Retrospective

Rosanne Cash | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 7, 1995)
• Original Release Date: November 7, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002BAZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #188,561 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important artists in music history!, February 23, 2001

By 

Matt Coker (Davis, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Retrospective (Audio CD)

RETROSPECTIVE was designed to be a closing statement of Rosanne Cash's sixteen remarkable years on Columbia Records. Rosanne Cash was certainly the most important artist to emerge in the 1980s and is one of the most valuable artists in the history of contemporary music. From the flawless interpretive Country albums she recorded in the 1980s to her riveting all-original releases in the 1990s, Cash has proven herself to be a master at recorded craft, and her exceptional catalog proves it (or whats left of her valuable catalog). RETROSPECTIVE is a companion piece to 1989's HITS 1979-1989, but is a CD with a different feel and purpose. It includes the smaller hits from Cash's last three interpretive albums, three songs each from INTERIORS and THE WHEEL, two outtakes, a live recording, a song from a tribute album, and two new recordings. These fifteen songs are a treasure chest of incredible music. Cash writes an introduction included in the liner notes about her experiences making this music. I'd love to take her advice about buying her old albums, but thanks to the Sony Music Executive(s) who have screws loose, only two of her original albums remain available. Considering these albums are packed with some of the best Country music ever released, Sony's actions are unacceptable, not to mention remarkably dumb. Cash is such an expert singer she makes Faith Hill and Shania Twain and company look pretty ordinary. But as terrific as she is an interpreter, she's even better as a writer.

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RETROSPECTIVE opens with a stunning cover of Elvis Costello's "Our Little Angel". Cssh's delivery is stunning, she is in complete command of the song. "On The Surface" comes from the outstanding INTERIORS, Cash presents a brilliant evaluation of human reactions and fronts. Rosanne Cash has developed into a songwriter on the par with 1960s Bob Dylan. "All Come True" is an outtake from INTERIORS available though on INTERIORS:THE FULL SESSIONS a CD available for a very, very short time. "The Wheel", the title track to Cash's 1993 masterpiece, has a remarkable pop production, from John Leventhal, which perfectly complements Cash's songwriting. "Sleeping In Paris" also from THE WHEEL is a beautiful song, with riveting emotional lyrics. "707" is an outtake from KING'S RECORD SHOP, which Cash has recorded in concert, another Kilzer song "Green Yellow And Red" was released on KING'S RECORD SHOP. "Runaway Train", released on KING'S RECORD SHOP, is one of the greatest performances in the history of Country and Rock musics. There was a fourth #1 on KING'S RECORD SHOP "If You Change Your Mind" which wasn't released on a compilation until 1998. Until I listened to RETROSPECTIVE I thought it was impossible to cut The Beatles' "I'm Only Sleeping" to be even half as good as the original. Cash has done it, and it's almost superior to the Beatles original. "It Hasn't Happened Yet" is a masterful interpretation, as Cash began covering John Hiatt in 1982, "It Hasn't Happened Yet" is about the second best, tied with "The Way We Make A Broken Heart". Many listeners familiar with 1970s and early 1980s country music might notice the names of the musicians: four were members of Emmylou Harris' Hot Band and almost all of them worked with Harris, including Rosanne Cash and producer Rodney Crowell. "On The Inside" was the riveting opener to INTERIORS, and it sounds perfect, a flawless example of introspective songwriting. "What We Really Want" was Cash's last major hit, it's a fantastic song. "i Count The Tears" is another brilliant interpretion, recorded for a Doc Pomus tribute album, Cash definately hasn't lost her touch. One of Cash's most awesome recordings is John Hiatt's "Pink Bedroom" recorded for RHYTHM AND ROMANCE. The guitar work is incredible and Cash's vocal performance is deinitive. "Seventh Avenue" should really be a pop classic, penned by Rosanne Cash and John Levanthal for THE WHEEL. Cash's singing is perfect. "A Lover Is Forever" is a bluesy live recording, the appeal lies in Cash's vocal strengths and delivery, she records it with only a guitar and bass backing.

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Since most of Cash's extraordinary aalbums don't have pages on Amazon, because Sony Music screwed up and pulled them from print. I'd thought I'd write briefly about what Sony Music is cheating us out of:

***RIGHT OR WRONG***: For a debut album, Cash's singing is better than almost any performer I can think of. Her most beautiful album, a flawless treasure.

***SEVEN YEAR ACHE***: One of the greatest Country albums of all time. An important blueprint for 1990s Country. Like most originals, SEVEN YEAR ACHE is superior to about 97% of the Country CDs released in the 1990s.

***SOMEWHERE IN THE STARS***: Of all Cash's work this beautiful release has the most traditional flavor, yet is throughly contemporary and highly enjoyable.

***RHYTHM & ROMANCE***: A sizzling masterpiece. Cash perfected the seamless Country and Rock merger 10 years before Shania Twain's THE WOMAN IN ME.

***KING'S RECORD SHOP***: A brilliant meditation on Country and Rock that produced four #1 singles! Again a perfect merger of what was once two very distinct styles.

***INTERIORS***: One of the greatest CDs released in the 1990s. A fascinating document on the disintergration of a dysfunctional relationship. Cash's writing is magnifiscent.

***THE WHEEL***: My favorite Rosanne Cash album. A forty-five minute musical journey through extraordinary songs and brillaint production. THE WHEEL is 10 times better than any other adult contemporary CD I've heard in the 1990s and about 25 times more exhillerating.

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If you've never heard Rosanne Cash or if you're a long time fan, you're in for a real treat. RETORSPECTIVE comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, August 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Retrospective (Audio CD)

Having long been a fan of Roseanne Cash;I picked this cd up when I noticed one of the tracks is "I'm Only Sleeping",her remake of the Beatles classic. She did a great job with this and every other song on the album, it makes a great companion to her Greatest Hits cd and all her others,for that matter.

4.0 out of 5 stars Incomplete but Good, August 6, 2009

By 

R. M. Ettinger "rme1963" (Cleveland Heights, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Retrospective (Audio CD)

While this has a decent capture of much of her music - it really isn't a complete retrospective. There are big gaps in her career that are completely ignored - right or wrong (pun intended).

The previously release selections are good, though I've never been a fan of 'Seventh Avenue'. It is the unreleased portions for which I purchased this disk.

Doc Pomus' "I Count the Tears" is well done and should have garnered some kind of airplay - in my opinion. I've always been a fan of Cash's version of "All Come True", a cover from World Party. But it really is her live cover of Steve Goodman's "A Lover is Forever" that makes the disk.

The disk is out of print now, but if you can buy certain tracks electronically, I would suggest seeking them out and downloading them. Legally, of course! :)