Customer Reviews

Solo Anthology

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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This fantastic 2-disc set includes all 17 of the songs on '98's now-inaccurately-named "Ultimate Collection" plus 15 more songs, most of which are also excellent. If you're reading this you don't need me to say that No One sings as well as Smokey Robinson. And like so many of his legendary hits with the Miracles, the records collected here demonstrate his greatness as a songwriter. The big solo hits were "Cruisin'," "Being With You," "Just To See Her" (which here mysteriously grows the word `Again' onto its title), and "One Heartbeat." They're all here, as well as the famous slow-jam "Quiet Storm," which the liner notes credit with "practically spawning" the omnipotent radio format of the same name. For this CD, Motown even licensed "We've Saved The Best For Last," a hit Smokey sang with Kenny G for one of the G-man's Arista albums. (I prefer it here rather than there by a long shot. Sorry, G-fans.)

Reasons to get this over "The Ultimate Collection" include his first solo hit, "Sweet Harmony," which he dedicates (in the song) to his former partners in the Miracles. And "Virgin Man", sung from the point of view of someone who cringes in the corner when his friends start "the man-talk" about "the love they've known." Great idea for a song, and obviously not an easy subject to write about. No way any of the self-conscious hip hop kids would dare to cover this one. Could you imagine Eminem? Despite a groove that pretty much ensures the protagonist's condition is only temporary...And "Love Don't Give No Reason," in which dad suddenly leaves even though he used to give Mom flowers "just because the sky was blue and the grass was green." I remember waiting for this followup to "One Heartbeat" to become a hit in 1987. I'm still waiting...I also recommend "Heavy On Pride (Light On Love)", which should have been a bigger hit in 1980, and "Be Kind To The Growing Mind," a/k/a "Watch Your Mouth Around The Kids," an album track with whatever version of the Temptations was around in 1986.

Not here but worth seeking out are "Hold On To Your Love," a song Stevie Wonder wrote and produced for Essar in 1985, and "Double Good Everything," a minor hit notched during a brief exodus to SBK records, the company which brought us Vanilla Ice and Wilson Phillips but couldn't get Smokey into the Top 40. Hmm. At 73 and 75 minutes though, the discs are pretty full already.

From the high level of quality of these songs, you get the feeling that the solo albums are worth checking out, but this is a rock-solid starting place. HIGHLY recommended.

Motown's Golden Poet is truly one of a kind here.His Words are TImeless Jewels as Smokey Captures on so many emotions.between His Strong Productions,Composing&then you get His Voice a Instrument so few can Rivial.to truly appreciate His Genius think about all the songs He did for others,The Miracles&then still had enough for His Ownself what a Strong Body of Work.

A balladeer to his heart, Smokey Robinson's 2-disc set is one romantic moment after another, especially for any Smokey fan. His faster-paced songs were hitting also, but it's just something about those ballads that will do you in. I never realized that this guy could produce such timeless songs. I was used to buying only what they played on the radio, so I was not that deep into him. This set changed my mind, especially with the song I'VE MADE LOVE TO YOU A THOUSAND TIMES. Hands down, my favorite of them all. Clearly embodied with the heart of a poet, this is for anyone who may have thought that his life and career ended with the Miracles. That move only made him stronger and his music vintage.

When people mention names of the greatest artists from the most overly prolific record label ever (Motown in case you asked), Smokey isn't the first name many would mention right off the back. Smokey never seemed interested in pushing artistic boundaries Like Stevie and Marvin nor was he interested in adapting to changing styles like Diana and the Tempts. This anthology is evident as to how out of touch Smokey became as the 70's and 80's came about. While a lot of his material was nicely crafted and performed, he just seemed like a relic of a dead age (the 60's) and it showed in his chart action as only a few of these songs became mainstream hits. Smokey's only saving grace was the fact that he racked up so many timeless classics with the Miracles which gauranteed him a loyal fan base for life, and to a lesser extent, his friendship with Barry Gordy. So this Solo anthology not only serves as a effective summary of his post miracles career, it gives fans a reason why he's not held in as high regard as the more popular Motown Artists.

The first disc is the most consistently strong set. Even if smokey wasn't progressing as a artist, he did produce a number of powerful tracks during this period. "Baby come Close" is one of best slow jams ever produced, "Virgin Man" is one of the realest songs he'd ever written, "Cruisin" was the biggest hit during this period and brought him into the 80's with smooth ease, and the mighty three from the Quiet Storm album is present as well. The rest of the tracks are just as good. Since Smokey once again was not fully content on adapting with the times, these songs don't sound as fresh compared to what other contemporary r&b artists were offering during this decade (The Isleys, Barry White, Marvin Gaye, etc.)
All in all, Smokey's 70's period is a intoxicating set of soul music.

As for the second disc, it starts off solid, but goes downhill from there. "Being with You" was his first big hit of the 80's and in spite of its overly pop nature, it's a cool easy listening song. "Tell me Tomorrow" is a sultry dose of bedroom soul, and "Ebony Eyes" is a absolute classic (thanks largely in part to Rick James for producing the track). The first half of the second disc is rock solid, but as Smokey moved deep into the 80's, his music became less intoxicating. He fell victim to the pre New Jack swing R&B formula. His music became overproduced and generic which is is evident from tracks 9 to 14. Songs From "Little Girl, Little Girl" to "Love Don't Give no Reason", is so watererd down until its unlistenable. Even the presence of the big hits; "Just to see Her Again" and "One Heartbeat" is so bland and souless. Not coincidentally, most of the songs in this dreadful stretch didn't even become hits on the R&B charts. The second disc does end on a high note with "Everything you Touch" and his duet with Kenny G "Save the best for Last", but the abundance of sub par material does take away a considerable amount of steam from the second disc and the anthology overall.

This anthology could've been better if they'd dug deep and included more of his 70's material with less emphasis on the 80's. Better yet, why not Give smokey a proper 70's anthology since that was his era musically.

In any case the anthology is still worth checking out. Even if it's disapointing that he never progressed as a solo artist, at least he's sticking to what he knows best and you can't down anybody for that.

I cannot vouch for this collection's completeness as an anthology without including one song. I urge every Smokey fan to listen to "Happy" off of the Quiet Storm CD and tell me it doesn't belong in this collection. Would've liked the "Wedding Song" as well, but that's just me. I can vouch that he is the greatest crafter of songs EVER!!! Thanks

WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT THIS MAN THAT WOULD DO HIM JUSTICE. A GREATEST HITS CD PUHLEEEEEZE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT A LOT OF HIS GREATEST HITS WERE SUNG BY OTHER ARTISTS. HE WAS THE MOTOWN SOUND BUT ENOUGH OF THAT. WHEN I THINK OF SMOKEY THE ONLY WORD THAT COMES TO MIND IS S M O O T H I MEAN WHETHER IT'S OHH BABY BABY WITH THE MIRACLES OR BABY COME CLOSE SMOKEY IS JUST SMOOTH. HERES A COMPILATION OF HIS SOLO HITS (SOME OF THEM) BUY IT HOW CAN YOU GO WRONG WITH SMOKEY IT'S A SURE THING........ENJOY

Smokey is one of the best music poets around today. His lyrics say so much, they're deep and emotional. He can sing to me any day! A fan from the beginning.

The Solo Anthology is a great double CD. It is a good mix of his best songs. I especially enjoyed his duet with Rick James back in the day 1983 named Ebony Eyes. I knew Rick James had talent because he wrote Fire and Desire with Teena Marie. But this song Ebony Eyes is the bomb. Rick could actually sing as well as Smoky in the falsetto range. In fact it is hard to tell which of them is singing. Great song. The rest of the songs are great.

For whatever reason, Smokey Robinson's solo career never caught on with fans as the Motown brass predicted. As great as he was as the Miracles lead singer, with that beautiful voice and personal charisma, folks were indifferent to Smokey as he moved to a new phase of his career. This anthology has several top-quality songs and should have been big hits but they just didn't capture the public's fancy. The big hitters are on Side 1, beginning with "Sweet Harmony", a beautiful, wistful song of memories and parting but also of hope and best wishes. Other songs here scored with easy listening, R&B oriented stations that developed their own "quiet storm" formats that were very popular. Side 2 is essentially all filler, with the exception of "Being With You" and "We Saved the Best for Last" with Kenny G. Smokey never approached the quality of singing that was always evident during his tenure with the Miracles. The group brought out something in Smokey that just never came through on his songs as a solo artist.

These days, I honestly doubt anybody is interested in the soulful artists of the past. Nevertheless, with so many people interested in acts like Beyonce', Britney Spears, and Kelly Clarkson, it is sometimes impossible to remember about acts from the past. There are so many from the Motown era that have definitely shown that the music is still showcased beautifully like Smokey Robinson. SInce he stepped away from his time with the legendary gropup, The Miracles, he has brought out an appeal that has still shown to be everlasting to all audiences. There also have been good greatest hits records that have highlighted his music well, and this is one of them.

Smokey Robinson's 2001 The Solo Anthology, is a well-reflected double-album display of his great soulful voice from the Motown era. The songs here on this collection definitely sound better than they were released years ago. There are just so many great hits and reflections shown here including songs like Tracks Of My Tears, Ebony Eyes with the late Rick James who sadly passed away last year, Just To See Her, the R&B standards Let Me Be The Clock, and Crusin' which was covered by D'Angelo and Huey Lewis and Gwenyth Paltrow from the movie Duets.

Arguably, Smokey Robinson's Solo Anthology is a great greatest hits record for die hard Motown fans of all kinds. I absolutely recommend this record a whole lot. It still proves that even after all this time, everything Smokey Robinson touches still shines a little brighter.

Album Cover: B

Songs: A-

Price: B 1/2+

Remastering: A-

Overall: B+