Customer Reviews

Summer of 78

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I remember this CD getting little to no publicity upon its release. What a shame! The orchestrations are incredible; Barry's voice has never sounded better. I'm surprised by all the diappointed reviews I'm reading. Contrary to opinion, 1978 was a lot of disco, but not all disco. There were great non-disco songs that were traversing the airwaves at the time too. Although not all the songs are specifically from 1978... more like 1975-1978... that's a very minor point. These were/are some great songs and Barry has done an incredible job of bringing "new life" to this collection of wonderful "FM station" tunes. The orchestrations are rich, multi-layered. I love popping this CD into my car player, cranking it up, and singing along with Barry over and over again. These new versions are bright, fresh, and positive and leave you with a great feeling- and wanting more after they have ended.

The CD is definitely a "concept album," especially the way almost every song seems to flow into the other (for all those who remember when some songs on albums did that). I do agree with the one reviewer that I would have liked to have heard "Summer of '78" (a great new Barry Manilow original) in a more expanded and/or stand-alone version. This would have made a great single to release over the airwave and give this under-appreciated CD a boost. It would have been nice to have ended the CD with a shortened reprise from the song too to give the album an "ending" as well as having a "beginning."

I've given this CD to many of my B.M. friends (all around my age) who have all raved about this collection after having listened to it. Maybe it was a period of time you had to live through to truly appreciate the music here....

After some not so great CDs over the past few years from this talented artist, this one was a welcome relief. I, too, would love to see him do another album like this again. I highly recommend this CD and give it a "high five" star rating! And... yes, 1978 "... was one of those summers..." and "...I remember the summer of '78..." too! Bravo, Barry! Thanks for recreating some wonderful memories for me with these great songs!

I'm not much of a Barry Manilow fan or 70s music fan, however, I love this CD. It's one of the few we keep in the family van. The tunes here are catchy and the hooks, ah, you'll find yourself singing along.

I haven't heard or listened to the original version of this songs. I was born after Manilow's hits has stopped coming, so I thought at first that these were his originally in the 70s.

The music in this CD are different from the intense power ballads of the 80s; these are fresh and light, the pop song equivalent to equally fresh and light films of Meg Ryan like You've Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle.

I agree with the reviewer who found this to be one of the strongest Barry Manilow recordings ever. He spoke, recently, of doing a follow-up to his tremendously successful '50's collection with a '60's collection and, then, maybe, a 70's one. He should just re-release this neglected minor masterpiece. It's just a terrific CD with one terrific song after another, with wonderful arrangements and fine vocals. Barry's version of "We've Got Tonite" is moving and terrific and could stand with any of his own Top 10 hits. "Just Remember I Love You," by Firefall, is another gem. This CD helped me through a difficult time, I remember, now almost 10 years ago. But that's Barry's magic. He's a singer of hope - and happiness - and romance. And more people like him than probably admit it. I recommend this CD highly. It's going to surprise you. "The Air that I Breathe," "Bluer than Blue," and "I Go Crazy" are other terrific covers Barry does - and he brings new life to them, in my opinion. If this CD had been released now - instead of 10 years ago, when Manilow's career was somewhat at an ebb - it would be a monster hit. Hear it and play it now. Pop it into the car CD and see if you agree with the other reviewers who also regard this as one of Barry's finest efforts. I wish he'd sing "We've Got Tonite" more in his own concerts. His beautiful arrangement and his slight change of lyrics, "... but I may stop searching, after today ..." stamp this as another Manilow classic of hoped for love in an often cold world - sentiments that never get old. I'm not ashamed to admit it: I consider him a national treasure. I just wish another equally talented man, John Denver, had gotten the later-in-life appreciation that Barry is garnering - and deserving. This CD is a true inspiration, filled with wonderful music and lyrics. And Barry's voice has never been better than in this inspired collection of '70's classics. He's brought a lot of joy to a lot of people, not a bad way to live your life, and the music on this CD tells you why.

Well, this recent aquisition is my 41st Manilow CD (a hair less if you count them by actual albums, since some albums have more than one CD). This is a 12-track collection of absolutely beautiful songs that Barry is not famous for. God, I LOVE his music!

This CD is all beautiful songs. They just make you wanna melt! They are songs from the '70s that Barry did an album of in 1996. Why "The Summer of '78"? I donno--must have been a special time for Mr. B. I think everybody remembers "Reminiscing," "Sometimes When We Touch," "Never My Love," "I Go Crazy," and "Just Remember I Love You". "I Go Crazy" and "Sometimes When We Touch" are just so very beautifully crafted by Barry. I guess they are my favorites on this CD, but I love them all.

"I'd Really Love To See You Tonight" is done differently than I'm used to. I have several club mix versions of this song, as as much as I love them, I love this version without the pizzaz too. Oh, you'll recognize "The Air That I Breathe" too. I recognize "Interlude: Love's Theme" from some TV show of the '70s but cannot remember which one. You know, dah, dah dah...dah, dah dah. Anyway, you'll recognize it when you hear it. Other songs include "Summer of '78" and "When I Need You," "Bluer Than Blue," and "We've Got Tonight".

Geeze. This is just one beautifully romantic drop-dead gorgeous album. Sorry it took me 11 years to discover it. Don't let it happen to you.

Let the Manilonian in you come out and feel the love in this album. It's incredible! 12 tracks, totalling only 36.51 minutes, but outstandingly make-you-wanna-melt-where-you-stand beautiful!

Update: June 2008-I have pondered the "Which is my favorite Barry album" for some time now and I think I have to say that as much as I love them all, I think "Summer of '78" and "One Voice" are my favorites of the favorites.

the title doesn't really mean EVERY single song on here was from 1978. "Summer of '78" contains 9 full songs plus three medleys at the start of the CD. "Summer of '78" merges into an instrumental before going into an abbreviated version of "Reminiscing". After that, there's nothing but complete songs and the first is the excellant "I Go Crazy", a former hit for Paul Davis. Manilow's version became a Top-20 AC hit in 1997. "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight" was the other single from the album. "When I Need You", "Bluer Than Blue", "Sometimes When We Touch", and "The Air That I Breathe" are given strict delivery from Manilow. He doesn't re-arrange any of the songs and deliver them in his "style" which was kind of strange, making me give this 4 stars. All of these songs are love ballads and are all well done vocally and musically. It's AC music, which has always been Barry's strongest support even though AC radio of late for some dumb reason is starting to play way too much R&B and alternative pop/folk, putting AC artists out of a job en masse. even Elton John's finding a hard time getting on AC radio because of all the invaders...get this album and hear Manilow perform the songs he was competing with the first time around.

Look, I am a 19 year old frat boy and i love the CD!

OK so that's a phrase I never uttred... But after awhile of listening to Barry's album I feel like I almost could have. As a lifelong Manilow fan I know every single song by heart and this album is no exception. The best song is the last track "Just remember I love you" without a doubt but all of them are pretty good. What I like about it is it shows off some of the better song writing of the 70's without us having to sit through the 70's version of the song... How many times have you heard olvia Newton-john and just wanted to stick your head in the oven?. it's notelgia in a cool way-- like Bob Dole. Buy it and impress your parents and enlighten your friends who would never own a manilow album

Excellant album, sure its not the orignal works but its nice to hear Barry sing the old ones. I only wish the album had more songs!!! I have been a fan for 22 years and I noticed that some fan didnt appreciate the album...your loss.

This is an absolutely incredible album with songs of the 70s made sooo much better. Whenever I hear these songs on the radio by the original artist I say, "This song is so much better when Barry sings it." Barry brings his own wonderful style to these songs, making it a listener's paradise.

Barry Manilow has always done a great job with re-arranging songs to fit his voice, and on this cd he doesn't fail, I have really enjoyed this cd over the years, it takes me back to the 70's, Barry thank you for this one!