Customer Reviews

Stronghold - The Collector's Hit Box

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

WOW! One lady that really knows how to please her fans, is Jennifer Rush! Instead of just filling her latest box set with hits and album tracks again, she's put every unreleased or rare track on it that she could find...!

Included are ALL her singles from her initial heyday - but not just in their usual form, she's gone and put all 16 extended versions that were made in the box! (And great to finally see one of my favourite singles from her - the brilliant 'Madonna's Eyes' - on one of her collections!)
Furthermore every b-side, rare and unreleased track she could get her hands on (including four James Bond theme songs she recorded with an orchestra in 1984!)
Other "super surprises" include her very first two singles she recorded under her given name Heidi Stern, 4 Spanish versions of her hits, rare soundtrack songs, plus the brand new 2007 remix of 'I Come Undone' by Dave Kurtis! Wow! Wow! Wow!

Could a fan ask for more? I don't see how! Everything re-mastered and in crisp-and-clear CD sound... if only other artists would be as generous... Thanks Jennifer!

just recieved my *stronghold* box set by jennifer rush from amazon- and
let me say thank you amazon for making this so simple. this box set is
better than a dream come true- we have all the hits, extended versions,
prev. unreleased recordings, the james bond themes, a extended dance
version of "i come undone" all beautifully packaged. i have always been
a jennifer rush fan and must say this is what i had no idea was gonna
be available. JENNIFER RUSH has one of the best, clearest, amazing
voices ever. she has conquered so much in her career. her dance songs
are all great with a extraordianry european flavor plus her ballads are
lush, powerful, and appealing. i have all her CD's and find each one
can stand on it's own, whenever we get a new jennifer rush CD we know it
was worth the wait. this package just amazes me.........and the price is
just unbelieveable---I LOVE THIS--

1. Ave Maria (Survivors Of A Different Kind)
2. I Come Undone (Extended Version)
3. Into My Dreams
4. Destiny (Extended Version)
5. You're My One And Only (Extended Version)
6. Call My Name
7. Wings Of Desire (Extended Version)
8. Flames Of Paradise (Duet With Elton John) (Extended Version)
9. Yesterme, Yesteryou, Yesterday
10. Come Give Me Your Hand
11. Falling In Love
12. Madonna's Eyes (Extended Version)
13. Love Get Ready (Extended Version)
14. Testify With My Heart
15. Love Is A Wild Thing
16. The Power Of Love (Extended Version)
17. Stronghold
18. 25 Lovers
19. Heart Over Mind (Extended Version)
20. If You're Ever Gonna Lose My Love (Guitar Mix)
21. Till I Loved You (Duet With Placido Domingo)
22. We Are The Strong (Extended Version)
23. Higher Ground (Extended Version)
24. Same Heart (Duet With Michael Bolton)
25. Heart Wars
26. Midnight Mirage
27. Hero Of A Fool
28. Keep All The Fires Burning Bright (Extended Version)
29. Down To You
30. Ring Of Ice (Extended Version)
31. When I Look In Your Eyes
32. Where Can You Run
33. Tonight
34. Listen (To What I Say)
35. Goldfinger
36. The Man With The Golden Gun
37. For Your Eyes Only
38. Thunderball
39. Give Out
40. Witch Queen Of New Orleans
41. The Power Of Love (Radio Edit)
42. Ring Of Ice (Extended Uk Remix)
43. Heart Over Mind (Single Mix)
44. Keep All The Fires Burning Bright (Club Mix)
45. Another Way
46. We Are The Strong (Single Version)
47. Si Tu Eres Mi Homre Y Yo Tu Mujer (The Power Of Love)
48. No Me Canso De Pensar En Ti (If You're Ever Gonna Lose My Love)
49. Vida De Mi Vida (You ' Re My One And Only)
50. Solitaria Mujer (Keep All The Fires Burning Bright)
51. We Are The Strong (Soundtrack Version)
52. I Come Undone (Dave Kurtis Remix 2007)

I'll try to write my review in the best English I can: I totally agree with the previous reviewers, in my opinion it is one of the best compilations I have ever bought, a true GIFT if you like good pop music. It includes a lot of alternative versions, most of them extended, very well made with very good production, which is a reflection of her ability to work with incredible songwriters and producers and of course her great talent and lovely voice.
Also I think that the price of this 3 cd set is very reasonable.
If you like Stronghold, I think that a good complement for it is Jennifer's album called simply 'Jennifer Rush'Jennifer Rush, it includes some interesting lovely songs.
A good review uses to have positive and negative points, I'm sorry because this is probably going to be a bad review, in spite of that I hope it's been useful to you all.

I have to admit...I saw this Jennifer Rush/Heidi Stern 3CD box whilst browsing at J&R Music in NYC, and it was fairly cheap. Something drew me to this set...curiosity perhaps?? I remember seeing her records in the 80s and sorta forgot about her, but I do recall her 2 minor US hits in the original version of "The Power Of Love" (which she co-wrote, a BIG plus), and her Elton John duet "Flames Of Paradise"...I may have owned the US version of "Heart Over Mind" on vinyl or cassette, I forgot. THEN I saw the tracklisting and I saw the Michael Bolton duet, and I was like UGH and shied away...Bolton is the worst male singer imaginable yet his style worked on overproduced, over-the-top 80s hard rock/heavy metal...back to Jennifer/Heidi...then I saw all 16 of her 12" records on this box, and that got my attention, as I LOVE 80s 12" records and Euro sounds/artists like Sandra Cretu and Spagna, and I knew Jenny/Heidi was/is HUGE in Germany, which is where lots of my fave 80s sounds come from...so I caved as the price was right.

I got it home and I was like "HOLY CRAP!!" Musically, it's VERY 80s, bombastic but melodic, poppy, Euro dancerock, with LOTS of hardrocking guitars over big beats next to Euro-flavoured keyboards and electronic drums, and VERY melodramatic ballads. In the wrong hands, this all could sound like an overly dated mess...this is the type of stuff that American rock critics HATE with a passion...but somehow, Jenny/Heidi makes it work...she transcends 80s bloated and dated cheesiness with utter class and Euro sophistication...it's almost TOO commercial, but to the point that it's not commercial at all!!! Like things are so uncool that they turn out to be cool, or things are so bad that they're great??? Jenny/Heidi, same thing.

Now, her voice...that's the icing on the cake and what separates her from most others...I love the fact that she's a songwriter...that sets her apart from the somewhat similar but much lesser Celine Dion...Jenny/Heidi seems more worldly and knowledgeable. The thing about her is that she's both operatic and muscular, with a sense of grace and melody. Tonewise, she sounds much better today, and she'd sound great fronting a Finnish opera metal band like Nightwish...she reminded me a LOT of Tarja, former singer from Nightwish...in the 80s, she probably sounded out-of-place in her native New York City...her sound was nowhere here as it's European in flavour...she has an edge as well, which reminded me of Lisa Dalbello (a Canadian artist who also found a musical home in Germany) and German artist Nina Hagen...AND she also has soul and phrasing which recall another fave, Lisa Stansfield, to a small degree. Lastly, and this shows on her KILLER unreleased Bond covers on this set...Jenny/Heidi mixes bombast and grace not unlike an American Shirley Bassey!!!! All these elements mixed together in an original way, it shows her multidimensional ways with her music which make her stand apart from wannabes like Celine Dion, who is basically one-dimensional in comparison...and thank goodness she drowns out Bolton on their duet with her voice, whew!!!

She never cracked her native US because she's simply...as someone else said...TOO good for America (her record company tried probably, but her style was VERY out-of-step with American mainstream tastes and radio, and it's nothing she or Columbia/Epic/Sony could have done about it)...she even has a rock & roll slant like a more operatic Tina Turner, and this shows in her cover of Redbone's "Witch Queen Of New Orleans", and the many rocking guitars in lots of her songs, even the dancetracks like the KILLER "I Come Undone"...I heard that and flipped and I was like "I know that song!!!", which made me think I had "Heart Over Mind" on vinyl or cassette in 1987, as that's the first track on the album...and I LOVE the 2007 remix on the box as well...that's awesome.

I'm looking forward to her new album, and NOW, I want back catalogue...all that, not bad for a nice Jewish girl from NYC...biggest single by a female artist in the history of the UK charts???? Onetime biggest artist on Sony in Germany??? As for that DVD (which I want), not able to play on US players...it's PAL and you need a progressive-scan DVD or Blu-Ray player...I have a pro-scan DVD player by JVC and my Sandra DVD plays perfectly...I'm hooked on Jenny/Heidi now...she looks even sexier now than in the 80s too, yowza!!!

If you're trying to get all of Jennifer's 80s output, all you need to get is "Stronghold: The Collector's Hit Box" and the other 3-CD set simply called "The Hit Box" and you will have every track from the Wings of Desire, and numerous versions of the first album "Jennifer Rush" (I've seen at least 3 different track listings for this album from various country, and every song from all 3 versions is on these 2 box sets). The only song you will be missing from the Heart Over Mind CD is "Search the Sky", and the only 2 songs from the Passion CD are "Remind My Heart" and "You Don't Know What You've Got (Until It's Gone)". On top of that, you get dozens of the 12" mixes and numerous other rare tracks not from any of her albums. This is a much easier and cheaper way to complete your Jennifer Rush collection than trying to buy all four albums, because some of them are out of print and rather costly on the used market!

Headline says it all. Would've been nice to have her German version of 'The Colors of the Wind' (from 'Pocahontas') included--that's my one very minor complaint!

Three CDs with high quality and very complete. All popular songs are included, some new remixed. Also there are some unknown and new songs, but all very typical for Jennifer Rush. If someone is a fan, the collection is a must-have. If someone never had any CD of J.Rush before, only this one collection is needed to have the essential songs and releases.

There isn't much more to say that hasn't already been said. This is a great box set of hard to find tracks by one great singer!

This is a great compilation album. Jennifer has a wide repertoire and this album contains the highlights. I found it difficult to find her albums here in the U.S., but this one was a good find. Excellent singing, and well worth the money.