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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
1989 Again., May 8, 2006
This review is from: Stock Aitken & Waterman: Gold (Audio CD)
Their songs are shamelessly formulaic, beat-driven, just-add-water dance pop. Still, I give this compilation five stars, the highest rating you can give to any product on this website. You think I'm nuts? Maybe I am, but it's in the opinion of this reviewer that Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman were among the best songwriters of the mid-to-late 1980s. During that time frame, these guys ruled the UK (and, to a much lesser degree, the US) charts with their flighty, perky pop hits that resulted in platinum discs and Number Ones for Kylie, Dead or Alive, Rick Astley, and Jason Donovan among others. It'd be technically impossible to compile every major SAW hit on a 3-CD set, but "Gold" is still worth your time. For one, the songs are superbly remastered, and for this American reviewer, I'm hearing many of these tracks for the first time on CD. This set has the predictable hits from Kylie, Jason, Rick, and Bananarama, but the true thrill is listening to the lesser tracks, some of which have long been out-of-print. Brother Beyond's Mowtown-lite confections "The Harder I Try" and "He Ain't No Competition" sound even better today than they did in 1988. Divine's flamingly fierce "You Think You're a Man" appears twice: the single edit and the extended 12-inch version. Sonia's "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You" and "Big Fun"'s Jacksons cover "Blame it on the Boogie" are cheesy fun, while Samntha Fox's guilty pleasure "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" is Ni-NRG bliss. Those who like their pop high on the cheese factor will find delight in the Reynolds Girls' "I'd Rather Jack," a song so aggressively awful that it qualifies as a dance camp classic. We get a triple dose of this single: it appears in its editied and 12-inch version (Disc three has 10 extended 12-inch tracks), and it's included in the 13-minute PWL Megamix. This isn't the first SAW compilation of this kind, but for those who want remastered quality and to relive the glory years of the 1980s should click "add to cart." Give me Stock Aitken Waterman over Britney, Justin Timberlake, and the Backstreet Boys any day.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gold from SAW, December 3, 2005
This review is from: Stock Aitken & Waterman: Gold (Audio CD)
Stock Aitken Waterman Gold is a 3 CD collection of the UK trio's hit productions for acts ranging from Kylie Minogue, Bananarama, Rick Astley, Princess, Cliff Richard to Donna Summer.
Their aim was to churn out hit after hit, (they were nicknamed the hit factory) and even though a lot of their music did sound glossy and mass produced (loathed by most critics), it was light, fun, and hugely danceable, and sold massively.
Contained here are most of their hits; Donna Summer's US comeback top 10 hit `This time I know it's for real' and `I don't wanna get hurt' (available here in the funkier superior remix version, not the album version), Rick Astley's huge hits `Never gonna give you up', and Together forever', Bananarama's US chart topping remake of `Venus', `Respectable' and Showing out' by sister duo Mel & Kim, the funky anthem `Roadblock' performed by SAW themselves, and `Say I'm your number 1' by Princess to name a few.
The third disc comprises rarities; remixes of hits like `You spin me around' by Dead or alive, `Better the devil you know' by Kylie Minogue, `Beyond your wildest dreams' by Lonnie Gordon and `I'd rather jack' by The Reynolds Girls' to mention a few.
I was disappointed with the scanty CD booklet though. Would have been cool to see photos of all the acts, as well as chart stats of the songs (not to mention their hits with 3 Degrees) but still, a great collection that takes one back to when SAW were the masters of the UK airwaves...
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"The Sound of a Bright Young Britain", January 18, 2006
This review is from: Stock Aitken & Waterman: Gold (Audio CD)
That was the slogan that Pete Waterman chose for his company. It paraphrased the slogan that Motown had used two decades earlier. Pete Waterman, producer and record mogul, had worked with Gamble, Huff and Bell back in the heyday of Philly Soul in the 1970s. He understood the formula on how to make a hit record. He just needed the musicians in order to make it happen for himself. In the early 80s, he hooked up with Mike Stock and Matt Aitken, two musicians who were making small waves in the British music scene. With Stock and Aitken's songwriting abilities and Waterman's ear, they set off on their big adventure.
Their earliest hits by Divine, Hazell Dean and Princess didn't have that polished, tried-and-true PWL Records formula that would become so recognisable during their run with Rick Astley, Kylie Minogue, Sonia, Donna Summer or Big Fun. Still, the seeds of their sound had been planted and soon acts such as Dead or Alive and Bananarama were looking to come aboard.
"The Sound of a Bright Young Britain" was energetic, fun, disposable pure pop that made you want to dance, hum along or drive with the windows open. Yes, it was lightweight but that's the whole point of pop music. Included on this collection are brilliantly remastered moments from their chart-topping reign in the UK and around the world. One rarity, Mandy Smith's take on the old Kylie chestnut, "Got to Be Certain" closes out the main portion of the collection. The third disc contains remixes, along with a PWLradio.com megamix that includes Rick Astley's "Whenever You Need Somebody", and a couple other tracks that weren't included on the two main discs as well as The Twins' rare track, "All Mixed Up".
Sure, there are some omissions in this collection. Unless you are creating a dream boxed-set of Stock/Aitken/Waterman's output, this collection will have to do. These songs were chosen to represnt their best moments. All in all, it's not bad. The songs have never sounded better and sometimes it's good to to just let loose and feel young again.
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