Customer Reviews

Ultimate Collection

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

There is a CD that was released recently titled "Aimee Mann--the Ultimate Collection". I want to give everyone a heads-up about this CD, because it was not only something that I had nothing to do with, it's a product I consider to be seriously substandard and misleading. My manager Michael Hausman and I heard that this project was in the works several months ago. In our opinion the label putting out the record, Hip-O Records, had no right to use the material they were intending to use in the first place. But I didn't want to be the bad guy and shut the project down entirely, so I asked Michael to get in touch with whoever was heading the project and offer our services, so that the record could be one I was proud of, even if it wasn't something I wanted out in the first place. I offered to do the artwork, as I had done for every record I've ever made except the first Til Tuesday record, and be involved in song selection. This offer was flatly refused--we were basically barred from being involved in any way on a project that had my NAME on it. As typical as this is in the music business, it still never ceases to amaze me. The most unbelievable thing they did was to take quotes from old interviews and weave them into liner notes for the package so that it would APPEAR that I had been involved--basically using my own reputation for integrity in my music to sell their own .... product.

And the very title--"The Ultimate Collection"--implies at the very least a comprehensive collection, when it doesn't contain anything from Bachelor No. 2 and only one song from Magnolia (and not the Oscar-nominated song), and yet it DOES contain several things I personally consider to be absolute ...., including a rough mix of one song from just one of two reels of tracks, a song recorded live off the radio 10 years ago and never authorized by me to be recorded at all, much less released, a song I recorded for a movie as a favor to a producer friend that I didn't even write, etc. None of the great little B-sides or demos that I was actually proud of and thought would be perfect for this kind of collection.

So I would ask everyone to please give this one a miss-- I hate to see fans being subjected to this kind of music industry bait-and-switch. Michael Hausman and I have been planning to put out our own collection that I promise will be a lot more "ultimate" than this wretched ...... Needless to say, there's also ....... in the works. To put out a record that deliberately gives the impression that it's been authorized by me is really the last straw.

Please, please, please don't buy this disc. Aimee Mann is one of the smartest, finest performers around today, and those who haven't felt the joy of an Aimee Mann album should rush right out and buy one--but this isn't it.

Mann has been cheated and disrespected by the record industry at every turn (and there have been many turns) in her long career, and this collection is just another screwjob.

These tracks were essentially stolen from Mann, put out without her permission, and--in an ultimate act of sleaze--presented as an authorized project. They even took Mann's words from old interviews and incorporated them into the liner notes--as if she were involved from the start.

Mann herself considers this CD to be "substandard and misleading". She says that, while she is proud of some of the tracks contained herein, "it DOES contain several things I personally consider to be absolute crap, including a rough mix of one song from just one of two reels of tracks, [and] a song recorded live off the radio 10 years ago and never authorized by me to be recorded at all..."

If you're new to Aimee Mann, buy "Whatever" or "I'm With Stupid" or the most recent album "Bachelor No. 2".

If you know and love Mann's work, shame on you for even considering purchasing this slap-in-the-face.

Sonically, this is an outstanding disk.... and there are some great songs on it. But most people would be better served by purchasing other Aimee Mann CDs. Whether you know Aimee only through her work on Magnolia, or are a long time fan, you would do much better with her outstanding new album Bachelor #2. I love every song on that album and it is one of the best of the year, by any artist.If you already have Bachelor #2, I would recommend purchasing "I'm With Stupid" and "Whatever". There are too many great songs from those albums missing on this collection. These include some of my favorites, "Its Not Safe" from I'm With Stupid" and "Fourth of July" and "I've Had It" from Whatever.If you have all of Aimee's other work, then, and ONLY then, you might think about buying this collection for the B sides. That is my honest advice based on the merits of the music on this CD. However, it is worth noting that Michael Hausman IS Aimee Mann's manager. It is terribly unfair that Universal is trying to profit from Aimee's recent success and hard work after the way they treated her.

On her website, aimeemann.com, aimee herself is asking her fans to please NOT purchase this cd. It was not authorized by Aimee and she was refused when she offered to assist in the sequencing of the tracks, the mixes, and the artwork. Many of the tracks were never intended to be released in the form that they exist in on this collection. Aimee Mann has already begun a lawsuit against the company that released this. She will not make any money from the sale of this album. Luckily she has worked so hard against the corporate record companies that have made it so difficult for her fans to hear her music. If you want the real thing, buy "I'm With Stupid", "Bachelor #2" and the Magnolia soundtrack. The Ultimate Disrespect for Artists folks have also done a similar slap in the face to Maria McKee recently. These two singers should be revered for their contributions, not taken advantage of for the benefit of corporate slobs. Don't give in to this mediocre collection. Buy the music Aimee Mann intended her fans to have. Also - while you're at it - check out Aimee Mann's extraordinary producer's debut - Jon Brion's "Meaningless" album. It features a great Aimee Mann song on it!

You CAN go wrong with this disc. In fact, you WILL. This compilation is a misappropriation of Mann's words, images and songs. It was not authorized by her and its purchase should not be encouraged.

This record is a sad and selfish attempt on behalf of Aimee Mann's EX recording company to make money off an artist they rightfully lost. Don't buy it, be respectful to Aimee, most of the good songs on this album can be found on her earlier records.

Aimee Mann is a genius, and if you haven't yet purchased her solo albums, skip this collection altogether, because it isn't represenntative of her best work. The selections miss the best of her Til Tuesday work and take far too much from "I'm with Stupid". And it completely ignores Magnolia and the brilliant Bachelor #2. Why? Because Hipp-0, the label involved here, is really Universal/Interscope, the label that refused to release both the Magnolia soundtrack and Bachelor #2, leaving Mann with no choice but to buy the music back and distribute it on her own. Of course, she ended up becoming a bigger success than she'd ever been while signed to a label, so here is their attempt now to cash in and fill their coffers (not Aimee's) by releasing any tracks they could get their hands on. UGH>>>>>

Anyone who says that this is a must-have for Aimee Mann/Til Tuesday fans obviously don't know the story behind this cd. This cd was released against Aimee's wishes. It has nothing to do with the manager being greedy. The manager Michael Hausman used to be the drummer for Til Tuesday so he knows and understands Aimee Mann as an artist. So what if this cd includes unreleased b-sides? They still won't get me to buy it.

Please do not buy this CD! Hip-O Records is ripping Aimee Mann off ... Universal is at it again! Aimee has recently said she is going to put together a REAL "Aimee Mann Ultimate Collection." Wait for that. Don't put another cent in the pockets of slimy record execs who didn't recognize a good thing when they had her. Now they want to make a quick dirty buck. Jerk-offs.

OK, first off, what this is NOT: It's not the "Ultimate" Aimee Mann collection. It justifies that title neither in scope (it includes only two 'til Tuesday tracks and nothing from her most recent album, "Bachelor #2"), nor in judgement regarding track selection. On that latter point, where to even start...OK, the 'til Tuesday years are represented by three tracks: "Voices Carry" (a no-brainer, and as a nice bonus, the 45 mix is included here), "Everything's Different Now" (a dumb choice, given only three inclusions, as it has the dubious distinction of being one of the few 'til Tuesday tracks that Mann didn't even write, and while it's good, it's certainly not as good as other 'til Tuesday songs--start with "Coming up Close" and move on from there),and "Other End (Of the Telescope)" (in a recent live version that would pale in comparison to the original studio release even if it weren't annoyingly off key).

Moving on to the solo years, why is there so little from her first solo album "Whatever" and so much from the inferior followup "I'm With Stupid"? Where are superior "Whatever" tracks such as "I've Had It", "4th of July", Could've Been Anyone", "Mr. Harris" or "I Know There's a Word"?

So this is far from being the Ultimate anything, except possibly the ultimate cash-in. That said, there ARE reasons to own this collection, all of them the scattered b-sides that have been larded in to entice long-term fans. If you don't already own the "Whatever" era b-sides "Take It Back" or "Jimmy Hoffa Jokes" you NEED them--these are brilliant songs that in a brilliantly perverse decision appeared only as bonus tracks on CD singles and promo items--and since the original sources are now hard to find, this is a convenient way to get them. Silly title be damned, "Jimmy Hoffa Jokes" may well rank in the top 10 Mann songs of all time, and "Take It Back" is not far behind. Mann's cover of Badfinger's "Baby Blue" is faithful and terrific as well. "Driving With One Hand on the Wheel", which appeared as both a "I'm With Stupid" b-side and on the "Safe and Sound" benefit compilation, is merely adequate Aimee Mann (which is to say essential by the standards of lesser artists). Sign of Love is an insignificant pop cover that originally appeared on the "Back to the Beach" soundtrack. Mann completists will want this, but everyone else can pass. And as for the aforementioned live version of "Other End (of the Telescope)", well, the less said the better.

Overall, then, completists and committed fans will want this for the b-sides if they don't already have them. Everyone else is directed to purchase her original solo albums in their entirety, starting with "Whatever".

The three stars are entirely for the two brilliant original "Whatever"-era b-sides that appear here and nowhere else (nowhere else in print, that is), and for the Badfinger cover.

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