Customer Reviews

Millennium 60's Rock Party

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Millennium 60's Rock Party gives us a generous assortment of nineteen hits from the 1960s that really still shine today. This CD is bound to bring back fond memories for people who first heard these tunes on the radio; and people who appreciate good rock music from an earlier time in rock history will love this album also.

The album starts off with a sharp number from The Kinks--"You Really Got Me' rocks hard and the sound is still awesome today. "You Really Got Me" has some great electric guitar; and the percussion, drums and more add to the number. "Mony Mony" by Tommy James & The Shondells was always one of my personal favorites; this song rocks and there's nothing not to like--it's THAT good. I love how they harmonize on "Mony Mony," too!

Listen for "Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison & The Candy Men; they deliver this classic ballad with panache and great sensitivity. The drums sound great and I like how Roy never misses a note. Little Eva does "The Loco-Motion" so well you'll be jumping up and dancing wherever you are the moment you hear this; and "Gimme Some Lovin'" by The Spencer Davis Group is one terrific number that budding artists would do well to emulate even today.

The Turtles switch the gears to a more light rock number with "Happy Together;" they have a magnificent backup section and the main lyrics of the song sound wonderful. There's also another twist in the road with "Incense And Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clock; it's a great song that comes at you almost out of nowhere with its psychedelic flavor; but it all works very well.

"Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" by Swingin' Medallions sounds as fresh as it ever did; I really like this tune. The great Dusty Springfield gets to end the album with her upbeat, catchy tune, "I Only Want To be With You." I really enjoy how they use the strings in the musical interlude of "I Only Want To be With You."

The liner notes include some information on each artist and song; and the art work is nicely done.

Overall, while this certainly should have been a CD set, as a single CD this works well anyway. I think this album is best suited for people who want a single CD retrospective of that incredible `60s sound; and newcomers to 1960s music would do well to start with this album.

Put this in your dashboard CD player and go for a drive. Give it to the kids and tell them this is why high school dances and "Teen Towns" way back when were so much fun. If it also contained Marvin Gayes' "Heard It Thru the Grapevine" it might have been a perfect CD. Real men can deal with the pink disk.

As with the New Wave and Classic Rock albums, the titles are a bit off compared to the content of the disc. They seem to have a tendency to shove in popular tunes whether they fit in or not. On the plus side, the songs are all great, and the sound quality isn't too shabby either.

All the songs are feel-good, there's a nice variety in the songs selected (nothing repetitive), and Rhino was fairly generous with the tracks. The disc totals 51 minutes 20 seconds. I could have done with a few more songs, though. If you want some of the tracks on this collection, but don't want to have to buy the individual albums, this is probably one of the best compilation discs to get. It would serve as a good introduction to '60's rock, since it does have a paragraph written on each featured artist, and a listing of where each song topped on the Billboard charts.

I think this is a very groovy, well-blended '60s CD. My favorites on this CD are "These Boots Are Made For Walking", "If You Wanna Be Happy", "You Really Got Me", and "O Pretty Woman", but I love every other track except two. I don't like "Happy Together" and "I Only Want To Be With You". I'm only a teenager, but I'm really into '60s music, so I highly recommend this CD. If you really love the '60s sound, I would also recommend Smash Mouth's "Astro Lounge" to you.

For me, Sixties rock began in 1964 with the British invasion. As such, Jimmy Soul's semi-novelty "If You Wanna Be Happy" and Little Eva's girl group smash "The Loco-Motion"--though a terrific song--doesn't really fit. And the Isley Brothers' "Shout-Part 1" was released in 1959! [It would have made more sense to include Joe Dee and the Starlighters' cover version which went Top 10 in 1961.]

With that said, this is a terrific collection of some of the best songs of the mid-Sixties. Nearly half of these songs--tracks 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 14, 16, 17 and 19--made music critic Dave Marsh's book "The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made." [P.S. - "Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" is the final track on this 20-song collection.]

While many of these tracks have been recycled ad nauseum for decades on various anthologies, Rhino does a nice job of packaging them with an informative--if somewhat brief--set of liner notes and as always uses excellent source tapes throughout. My only complaint is that a single disc is too brief. This could easily have been a double-disc set without any drop off in quality or even made into a series like Rhino's earlier Top Rock Hits or Have a Nice Day series. But two years after this disc's original release, that doesn't seem likely. So if these songs are missing from your collection, this is a cost effective way to remedy that. RECOMMENDED

Mostly feel good, songs. The play list is a little off but its a Rhino collection. Liner notes were unexpected and provide a great overview to the 60's era

Some of the tracks are found on other compilations but I was glad to get, You Really Got Me, Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Shout, Hang on Sloopy, If You Wanna Be Happy, and I Only Want to Be With You.