The Greatest Songs Of The Eighties

Barry Manilow

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 25, 2008)
• Original Release Date: November 24, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arista
• ASIN: B001HUBFPG
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,404 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The Greatest Songs of The Eighties is the next release in a best-selling series of tribute albums of popular music which includes The Greatest Songs of The Fifties, The Greatest Songs Of The Sixties and The Greatest Songs Of The Seventies whose cumulative sales, along with Ultimate Manilow have surpassed 5 million units worldwide. The Greatest Songs of The Eighties continues the productive and successful reunion between Manilow and Clive Davis, Arista founder and Chief Creative Officer, Sony BMG. Davis has been Manilow's hitmaking collaborator on virtually all his recordings, since they first worked together on "Mandy". His debut #1 single, as the first artist signed to Arista by Davis in 1974. The two produced The Greatest Songs of The Fifties, The Greatest Songs Of The Sixties and The Greatest Songs Of The Seventies together, and that magic has carried over to the new album as well.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Barry's Way Of The 80's, November 25, 2008

By	Michael Kerner "Michael Kerner" (Brooklyn, New York U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

When it came down to the music of the 80's there was so much innovation that showed well with the industry. Artists like U2 and R.E.M. were starting to make charted waters, and MTV had made its way to the living rooms across America, and artists like Madonna and Michael Jackson became staples of pop culture. But for Barry Manilow, he had a lot of personal problems from debt and bankruptcy, to his personal marriage ending in divorce. But, that still hasn't stopped him from touring and delivering great music then. With songs like Somewhere Down The Road, and the intimate The Old Songs, he still had a lot to prove on his own. But with Barry's recent comeback into his Greatest Songs Of The Decade series, he has shown a new audience the way the soothe songs his own way.

Barry Manilow's 2008 Greatest Songs Of The Eighties is the latest in Barry's decades hits tribute collection. The collection doesn't focus on staples from MTV acts like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston or Prince, but instead highlights on Barry delivering his takes on mostly ballads that delivered to radio listeners across America. There are some covers that actually click well on the album like his smooth cover of Journey's Open Arms, a simple cover of Richard Marx's mega-ballad Right Here Waiting, and the overlooked Christopher Cross with his Oscar-winning Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do.) While there are a few surprisingly good covers here, there just are a lot of covers here that don't really seem to deliver the uniqueness and chemistry the songs had by those original acts like a weak rendition of I Had The Time Of My Life from Dirty Dancing and Wham!'s Careless Whisper, that puts the feeling of the album into shame. Those few covers were so terrible that I had to stop listening to the album, and turn back to listening to Mandy.

All in all, with several artists making cover albums recently like Seal with Soul and Deborah Cox with last year's sensational Destination Moon, I really feel that there wasn't really much to rave on Barry Manilow's Greatest Songs Of The Eighties, where the earlier records like Greatest Songs Of The 50's and 60's that worked well. I think that mainly it should be time that Barry should put an end to his greatest songs of the decade series, and focus in on making new material to swoon lovers of his voice to something completely different.

Album Cover: B

Songs: C

Price: C-

Mastering: C+

Overall: C 1/2-

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great decade of songs by Barry, April 24, 2009

By	Nancy Malinowski - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As he did with the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies, Barry again has delivered another fine mix of songs.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!!, March 6, 2009

By	D. L. Perillo "cat lady" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a wonderful CD. I've been waiting a long time for Barry to make an 80's CD and I was not disappointed. He did an excellent job! This is a must have for fans!