Customer Reviews

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5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Over the years I've bought and re-bought Rasberries greatest hits collections. Hoping...for something different. A new mix?
I had no idea. On this collection which I bought for the same reasons, really knocked me out. Not only sounding excellent, it includes 6 more songs then the 1995 greatest hits. I love this band. Having their original 4 albums released for the first time on CD this year makes buying all of the other "Hits" albums worth it.

In a short career that spanned barely 5 years and 4 albums, The Raspberries ran up a string of brilliant singles. Their goal was to reclaim the mantel of early Beatles and Who singles, while rejecting the overblown pomposity much of 70's prog rock had meandered into. They even wore matching suits and poofy hair on the first album cover, along with a scratch and sniff Raspberries sticker. The first hit from that album, "Go All The Way," roared out with loud, sweet guitars and Beach Boy harmony, setting up the future for the band.

Centered mainly on Eric Carmen's McCartney-esque voice and songwriting, The Rasperries began knocking out single marvels with the consistency of the best Badfinger hits. They used lyrical teases instead of blatant come-ons to make their songs cover more ground, like when Carmen chirps "Oh! I wanna be with you! So Baaaaaaad!" or the winsome want of "Let's Pretend." The band also were excellent mimics, with "Drivin' Around" a flawless Beach Boys concoction.

However, Carmen began to exert domination over the band and tension caused both Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti to split after Side 3. Regrouping led to the appropriately named Starting Over and Carmen's last single masterpiece with The Raspberries. With the plea for success that is the pocket symphony "Overnight Sensation," Carmen blended Brian Wilson's songwriting with Phil Spector production to create one of power pop's perfect four minutes. About midway into the single, Carmen and the band get sucked into a car radio and the tinny speaker cranks out the boys as they chant "want a hit record, yeah!" across the nation's airwaves. I can still occasionally get the goosebumps when I hear this song.

That bit of wishful thinking not withstanding, The Raspberries broke up soon after. Eric Carmen had a fairly successful solo career and Wally Bryson went on to join power pop maestros (and cult faves) Fotomaker. But for a brief and fiery moment, The Raspberries made the kid of guilty pleasure music you didn't have to feel guilty about.

Originally known as "The Choir", the "Raspberries" sounded like a cross between a Beach Boys tribute band and bubble gum pop. There were a couple of exceptions. One of the 70's best make out songs had to be "Go all the Way", self explanatory. "I Wanna be With You" had a catchy guitar riff at its beginning and a quick change chorus. "Overnight Sensation" has the "radio" intro. Most of the rest were solid little ditties but not overly memorable. This is a great little disc for the drive in, the highway, the drive way or the rec room. Its all pretty harmless fun, much like the 70's were to most of us back then.

This review is pretty much on the mark except, the reviewer refers to John Aleksic as being part of the band. This is a major faux pas as John left the group prior to their recording career and the bassist/rhythm guitarist is Dave Smalley. All the songs on this album feature Dave on either bass or rhythm guitar, as well as co-writer on some of the tracks.

How awesome is this?? You get this wonderful album by the most amazing band ever, PLUS you get a forward by Ken Sharp and blurbs about each song by the artist themselves!! It has the mot awesome songs on it Like I Can Remember; Go ALL The Way; I wanna be with you; Let's Pretend; Nobody Knows; and the critically acclaimed Tonight as well as many other songs, They are all great. A must have for Power Pop fans everywhere!!

Again, another example of how fun and creative our music was back then. Good to listen to again after all these years.

I just don't get it. I like Raspberries music. I thought they were (are) a great rock band. They were more than "Go all the way". But here we have yet another Raspberries "Best of" and this time somebody doctored the tapes. Wally Bryson's great "Party's over" is different from the original found on the Starting Over album. You have to listen carefully but the song has been edited to exclude the line "call me crazy but I don't give a Sh.." You know what I mean. The ultimate "I know the band's hit the skids, but I'm gonna carry on" song has been changed. They deserve more than that. What is Capitol/ EMI afraid of?

Sometimes you just wanna choke the execs up there in the Capitol tower, who have continually disappointed and ripped-off Raspberries fans with countless repackagings of the same established, reknown hits of this arguably very important group. With a couple of exceptions, this collection has been released (in nearly the exact sequencing) at least twice in the last fifteen years, and there are a number of import compilations sporting similar track listings. Furthermore, rumors of the inclusion of unreleased demos (e.g. "I Saw The Light;" "Overnight Sensation") on THIS particular release proved false. Damned if I can find a BMG copy of the 2000 compilation with the four demos; thanks again, Capitol! My rating is based on the gall of this self-absorbed record label, and not the beautiful music contained on the disc. It gets a 2 instead of a 1 only cuz they included "I Can Remember."

This type of rock flew against the prevailing musical trends of the early-mid 70s. Not prog rock or metal, but concise, catchy pop songs. If you like The Raspberries and Badfinger, be sure to check out the best of them all, Big Star. #1 Record/Radio City (1972/1973) belong in every rock collection, right next to those other groups, and any others that matter at all.

Raspberries, the Godfathers of Power Pop, did too many great songs to put onto a greatest hits CD. The best thing to do is to simply get Power Pop, Volumes 1 and 2. That way, you have every song the guys ever did, and in their original context as well.