Customer Reviews

Ultimate Collection

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

All the classic Gap Band hits from the Mercury years are here (as expected), but this collection includes another half dozen of their Top 40 R&B hits not currently available on CD. The sound is superb, the liner notes enlightening, as expected from Hip-O. With all respect to 'reviewer 2255', the 12" versions of those handful of Gap Band classics are already available on several well done collections, the downside being you can only fit 8-12 songs on a CD when using the long versions. The Ultimate Collection song listing (both here at Amazon, and on the back of the CD) is quite clear that these are the single (hit radio) versions of many of these classic songs. As for me, I'm just thrilled to find the 19 biggest Gap Band hits on 1 disc (this puppy clocks in at 79+ minutes). This is truly influential stuff. Make mine the Ultimate!

High steppin', low steppin', rock steppin' and roll steppin' is what the "Gap Band - Ultimate Collection" is about...nineteen of the best from the greatest brothers act - Charlie, Ronnie and Robert Wilson the most aggressive funk-group team recording in the '70s.

From this top hit "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU WANT TO GET UP AND DANCE" (Oops, Up Side Your Head), the band had their first gold album (for THE GAP BAND II) and a new reputation as R&B's out-there brothers was born..."EARLY IN THE MORNING", "BURN RUBBER", "YOU DROPPED THE BOMB ON ME", "OUTSTANDING" and "ALL OF MY LOVE", went on to score number one.

Compilation once again, under the guidance of Pat Lawrence - assisted by Dana G. Smart and Michele Horie of Hip-O Records, job well done. Good to hear that classic sound for the listeners old and new to enjoy as - THE GAP BAND RIDES AGAIN!

Total Time: 79:35 on 19 Tracks...Hip-O Records 314 548 098 2...(2001)

The ultimate collection is indeed a good CD. This disc covers

their early material going all the way back to "Shake", which is

from 1979. Unfortunately, many of the good earlier songs like

"Burn Rubber" and Early in the Morning" are short edited single

versons instead of the longer and better album versions. For

longtime Gap fans this is somewhat of a disappointment.

However, what this CD does offer is some of their newer, later

material like "All of my Love", "We can Make it Alright" and

"Sweeter than Candy", which for a long time was NOT available

on CD anywhere. The newer songs are the album versions. The

disc itself sounds good and you can hear the guitars, drum

beats, and synthesizers/keyboards crystal clear. A nice Gap

Band compilation CD.

The Gap Band was a great funk/soul group of the 70's-early 80's. While this collection is nice, I personally would have liked to have seen more concentration on their 70's-early 80's songs and a little less of the late 80's-early 90's songs. Also, on those 70's-80's songs, it would have been nice to have gotten the full-length versions, on the ones that were cut short. That aside, overall this is a pretty comprehensive Gap Band compilation and I would still highly recommend it to any funk/urban/soul lover.

....to it's credit this collection has a few of Gap's later radio list hits like the theme to "I'm Gonna Get You Sukka". But, with those edits cut for singles, it leaves the listener wanting. Better to find the uncut, full time versions and 12" versions especially for "Burn Rubber On Me" and "You Dropped A Bomb on Me". That, again, is my humble opinion which I feel is from a buyer's standpoint.

I've been looking for decent copies of the original tunes, as I've bought (and lost) several cd copies over the years. There are instruments and additions that I've never heard in other versions. Call me a purist, but by-and-large I wasn't looking for that. If I wanted ANY change it would be a shorter--but otherwise unedited--version of 'Party Train'.

They probably neglected to mention this is more about reworked classics than straight old-school classics.

back in the day if you wanted a Summer Jam to Dance to you knew that the Gap Band would be one of the few Acts that would give up the Goods Yearly.they always had a Jam."Outstanding","Party Train","You Dropped a Bomb on Me",etc..the Sound here help pave the way for New Jack Swing.and so many Singers have made a Career off of Charlie Wilson's Signature Vocals.Grooves&Vocals that are still as Fresh now as when they came out.

If you're looking to hear the Gap Band's classic material with newfound punch and clarity, avoid this compilation at all costs as it is one of the worst-sounding CD's ever produced. Everything is over-compressed and over-modulated so badly, there is NO dynamic range to be found here, just ONE LEVEL AND THAT IS LOUD. You'd have better luck calling your local radio station and asking them to play these songs - they would sound better over the radio. The pity is that there is some great music here, but the real shame is that this is the first time the majority of the Gap's single versions have appeared on CD in one place and on a compilation bearing their name. Universal and Hip-O are amongst the worst offenders of the loudness practice and the villain here is Erick Labson, easily amongst the top five worst mastering engineers in the business. As I have no sincere hope Universal and their stable of horse engineers will ever get it right, instead buy the "Best of" comp from '94 - they're the long versions, but were mastered before the loudness trend that has ruined the recording industry.

FROM NINETY SEVENTY SEVEN TO NINETY EIGHTY EIGHT WAS THE BEST YEARS FOR MY IDOL UNCLE CHARLIE AND HIS BROTHERS KNOWN AS THE GAP BAND RATHER THAN SOLO HE HAD SO MUCH STEVIE WONDER IN HIS VOICE IT BLEW MY MIND EVEN THOUGH THE SONGS WERE CUT IT IS STILL GOOD TO HAVE IN A FUNK COLLECTION INCLUDING MOTION PICTURE THEME SONG IM GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA AFTER THAT THAT MY CUT OFF POINT BUT I STILL LOVE THEM FOVERER GAP BAND FAN KEEP IT FUNKY

like this cd very much brings back alot of good times back in the 80's