Customer Reviews

Juice/Quiet Lies

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1982 and 1983, Juice Newton was Billboard's Album Artist of the Year ... and the albums contained on this disc are why! And the music here is BEAUTIFULLY REMASTERED! The CD contains Newton's two platinum-selling efforts from the early '80s. The hits everyone knows are here, but there's some stunning non-hit material as well, such as the beautifully painful "I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can," which acts as a wonderful complement to "Angel of the Morning" since both songs are about one-night stands. Another treasure on this CD is the Newton-penned "River of Love," a meditation on the elusive nature of love.

The collection traverses through a variety of styles, including classic country, roots rock, torch music, and very-'80s pop (e.g., the smash "Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me"). Newton's voice is strong throughout, with just the right amount of power and vulnerability. Standout tracks include "I'm Gonna Be Strong," "Shot Full Of Love," "The Sweetest Thing," "Break It To Me Gently" (for which Newton finally won a Grammy for Best Female Vocalist) and "Adios Mi Corazon."

As a bonus track, Raven records included "It's A Heartache," which was a minor hit (Pop #85) for Newton in 1978 before it became a blockbuster (Pop #3) for Bonnie Tyler later that same year. The inclusion of this track is underwhelming, since it is poorly produced and not even from the same period of Newton's career as the rest of the CD. Furthermore, the track has been released on no fewer than three Newton CDs in the last 17 years. Wouldn't a real "bonus" track have been a previously unreleased track, or a song never available on CD?

Still, the CD is loaded with wonderful Urban Cowboy-era music. Stow your Shania Twain CDs and give a listen to the lady who paved the way for artists like Twain.

For another great Juice Newton CD from Raven Records, pick up the 2007 "Old Flame"/"Dirty Looks" compilation!

The five stars above are for the actual work by Juice Newton and company -- and the review of the actual CD is down below. This paragraph exists solely to inform you that Raven Records, an Australian label, put out a beautifully REMASTERED version of this collection in 2003. The Collectables edition is not remastered and therefore has inferior sound quality to the Australian version, which even features a bonus track of a Juice Newton hit! Spend your money wisely; shell out the extra few dollars and grab the Raven version. This edition is simply music from the original masters pasted on to a CD and not digitially enhanced to preserve its original sound quality. The import is better, and it doesn't cost much more!

Now for the review of the music ...

In 1982 and 1983, Juice Newton was Billboard's Album Artist of the Year ... and the albums contained on this disc are why! This compilation contains Newton's two platinum-selling efforts from the early '80s. The hits everyone knows are here, but there's some stunning non-hit material as well, such as the beautifully painful "I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can," which acts as a wonderful complement to "Angel of the Morning" since both songs are about the fallout from one-night stands. Another treasure on this CD is the Newton-penned "River of Love," a meditation on the elusive nature of love.

The collection traverses through a variety of styles, including classic country ("Falling In Love", "Texas Heartache"), roots rock ("Queen of Hearts", "Trail of Tears"), torch music ("Break It To Me Gently", "I'm Gonna Be Strong"), and very-'80s pop ("Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me", a huge hit in 1982). While one would doubt that the vocalist could attain and enhance all these styles, Newton's voice is multi-layered, expressive and strong throughout, with just the right amount of power and vulnerability. Standout tracks include "Break It To Me Gently," (for which Newton finally won a Grammy for Best Female Vocalist in 1983) "Shot Full Of Love," "The Sweetest Thing," "River of Love" and "I'm Gonna Be Strong."

This CD is loaded with wonderful Urban Cowboy-era music. Stow your Shania Twain CDs and give a listen to the lady who paved the way for artists like Twain.

As the first reviewer has already so eloquently explained, the mastering on this issue is abyssmal. Something he failed to mention is the fact that every single track is cut-off before the fade completes. Listening on my car stereo I was stunned that this was the case. It's painfully obvious on a couple of tracks, including "Queen of Hearts" and "Heart of the Night."

These are two wonderful albums, so pick up the Australian version on Raven Records. Not only is the mastering fantastic, there are detailed liner notes as well, something that is conspicuously missing on this cheap pressing.

I used to have many Juice's casettes when I was a lot younger. Somehow, when I got older, I just never thought of replacing them with CDs until last year. I love her songs, yet I don't have that strong urge to buy every CD of hers. So after comparing all the titles I could find on Amazon, I decided that the most thorough and economic way of getting some of my teenage memories back was to get this one and another collection titled "Emotion", which was released in 1993. If you are someone like me, who loves Juice, yet not to the extent to buy each Cd of hers, then get this one and "Emotion". I guarantee that every penny you spend will be worth it. So many songs of hers still sound touching now. And that's really something.

If you are a TRUE fan of vintage Juice this is the CD to get. The remastered qualities of this collection make it the only collection you need of original Juice recordings.

I was 13 years old in 1981 when Juice Newton scored her first major hit with "Angel Of The Morning". I saved up my allowance money and bought the album "Juice" on cassette and played it until it wore out. It was one of my all-time favorites. It was out of print by the time I made the transition from cassettes to CDs several years later, so I had to settle for her "Greatest Hits (And More)" CD which contained the singles from "Juice", but it just wasn't the same as having the whole album. I couldn't believe it when I finally found it tonight on Amazon, sharing a CD with her follow-up album "Quiet Lies". I immediately downloaded it and I'm playing it for the second time. All of the songs are crystal clear thanks to a fabulous remastering job. I've had a great trip down memory lane this evening.

I remember when Juice Newton was all over the airwaves...Boy what a difference 25 years make...I love this cd...get it while its still available...these cds...trust me don't stay around long.Once the certain amount that were made are sold thats it.Especially in this time of BULLSH#T MP3s...Unless you are like the average joe that doesn't know or care about sound quality...if u want the good sound the way it was meant to be heard you'll want one of these.Thanks for the music Juice...EG

Listen everyday while communiting. Some thought provoking lyrics, I'm Dancing as Fast as I can.

Guess no one can accuse me of being a big commercial country music aficionado. Until I read the very informative liner notes that accompany this remastered twofer, I had no idea that Juice Newton had a bunch of albums out both before and after the ones here that assured her place in country music history.
Anyway, I do like some country music but generally of the non-commercial variety. The reason I bought this set is because I wanted the less commercial Quiet Lies and this Australian remaster is the one that comes most highly recommended. "Juice" comes appended, so you get two for the price of one.
Obviously, my favorites are almost all from Quiet Lies which got a lot of airplay and club play in the small Shenandoah Valley (VA) town I was working in when it was released. In the absence of much non-country musical entertainment in the area, I came to like it quite well and still do. In my view, the best songs on this set are: Juice's cover of the pop radio hit Angel of the Morning; the sexy rocker Heart of the Night; the buckle-rubbing torch song Break It to Me Gently; the plaintive I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can; I'm Gonna Be Strong; the Latin-tinged Adios Mi Corazon; Falling In Love; and Ever True. I don't like the ultra-commercial Queen of Hearts; Headin' For A Heartache, which is lame on many fronts; or It's A Heartache, which I did not like when done by Bonnie Tyler either.
Overall, the Quiet Lies portion of this set is very strong and as such can be designated Essential Juice. The "Juice" portion unfortunately suffers from much weaker songwriting. Newton's voice is strong and confident but vulnerable when the material so demands. If you buy this, be sure to read the included booklet that contains pictures and an informative overview of Newton's career. And heed the reviewer who said this edition has better sound. He's right.

Juice Newton, the country pop crooner who had Kenny of Knots Landing saying about Ciji (Lisa Hartman), "She's going to be bigger than Juice Newton..." Juice had been making countrified pop for a few years when her 1981 album Juice yeilded the hit "Angel Of The Morning" followed by the mega-hit "Queen Of Hearts."

For a few years, I've been thinking of buying an import copy of the CD which had put both Juice and her 1982 follow up Quiet Lies on one disc but it was like over $20, but luckily Collectibles did it for only $12! I had the vinyl copy of Juice when I was a kid and listened to it over and over again. I loved every single song even her Elton cover "Country Comfort". The album had both country and pop blended into it and her voice is super powerful and I love every little accent she throws in. So I was very excited to finally have it on CD.

Her follow up album Quiet Lies, continued her success on both country and pop charts with my ultimate fav Juice single "Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me" but the album also contained her rendition of "Break It To Me Gently" and "Heart Of The Night"; I never had this album so it was really cool to finally hear some of the other songs hidden on there including a version of "I'm Gonna Be Strong" which I admit Cyndi Lauper does better but Juice's isn't anything to cringe at - there's more of the countrified rock/pop on here too and each song is just as good as the last with Juice's voice coming in clear and cool...

Though it looks like I may have to buy that Raven import (for sound quality - see other review) after all.