Customer Reviews

Part One

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

 

 

Many people may not know this group, but they have been a successful group since their UK debut in 1987. This album originally released as "The End of Part One: Their Greatest Hits" in UK and rest of the world. 12 songs including Four Weddings and A Funeral's soundtrack, Love Is All Around (which was the highest selling single in 1994 in UK, staying on top of the chart for 15 weeks!) are in this Part One album. Tracks of this album are their singles since their debut. From their debut single, Wising I Was Lucky to their latest single, Love Is All Around, you can really hear soulful Wet Wet Wet sound. This US release also includes remix of I Can Give You Everything that was only available on Limited second collection of The End of Part One, and impossible to obtain.

Their music is one of a kind. Marti Pellow's vocal is exceptional. Good Night Girl (another UK no.1 song) and Angel Eyes are classic ballades. This album is the great collection of their singles. You won't regret it. In fact, you are going to want more of Wet Wet Wet after listening to this album. Not very many bands could perform that kind of magic. Amazing.

I saw Wet Wet Wet early in their career, touring the states to promote their first album, which is the core of this collection. The band was something of an oddity at the time, emerging at the tail end of the 80's new wave heyday and the emergence of stars like Elvis Costello, ABC, Spandau Ballet and Scritti Politti (whose lyrics were the source for the band's name). While many of the new wave bands were reinterpreting soul and R+B using synthesizers and drum machines, and in some cases bringing ska, raggae and punk into the mix, Wet Wet Wet seemed completely without guile, structured as a traditional 60's R+B unit, with guitar, base, drums, keyboards and horn. If those new wave bands, as well as the Beatles and the Clash were indeed inspirational for the band, as they've claimed, it's hard to tell how.

A phenomenon in Europe, Wet Wet Wet never quite managed to crack the US market, and realistically, while they have always aspired to the the great R&B, Motown and Soul of the 1960's and 70's, singer Marti Pellow's pleasant voice just can't compare to the voices of those who influenced him: Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, David Ruffin, Stevie Wonder or Otis Redding. While you can't fault Pellow for trying, Wet Wet Wet has never managed to escape their reputation as imitators. Not unlike Simply Red, Wet Wet Wet has always resembled a male only real life version of the fictional band in the "The Commitments" -- recreating the feel of Soul music, without a clear idea of how to make music that seems authentic or personal. Considering the careers of Van Morrison, Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd, such a transition is certainly possible. You just won't find that sort of evolution in the collected work of Wet Wet Wet.

It's no surprise that their biggest success came in the form of a cover of "Love is all around us", by the Troggs, which was featured on the soundtrack of the hit film Four Weddings and a Funeral and vaulted Wet Wet Wet to the top of the UK and Euro charts in 1994. Given the nature of their predominant fanbase (countless teenage girls enamoured with Pellow's looks, and Princess Diana), that few of them seemed aware the song wasn't an original.

That doesn't mean that Wet Wet Wet wasn't a competent live act, or that their original material is without merit. In particular the songs "Wishing I was Lucky", "Sweet Little Mystery", and "Temptation" from their 1988 first album, all demonstrate what the band might have become had they remained as a unit with the same sort of soul revisionist zeal they started with, and managed to find an identity of their own.

After the huge success of "Love is all around us" the band essentially became a singles factory, drifting farther and farther toward the middle of the road - easy listening genre. This collection then, represents the band in its earliest and most creatively vital period.

I think Wet Wet Wet is the best group ever their music is so universal. They sing about real life situations and real emotions. I give it two thumbs up.

This is the best CD I ever brought. Marti Pellow shines on
this collection of great Wet Wet Wet music ,his voice is so sensual,and sexy,he is such a great singer . The collection of
songs are dynamite!Fans who buy this are in for a huge treat
,the very rare and soulful "I Can Give You Everything" remix
is on this CD,and other great WWW hits. I tell you Wet Wet Wet
was way before their time,if the were to re-release their music
they would be just as popular as they were in the late 80's and
90's! I recommend this collection to everyone! Great CD ,
great music,and Marti Pellow ,what more can I say about that
gorgeous man with that beautiful voice,who is still going strong today! Buy this Cd!!!!!!!!!!!

THE CD IS A GREAT CD AND I ENJOY THEIR MUSIC A GREAT DEAL WHY! BECAUSE IN MY COUNTRY THEY HARDLY PLAY THE MUSIC ON THE RADIO AND NEITHER THE MUSIC STORES HAVE THE ALBUM AVAILABLE

I bought this CD by mistake. for some reason, I thought they were the performers of some songs I had heard on the radio. So when I played it for the first time, I was looking for those songs, just to realize they were not in this album, and I felt bad about my mistake. However, I gave this then unknown CD another chance, and the songs started to grow on me. I can tell you now that this is one of the CD's of my collection that I like to listen to from the first to the last song without skipping any track. It's a very good CD

Wet Wet Wet lead singer, Marti Pellow has a very special voice. Leave it to great producers like Willie Mitchell (on "The Memphis Sessions") and the former leader of Chic (with Bernard Edwards) the one and only Nile Rodgers, to bring out the power and delicacy of his voice. Just listen to "Cold, Cold Heart" to hear that man sing! I would be the first to hope that Nile Rodgers would produce an entire album with this group. On the strength of this song alone, I recommend this CD, although there is only one other song produced by Nile Rodgers. It's too bad that Wet Wet Wet never gained greater attention in the US, because they are a self-contained band, they play their own instruments(!) and are very talented.