Customer Reviews

The Greatest Songs of the Seventies (deluxe edition)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Barry Manilow's music dominated the '70's, for better or worse, in some estimations. But those great songs, "Mandy," "Weekend in New England," "I Write the Songs," have had over 30 years of staying power. The reason? Manilow is a terrific artist, arranger, and underrated singer. This terrific collection of '70's gems is a MUST for fans - and if we were living in a nicer, saner, more graceful American culture, several of these tunes would be top hits, as Manilow's own songs were back in the day. Is it heresy to suggest that his opening track, "The Way We Were," may be as good as Streisand's? I think it is, with a pitch perfect arrangement (one of the hallmarks of this collection). "Sailing," "He Ain't Heavy," "It Never Rains in California," are all homeruns. In fact, there's really not one weak link in the entire collection - the vocals are strong, the passion is there, and the meticulous care given to each tune rewards listeners with each playing. The great bonus to this collection are the "unplugged" versions of some of Barry's old songs. I think they're terrific. His vocals now are, if anything, stronger - and the pleasure of hearing these wonderful tunes stripped down to their essential beauty makes for great listening. I don't think there is any real mystery to Barry Manilow's continuing popularity: he helped write, produce, arrange, and sing a long series of great songs that were strong on both lyric and melody. He sings them in concerts with conviction - and you can't fake what this man does. He cares about music. And it's evident here in these loving covers of some of the best songs of an era when songs were better crafted (and sung). I would also recommend a '70's collection from 10 years ago: "Summer of '78", with some other great tunes from that era, including, "We've Got Tonite," and "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight," among other gems. But THIS collection is the one to start with: the best of the best for Barry. And here's hoping that if one of these tunes does not become a deserved hit - he goes back to the days of "Mandy" and produces another collection of great love songs that will remind people of how gifted he really is. He's as great as his fans think - and better than his critics will admit.

I first listened to a few songs from this album on TV. "It Never Rains in Southern California" blew me right off the planet! When I came to, I was orbiting Saturn's rings, clapping and doing the Happy Dance. Then I promptly returned to Earth to catch the rest of the show. God! That song is awesome. I liked it before, but I LOVE IT now that I heard Barry do it!!! I also heard the acoustic version of "Copacabana." When I first saw that an acoustic version of Copa was going to be done, I thought "yeah--right." I mean, "Copa" - without the vibrant background music? Well, shows ya what I know! I was pleasantly surprised by a really cool version of Copa with a kind of Mexican coffee house sound--with the bongos and mainly just Barry singing. I should have known better. Everything he does is fantastic. That day, Barry sold about 43,000 CDs in an hour and a half. He was promoting this album, singing some of the selections and chatting in between with the hostess. I had this album ordered, but was almost unhappy that I was in San Diego when it came in the mail. I had to wait almost a week to get my sticky little hands on it.

This is a 2-CD set. There are 18 tracks on CD 1, totaling almost 1 hour + 4 minutes for the entire CD. I am soooo very happy to see a longer CD. The 10-12 track CDs are adequate, but I like mine to run longer.
Disc 1 Songs are:
"The Way We Were" (1974) -Drop-dead gorgeous! I love it! Especially the way it starts out with these long, sustained notes. Kind of like you're in a long tunnel--hard to explain. Then it just gets prettier and prettier. It has so much feeling in it.
"My Eyes Adored You" (1975) -Ohhhh! Franki Valli music! I always loved this song and Barry does such a beautiful job with it.
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1970) -The first couple of times I listened to this song, I thought about how pretty it sounded. As in all his songs, Barry's enunciation is so clear and has so much feeling in it. Then, I thought about the words in a spiritual context and it really blew me away! I think I darn near imploded myself. I was driving when I felt that single tear just sliding down my face, and I said, "Oh no! Not my makeup!" So I stopped that real quick before I looked like a panda bear.
"It Never Rains In Southern California" (1972)--AWESOME! As explained above. So hot! So peppy! Such a feel-good song! I could listen to it a hundred times. Funny thing. I kept hearing this song in my head the whole 9 days I was in San Diego recently. It rained all around me, but never rained ON me while I was there.
"You've Got A Friend" (duet with Melissa Manchester) (1971) Very pretty--lots of feeling in it.
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (1970) - So much feeling, this song reminds us that we should all look after each other. Just a beautiful concept to remember. Barry does a lot of charitable things and helps a lot of people. He is a very kind person and him singing this song is certainly appropriate.
Sailing (1979) -very nice and pretty and has an airy feeling about it.
(They Long To Be) Close To You (1970)--Who can forget this song. When I played with the band, this song HAD to be played at just about every wedding for years!
Copacabana (At The Copa) (1978) (Acoustic) - I love this version. This is a meringue (not to be confused with the stuff on top of a pie), with primarily guitar and bongos. It is really refreshing. Makes you feel like you're in a Mexican or Spanish Cafe or Coffee House. Such a great alternate version of Copa.

Other nicely done Disc 1 songs are: "The Long And Winding Road" (1970),
"How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" (1971), "If" (1971), "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" (1976), "Mandy" (1974) (Acoustic), "Weekend In New England" (1977) (Acoustic), "Even Now" (1978) (Acoustic), "Looks Like We Made It" (1977) (Acoustic), "I Write The Songs" (1975) (Acoustic). All very pretty.

Disc 2 has 4 additional tracks, totaling a wee bit under 16 minutes:
Somewhere In The Night (1978-1979) (Acoustic)
Can't Smile Without You (1978) (Acoustic)
This One's For You (1976) (Acoustic)
Could It Be Magic (1975) (Trevor Horn Dance Mix)
Great versions of more Barry Oldies, "acoustic" meaning more simplistic and without the big orchestra--homier--like being played at a party. This mix version of "Magic" is excellent and is on an out-of-production Manilow mix CD I have. I'm glad to see it repeated because it's too good to sit in the archives and gather dust. "Somewhere In The Night" has always been one of my absolute favorites. It is a very subtle sexy song. (. . .Somewhere in the night we will know, everything lovers should know. . .)
Disc 2 is Dual Disc and I love it when they do these (CD Songs on 1 side and a DVD video on side 2 about the making of the album. The DVD side also has more acoustic Manilow in enhanced stereo.)

The beauty and passion in these songs is fantastic. I love every one of them. In my opinion, the Barritized versions of these songs are either as good as the originals or better! How truly gifted he is. This collection has a lot of bang for your buck. The difference between the regular version of this album and the Deluxe edition, is the 2nd CD. If you want the 2nd CD, then you need to get the Deluxe edition. I also read that the Deluxe is a limited edition, so don't wait too long or you will be S.O.L.

I most definitely recommend this CD set. I was hoping that "Feelings" would be on it, too, but that's OK. I'll get by, somehow. Betcha Barry would do an awesome version of it though. On a scale of 1 to 5, I am mighty pleased to give this collection a 15. The ManilowMaster has done it again! Whaddah guy, whaddah showman!

To the guys who are reading: Barry SINGS a lot of the words that many of you cannot figure out how to say to your girl. Think about giving her a Barry CD to tell her how you feel. Tell her what song is special for the two of you. Tell her the words in that song are the ones you want to say to her. She will love it.

This is Barry's era so he got it right this time. Easy to listen to and to sing along with.

This CD is true Manilow. There is nothing more relaxing to listen to then Barry Manilow's voice. He brings back the old songs that we grew up with,and added his soothing voice as vocals. I highly suggest this CD if you're a Manilow fan.

This CD if fantastic. Barry's smooth melodies brought back so many wonderful memories. Arrangements were wonderful! If you are a Manilow fan, this CD is a must! I give it five stars!

I love the music, Barry seldom disappoints! I received the cd withing 10 days of ordering and am now enjoying the "oldies" I loved as a teen!

I just absolutely love the CD. The mixture of music and accompanying effects on the acoustical music was great. I adore Barry Manilow and this has got to be one of the best, if not the best out of all his CD's.

I grew up listening to Barry and swooned over all his music. I cannot even pick a favorite--I love them all. I own every CD he has ever made--including his new 70's CD.

I love it and still love Barry. He is one talented entertainer that will always give you the goose bumps when you listen to him sing. He can turn any song into a beautiful romantic ballad. His arragements on his new CD are beautiful--just like his voice and the man himself.

Rosana

Barry Manilow took some of the greatest songs from the seventies the decade that lauched his carrer and made each song his own beautiful,flawless, arrangements and powerful vocal make this Manilow's Finest hour
yet. A must for every Barry Fan .

A fan

Tired as I am of all these decades albums, I have to admit that the 70s installment is probably the best one. Maybe because these are some of the songs I grew up listening to, maybe because Barry seems to have put a lot more passion into some of them, maybe because some of the arrangements remind me of the late 70s, early 80s Barry Manilow I got hooked on in the first place. Whatever the reason, if you bought the 50s and 60s album, you'll probably like this one.

Picking the standout tracks is a risky thing to do, of course, since opinions will vary wildly. The consensus in the newsgroup I subscribe to, however, seems to be that Bridge Over Troubled Water, It Never Rains in Southern California, Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word and He Ain't Heavy are the best tracks. His version of sailing was also a pleasant surprise.

My Eyes Adored You and The Long and Winding Road, which I had very high hopes for, didn't impress me at all. The acoustic tracks, with the exception of a Latin-flavored Copa and a stripped-down, laid back version of This One's for You, left me cold, too.

Having said that, though, despite the songs I didn't really care for, I would've still given the album four stars if it weren't for Barry's vocals in some of the tracks. As the years go by, he seems to be over enunciating more and more, which I'm getting a bit tired of. It's as if he's struggling to make us really understand every single sound he's uttering. Great for English as a foreign language students, perhaps, but a bit annoying otherwise.

Bottom line: Probably the strongest of the three decades albums. If you've bought the other two, go ahead and give this one a try. If you haven't, but like Manilow, listen to some of the tracks and consider buying it, too. If you don't like Manilow, this CD will not convert you.