Customer Reviews

Ultimate Air Supply

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Of all of the Greatest Hits' collections that Air Supply has released, this is by far the best and most complete one out. This contains 18 of Air Supply's best songs. The period covered starts in the early 80s with "Lost in Love" and goes to 1995 with "News From Nowhere".

Air Supply really went through three phases. Phase 1 was from 1976 through 1980 -this was before they had commerical success and most of these songs are hard to find and only available on imports. Phase 2 was the most successful commercial period for Air Supply going from 1980 with the "Lost in Love" album, through the "Greatest Hits" album. Phase 3 was less commercially successful, yet the creativity didn't disappear during this phase. On the "Ultimate Air Supply" collection, Phases 2 and 3 are what is included. It would have been nice to see some Phase 1 songs, but it doesn't take away from the quality of the album. One thing to note, if you are looking at other Air Supply collections of hits, this is the most complete. In fact every song from "Greatest Hits" (which really focuses on Phase 2) is on this collection.

The nice thing about this CD is it chronicles all of the songs in the album order. The liner notes are excellent and feature short commentary by Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell. Although the commentary is short, it gives you a lot of insight into the songs as well as some of the producers Air Supply worked with (Clive Davis, Jim Steinman). The liner notes do open with a chronicle of the band's history written by Michael Hill. This chronicle does talk about some of the Phase 1 work that was done by Air Supply. The only shortcoming of the liner notes is that the studio musicians are not credited very well (they actually do a better job on 'Greatest Hits' with this) and the photos included aren't really that great.

The songs from Phase 2 really speak for themselves. Songs such as "I Want to Give It All", "Two Less Lonely People in the World", "Don't Be Afraid", and "Young Love" which were omitted on the "Greatest Hits" album are a part of this album. In Michael Hill's chronicle and the commentary, they discuss how they had to convince Jim Steinman to cut "Making Love Out of Nothing At All" from 20 to 5 minutes - personally I would have loved to have heard what the 20 minute version would have sounded like.

For Air Supply, "Making Love Out of Nothing At All" marked the peak of their popularity and the end of Phase 2. Phase 3 saw Air Supply's record sales dwindle - especially in the U.S. The first album "Air Supply" was actually a very solid album and featured two songs "Just As I Am" and "The Power of Love". "Just As I Am" surprisingly didn't chart well and its a shame because it was probably one of the best songs they produced. "The Power of Love" is a song that was later made famous by Laura Branigan and "Celine Dion", but Russell Hitchcock's voice blows any other version away of that song. Those two songs are two of five songs included from Phase 3. Another Phase 3 song is a remake of Harry Nilsson's "Without You" which I also think is the best version you will hear. I was surprised that the song "Lonely is the Night" from the "Hearts in Motion".

This is a solid collection and well worth the price. It chronciles the band very well and delivers some great insight. It would be my first choice if I was looking to build an Air Supply collection.

I first heard of Air Supply via their contribution on the Ghostbusters soundtrack, "I Can Wait Forever." That was a nice piano ballad with a sizzling rock guitar and strings during the chorus, with highlighted by Russell Hitchcock's Dennis DeYoung or Mickey Thomas-like vocals, depending how high he decided to sing. That song isn't on The Ultimate Air Supply, which contains all their Top 40 hits.

After that, it was "Just As I Am" from their self-titled 1985 album, which reached #19. This was the time they were on the decline, although they still fared well on the Adult Contemporary charts. A similar style, but not as good as "I Can Wait Forever." I also learned they did Jennifer Rush's "The Power of Love" before her own version charted the following year. Not a bad version, even though it bombed at #68, but it hit #13 on the AC charts.

What I'd missed before was a string of Top Five singles starting with "Lost In Love." This #3 hit demonstrated the veritable team of singing duo Graham Russell, with the lower-ranged voice, which were heard on the verses, and Russell Hitchcock's higher ranged vocals, which sang the choruses, gentle guitars and strings, harmonies, and in this song, a few spacey synths. In other words, this was radio-friendly easy love songs or lost love pop a la latter day Chicago or Melissa Manchester for the Adult Contemporary charts, where it spent 6 weeks at #1.

"All Out of Love," their next venture, was better, spending 4 weeks at #2, kept away from the top by Diana Ross's "Upside Down" and Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust." The emotional strings may be overblown in the final sections, but it helps the song, and my enjoyment. Chartwise, this was the 18th biggest hit of 1980, while "Lost In Love" was the 25th the same year.

Though not a single, "Chances" could easily have been a single, especially with the sad and soaring strings, and an electric guitar in the instrumental bridge. Vulnerable is how Graham Russell describes it, and that's how I feel.

The romantic #5 "Every Woman In The World" has a sweetness that may be described as sentimental mush, but at least there is a balance in the lines "you're my fantasy/you're my reality." And its #2 peak on the AC charts attest to that mush. However, it was their next single, "The One That You Love," the title track from their second album, that reached #1 in 1981 (and #2 AC) being the 16th biggest hit that year. The give me another chance motif of the song is highlighted in the chorus's "Here I am the one that you love/asking for another day/understand the one that you love/Loves you in so many ways." From the same album was the #5 (#1 for 3 weeks on AC) "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)", which is the closest to "I Can Wait Forever," except with more soaring strings.

Their next two singles also hit #5, "Sweet Dreams" and one of my faves, "Even The Nights Are Better," which was 4 weeks atop the AC charts. The string orchestration on the chorus provides a catchy swaying hook I enjoy.

Then their Top 5 streak was shattered with two consecutive #38s, "Young Love" and the romantically optimistic "Two Less Lonely People In The World," which accordingly to Graham Russell became a wedding anthem of the 80s, not bad when the cynicism of the 70s, of marriage as a no-longer solid institutional was still lingering.

But Air Supply managed to pull off a final big hit, my favourite AS song, the Jim Steinman-composed "Makin' Love Out of Nothin' At All," whose overblown operatic backing vocals and instrumentation made stars out of Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler (who ironically did this on her Free Spirit album, and whose version I first heard before AS's). It's the E Street Band's Professor Roy Bittan on piano and Max Weinberg doing the thundering drums that herald the second verse on this 3 weeks at #2 hit, the 22nd biggest hit of 1983.

Though eclipsed by the momentous year of 1984 by big hit albums, Air Supply provided a last gasp of breathable romantic easy pop radio ballads with their consecutive seven Top 5 hits from 1980 to 1982.

Like all successful, countless Air Supply hits collections have beeen floating around on the market for years, most of them not good with missing tracks and bad sound. It wasn't until Arista Records released "Ultimate Air Supply" that fans stopped complaining and got a hits set that would please both casual and hardcore fans.

The team of Russel Hitchcock and Graham Russell were the Carpenters of the 1980s', with a string of "easy listening" ballads that crossed over into pop radio and became huge hits. Their first 7 singles alone made Billboard's top five on the pop charts. All those hits are here, from the upbeat, celebratory numbers ("Every Woman In The World", "Even The Nights Are Better" (which, like Russell said, really does sound like Chris Cross's theme from "Arthur") to the heartbreaking breakup songs ("All Out Of Love"). As expected, their two most popular hits are included, "All Out.." and my all - time favorite, the Jim Steiman masterpiece "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All". The latter song I think is truly one of the greatest power ballads of all time. This song did indeed mark a comeback for the group. They had been out of the top 30 for about a year when this song took them to number 2 all over the place. It was also a great time for Steinman. The week the song peaked on the pop charts, the number one song was Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", marking one of the few times that a writer wrote the top 2 singles on the charts. And lurking in the lower half of the top 40 was Barry Manilow's Steiman collaboration "Read 'Em And Weep", which made the top 20 in January of 1984, becoming the ballad crooner's last top 60 hit.

But enough history. Also included is a fare amount of album tracks and rarities. Included in the former category is "Chances", "I Want To Give It All" and the haunting "Don't Be Afraid", later named as a tribute to the late string arranger Frank Elser - Smith. In the latter category is their version of "The Power Of Love". Forgive me for the history lessons, but this song has an interesting story behind it. The song was first recorded by Jennifer Rush, who took the song to number one in England. Air Supply's version was the first to chart in America. It became their first single to miss the top 40 and their second - to - last chart single on the pop chart ("Tender Is The Night", their last song to make the pop chart, is not included here). Air Supply's version couldn't even crack the top 60, to be exact. Rush's version came next but did little better. In 1987, Laura Branigan took the song into the top 30, the most successful version yet. But it wasn't until 1994 that the song became the big hit in America that it was meant to be. That year, Celine Dion recorded it and it topped the pop charts for 4 straight weeks. Hers is the definitve version but Air Supply's version is also good. The cover of "Without You" is good but no matter how hard you try you can't top the smash hit versions by Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey. Those are the best versions of the songs. Two later tracks, the lovely "Goodbye" and the hypnotic "Someone" close out the album on a high note.

This is the best collection of Air Supply's hits ever. Unlike other bands, Air Supply is still touring and occasionally recording today, proving that great music lasts forever. Enjoy the cd.

A lot of people have a hard time understanding how I can listen to Air Supply when I am a college student who also gets into heavy metal, punk, and indie rock most of the time. Yet their craft is undeniable, and I find myself reaching for this CD now and then because they simply do a fantastic job of slow to mid tempo ballads. The biggest problem with this CD is that it is painfully evident that that is their one trick - there's very little to shake things up here. Bands like Journey and REO Speedwagon who specialize in ballads can do rockers very convincingly, even Bread has a few tougher tunes in their repertoire. Yet the sheer amount of work put into these tunes, as well as the powerful voices of both vocalists, make them solidly enjoyable. "Lost In Love" is still probably one of the top 10 soft rock songs of all time, a nice blend of Eagles/Bread/Seals & Crofts, while "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All" is a fantastic anthem.

Best Tracks:
"Lost In Love" - The best song in the band's history. Gorgeous soft pop with a great flowing chorus and nice acoustic backing, I love this tune.
"All Out Of Love" - A bit slower and perhaps more indicitave of the bands sound, this is nevertheless a good ballad.
"Making Love Out Of Nothing At All" - Thrilling, anthemic, and builds to a climax more times than any similarly styled Meat Loaf song. Man these guys can sing!
"Without You" - Had to mention this one, I love both the Badfinger version and the Nilsson version, and these guys take a great stab at it. Vocally perfect, but the producers can be faulted a bit for making it a BIT too slick (nice 80's guitar solo though!)

Air Supply (aka Australian blokes Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock) was without a doubt one of the best bands of the 1980s'. With their sleek ombination of soft rock and grand rigeur power ballads, they were a big hit both critically as well as commercially (a big feat for many 1980s' bands) and "Ultimate Air Supply" proves thei mark on music history is still intact.

Despite having a few big hits in their native Australia in the 1970s', Air Supply had their first internation success in 1980 with their album "Lost In Love". Selling millions of copies and yielding big hits in the smooth title track, the heartwrenching "All Out Of Love" and the wedding perennial "Every Woman In The World", it put Air Supply on the map both with critics and the public.

Their second album, "The One That You Love", proved to be an even greater success, yielding three hit including their only number one, the title track, as well two additional top five hits in the Barry Manilow - esque "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You) and the sweeping "Sweet Dreams".

They suffered a noticable drop in sales with the release of their 1982 album "Now And Forever". Which is not to say the album isn't good. It yielded yet another top five hit and one of their best songs in "Even The Nights Are Better" as well as great minor hits such as "Young Love" and "Two Less Lonely People In The World" (the latter another wedding favorite).

Air Supply rebounded with a "Greatest Hits" album released in 1983. It sold over four million copies and yielded a number two smash in the intense Jim Steinman power ballad "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All", which to me is their best song.

1985's eponymous album supplied Air Supply with their last significant hit, "Just As I Am", which made the lower section of the top twenty. It is also noticable for the track "The Power Of Love". This song was first recorded by Jennifer Rush, who had a big hit with it virtually everywhere except America. Then Air Supply released it in America, where it became their first single to miss the top sixty. Then the late Laura Branigan released it in America in 1987, and she took it into the top 30. But hte most famous (and definitve) version of the song was Celine Dion's version, which toopped the charts in the U.S. for six weeks. Are we clear? (And, for the record, Air Supply's version is pretty good, too).

The last few tracks from their album are from their early 1990s' reunion. In this half of the album, they take a great stab at the Harry Nilsson classic "Without You" (it's tied with Mariah Carey's as third best, after Nilsson's number onehit recording and the 1977 recording by Heart, which I haven't actually heard yet but I bet is good). "Goodbye" and the haunting "Someone" bring the album full circle and look ahead toward the future of this great group.

"Ultimate Air Supply" also does a fine job at collecting some of their best album tracks that weren't ever singles, such as "I Want To Give It All", "Chances" and the eerie "Don't Be Afraid", the last of which is now considered a tribute to their late arranger Frank Elser-Smith and has killer harmonies.

The bottom line is that no cd collection in my opinion would be complete without "Ultimate Air Supply". I recommend it to anyone who has a taste in music or just wants something they could relax to on a long overnight drive or if they want to take a nap. And even if you don't need it for these things, just buy it.

Why MANY people choose to knock this group all the time is beyond me ... yes, they made some syrupy love ballads ... who cares? They also made some great catchy pop songs too ... Even The Nights ... & Just As I Am come to mind quickly.

They were one of the biggest things when I was a kid ... they are still great. And I really don't care what anybody else says!!

Their album "Ultimate Air Supply" has just about every song on it that I have heard them sing.
Thanks for briging back good memories.

I hope I can conjure up the words necessary to explain to the world how important this band is to me. Their arrival on the scene in the mid-to-late seventies was like a breath of fresh air (no pun intended) and helped soothe some of the pain that I felt from Bread's disbanding. Soft rock had some new kings, and they weren't going to let anything bad happen to the kingdom (metaphor).

Listening to "Ultimate Air Supply", it's hard not to think back to some of the best times of my life, falling asleep to "Lost in Love" with the headphones on, or playing a little air guitar to "The One That You Love", trading Air Supply albums with friends. . .good times.

This is the good stuff, right here. This is rock music, gutsy and raw, as pure as it has ever been and ever will be. Punk may lay claim to being the purest genre, but no punk can sing or write with one tenth of the heart and soul that Graham and Russell bring. That goes for the Clash, Green Day, Pearl Jam, Gin Blossoms - all the punks.

As long as Air Supply is still making music, I can sleep easy at night. Thanks guys - from a real fan.

Air supply were much bigger in America, where they had a string of big hits, than in Britain, where they had just two hits - All out of love made number eleven and Even the nights are better was a minor hit. Both of those made the top five in America, as did Lost in love, Every woman in the world, The one that you love, Here I am, Sweet dreams and Making love out of nothing at all. They had other hits in America too, including Two less lonely people in the world, Young love (an original song, not a cover of the rock'n'roll classic) and Just as I am, all included here.

Their last American hit was Power of love, the song that was originally a massive hit in several European countries for Jennifer Rush (including number one in Britain where it charted at the same time as a completely different song with the same title by Huey Lewis) and was later an American hit for Laura Branigan. Celine Dion revived the song in the nineties and had a huge hit in both Britain and America.

For those of you that enjoy romantic pop music, this collection should be just ideal. Fans of Bread in particular should enjoy this.

For the Air Supply fan, this is one of their best compilations (Air Supply-The Definitive Collection is the other). Between 1980 and 1985, Air Supply charted 11 hits on the Billboard Top 40, and all are included in this set. Seven other fan favorites are here, including "Chances", which in my opinion should have been released as a single because of it's lovely melody and passionate lyrics! "The Power Of Love", which years later became a huge hit for Celine Dion, is also a pleasing track. 18 great songs in all....ultimate indeed!