an "original" album, Barry makes these songs sound fresh and new. Vocally...he's in top shape. I have all of his albums and, in all honesty, this is now one of my top five favorite Manilow recordings. It's as romantic as "If I Should Love Again." It occassionally has a piano-jazz feel like "2:00 A.M. Paradise Cafe." On a couple of tracks, it's reminiscent of "Manilow Sings Sinatra." One track even sounds as if it could've been on "Singing With The Big Bands." Above all, Barry does on this album what he's done best on all of his previous work: He arranges and sings these songs as if they were written by/for him. While I'm looking forward to his next project (the all original "Fifteen Minutes" album), Barry and Michael Lloyd have created a beautiful album that I think will stand out in his incredible catalog of work.