Customer Reviews

Teenage Crush, Vol. 2

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This second installment in Ace Records' "Teenage Crush" series continues to prove their unequalled status in bringing classic American rock and roll to the CD medium. Packed with 28 tracks from the golden age of American pop, this CD has five number ones, 18 top-20 hits, four that made it into the top-40 and one, Bobby Curtola's "Fortune Teller" that was just out of the top-40 (41) on the charts. While mining the top-40, the repertoire here does not just regurgitate the same old stuff found on so many other oldies compilations in the market. While there're lots of familiar tunes here to hum along to, you won't find tracks like Billy Storm's "I've Come Of Age", Larry Hall's "Sandy" or Gary Miles' "Look For A Star" in many, if any, other comp CD's, especially with the sound quality presented here.

As has come to be expected, Ace has secured better sources for many of these tracks and sound quality is the best encountered so far for virtually all of these tunes. Many of the tracks appear in true stereo (6,12,13,15,16,19,22-24,26-28) with the remainder in clean mono. Completing the package is a 16-page booklet with many pics, promo shots and detailed backround notes on the artists represented on the disc. Another outstanding effort by Ace - it just isn't done any better than this.

Over the past decade England's ACE label has become one of the recording industry's leading rerelease giants. In fact, in my book they've outdistanced Rhino Records, who I long considered the standard bearer for reissues. Both labels do a superb job of tracking down the best source tapes available. However, where Rhino generally puts about twenty tracks (or less) on a disk and includes a booklet with only six or eight pages, ACE packs 28 songs onto the disk and includes a 20-page booklet loaded with photos and artist information on every song.

In addition to such No. 1 hits as "Come Softly to Me," "The Three Bells," "Honeycomb," "Venus" and "The Theme from 'A Summer Place,'" you also get seldom anthologized hits like Brook Benton's "Endlessly," Larry Finnegan's "Dear One," Jimmy Elledge's "Funny How Time Slips Away" and Gary Miles' "Look for a Star."

Along with volume one, these are some of the greatest teen ballads of the era--roughly 1957 to 1962. [Only "End of the World" (1963) and "Letter from Sherry" (1964) fall outside this time frame.] So what you're getting are some terrific pre-British Invasion American pop. If you enjoyed the first volume as much as I did, this is an equally superb companion volume. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This is a great CD for anyone who loves oldies! Even though I'm young..., I prefer oldies to modern music, and this album is great! Since no single artist has two songs on it, you never get bored of the style of music. Also, it alternates between male and female voices. Before I got this CD I hardly knew of any of the songs, but now I know and love them all!

I ordered this cd for my nephew and he loves it. What more can I say?

I am a enthousiastic collector, and have almost all the Time Life rock n roll stuff, as well as Eric Records cds of this era. Although they are essential to any 50s 60s collection, nothing can top ACE series.
I could comment like this on all the 50s remasters of this fabulous record label, not only these issues, but especially the Golden Age of American Rock n roll. I can not add anything to the positive reviews than simply summing up my personal view:
28 tracks per cd, and sometimes 30! (Time life is also excellent, but you get 15 per cd!)
excellent booklets with background info (not surpassed by any label).
not the same old songs over again, but many rare and still excellent tracks!
last but not least amazing sound quality.
So although you might have some songs there on other collections, it is for above mentioned points alone worth it to always have an ACE copy as well.