Customer Reviews

Right Back at Ya

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was the first compilation CD of reissued Michael Stanley Band material. At the time, it was wholeheartedly welcomed as most of us thought that we'd NEVER see the entire MSB catalogue on CD. But thanks to Razor & Tie, eventually the whole MSB catalogue was reissued on CD.

That being said, this is a great CD for new fans of MSB or for those looking for a MSB "Best Of" CD. Sound quality is great, and the song selection, for the most part, is impeccable.

A "More Of The Best Of" MSB disc followed this release, entitled "Misery Loves Company, More Of The Best 1975 - 1983".

here's a review of the songs on this cd:

1. Rosewood Bitters - The first song on the first side of the first Michael Stanley album. Nice early version recorded back in 1973.

2. Let's Get the Show on the Road - Taken from the second Michael Stanley album, Friends & Legends. Eventually evolved into a MONSTER live song (check out the "Stage Pass" album!!!).

3. One Good Reason - From Ladies Choice (1976). A nice version, but I prefer the live version found on "Stage Pass".

4. Strike up the Band- From Ladies Choice (1976). A nice version, but I prefer the live version found on "Stage Pass". Evolved into a show-closing rocking encore song.

5. Midwest Midnight - Taken From "Stage Pass". Michael calls this the most honest songs he's written. I'd have to agree.

6. Nothing's Gonna Change My Mind - Also from "Stage Pass". Not much to say except that is a BEAUTIFUL song.

7. Why Should Love Be This Way - From "Cabin Fever" - A nice ballad that should've been a hit. It wasn't.

8. We're Not Strangers Anymore - From "Greatest Hints", a joke that seemed to pass by most people. A moving rocker.

9. Lover - From the "Heartland album. A perennial favorite. Great to hear live with the crowd singing the "Thank God for the man who put the white lines on the highway" lyric.

10. He Can't Love You - Also from the "Heartland album. This Kevin Raleigh song brought much attention to MSB. A GREAT video for this song was filmed in and around Cleveland. A radio staple.

11. In the Heartland - Oddly not from the "Heartland" album, but the "North Coast" album. This song flat out rocks. Another should've been a hit.

12. Somewhere in the Night - From the "North Coast" album. A great song that gets even better live.

13. Falling in Love Again - A heartfelt love song from the "North Coast album. Why was this song NOT a hit?

14. In Between the Lines - A blazing rocker from the "MSB album.

15. Someone Like You - From the "You Can't Fight Fashion" album. Simply put, NOT one of my favorites. A song that starts nowhere and then takes forever to get there.

16. My Town - From the "You Can't Fight Fashion" album. A great rock song, about MY Town, and likely yours as well. This MSB song appears on more compilation CDs than any other.

This is a GREAT place to start your MSB CD collection. After you fall in love with these songs you can start filling in the missing pieces with the CDs reissues of each MSB album.

Buy this, put it in your car stereo, go riding, and CRANK IT UP!!!

Although non-inclusive, this is a very good album. If you were in NE Ohio in the 70's or 80's, you'll remember EVERY one of these songs. If not, you'll enjoy this anyway. Without question, Michael Stanley was the top local ( and, midwestern regional) band during that period. That record companies turned such a blind eye, is crazy. Rolling Stone magazine, in their History of Rock, called them them, in essence, the 'best american band that never became huge stars'. Listen, and you may well wonder, too.

This is a great album for any fans looking for a great rock band from the heartland of America. But, I suggest checking out other great MSB albums too...

Stagepass: to hear the early LIVE sound that made MSB so great in concert

Heartland

Cabin Fever

MSB

and the second volume of greatest hits....

New Jersey has Springsteen, Detroit has Bob Seger, and Cleveland has Michael Stanley. Similar vein of heartland rock, the biggest difference being that those guys made it big, MSB didn't (not nationally, at least, but they were huge in Northeast Ohio). Don't let that deter you from buying this compilation, which is not only a HECK of an overview of an incredible band, but downright flawless rocking, to boot.

Many "Best Of" comps get by by including a few choice songs, with the rest being filler. Not so with this one. Every track is perfect. There's no bad song here. But why would there be? MSB had a track record of putting out great album after great album. It gets to the point where the only complaints you can make are why certain songs were excluded (and here's mine: No "Let's Hear It" from 1981's "North Coast"? And yes, I know it's on their second "Best Of", but that one's difficult to find nowadays).

For everyone outside of Northeast Ohio, the two songs you MIGHT recognize are 1980's "He Can't Love You" (which became one of the very first MTV videos, BTW) and 1983's "My Town" (from the albums "Heartland" and "You Can't Fight Fashion", respectively). Those cracked the Top 40, and received some national airplay, but this disc is full of songs that should have been hits. "Strike Up the Band", "Lover" (Thank God for the man who put the white lines on the highway), "In the Heartland", "Somewhere in the Night", and the scorching "In Between the Lines", all phenomenal.

Buy this one if you want good, REAL rock, not the stuff passing as rock and roll today. Then go and buy the rest of MSBs albums. You won't be disappointed.

I think the cd is awsome!, I am very pleased with it. I listen to it all the time.

Cleveland Rocks! This is the best CD from the Michael Stanley Band. I own all of their CD's but this is the one I play the most. Listening to this CD makes me home sick for Cleveland!

For those of you who do not know Michael Stanley Band and their music, let me preface this review by saying that they were absolutely HUGE here in Cleveland, OH when I was growing up. My aunt, sister, and all of their friends adored them and their music.

Growing up, based on the heavy local airplay and the hot regional fervor for the group, I always assumed that they had made it big nationally, until I hit my teens. I became interested in the Billboard Top 40 charts and learned that they had only hit twice nationally, with the #33 hit He Can't Love You and the #39 hit My Town. How criminal!

They sounded as good as everything else on the radio, quality-wise, so it is inexplicable as to why they never made it bigger nationally. Their music is certainly as catchy as other arguably equal to lesser groups of the era who hit it big such as Loverboy, Foreigner, Night Ranger, and REO Speedwagon. Obviously though, they more favorably compare to Bruce Springsteen, even borrowing Clarence Clemons on a tune or two, and Bob Seger in terms of their musical style/sound. It is unfortunate that they never had similar chart success, but at least this wonderful greatest hits compilation affords me the opportunity to go back in time to my youth, when it seemed as if they were on the top of the charts, and everything was right in the world.

By the way, my favorite track is Falling In Love Again, which one would think could have easily made the Top 10 in the nation if promoted and handled properly. Michael Stanley Band, we still love you here in Cleveland!

If you could only have one MSB album, this is definitely the one to own! No true MSB fan would be caught without it. There is one mind-boggling letdown: it doesn't include the amazing "Working Again," arguably the most popular MSB song ever. But it has all of the band's other standards. So when you need your MSB fix, just pop in Right Back at Ya'.

I've been gone from Cleveland for years. Do they still play MSB on the radio? Is WMMS still on the air?

This is a CD of awesome music -- "Lover" and "He can't love you like I love you" still rock.

Only reason I even know of the MSB band is because of Widespread Panic. The lyrics to lets get the show on the road are hauntingly beautiful. Once I heard John Bell belt these words out I had to know who came up with this beautiful song. How it never became popular nationally befuddles me. It is one song that most anybody can identify with