Ultimate Collection

Gino Vannelli | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 15, 2000)
• Original Release Date: February 15, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Interscope Records
• ASIN: B00004D3D8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,083 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Vannelli's incredible string of hit recordings, and his renowned gifts as a vocalist, composer, and lyricist place him in a league with the great interpreters of popular song. Throughout his career, Vannelli has explored new modes of expression, from his ground breaking 1970s work with synthesizers to his current recording, Slow Love, which marks a new peak in the singer's evolution.

Vannelli's pursuit of his musical vision eventually led to his 1978 breakthrough commercial triumph, the platinum-selling Brother to Brother, featuring the #1 pop success, "I Just Wanna Stop". Vannelli, along with his brothers Joe and Ross, had by now earned five consecutive Juno awards as Canada's Top Male Vocalist, Producer, and Engineer of the Year, respectively. Gino also received another Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance. 1981 heralded Vannelli's most adventurous album to date, Nightwalker, with its incredibly popular single "Living Inside Myself" (and a fourth Grammy nomination). He followed with the platinum-selling Black Cars in the mid-80s, and then Big Dreamers Never Sleep (recorded at his Blue Moon Studios).

Gino Vannelli: Ultimate Collection is the first career-spanning compilation that includes his recordings from A&M and Arista Records.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great "Best Of" Collection!, April 5, 2000

By 

Alain Brouillaud (Helsinki, FINLAND) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)

If you've never listened to Gino Vannelli's music before, there's no better way to discover his genius than through the "Ultimate Collection".

My first introduction to Gino was through "I Just Wanna Stop". I listened to the B-side cut called "The Surest Things Can Change" and I was hooked! The lady my Grandfather was seeing at the time was a huge Gino Vannelli fan, she had three of his albums. I listened to all of them that evening. I was blown away by Gino's different styles of music and his great voice.

Gino Vannelli's sound isn't just slow love songs (though he tears those up like nobody's business) you'll find progressive rock tunes like "Appaloosa" , "The River Must Flow", and "Brother To Brother". Some of you might remember seeing "Black Cars" and "Wild Horses" videos on MTV. You will also find great songs like "One Night With You" and "Love Me Now" - somehow the folks at A&M Records couldn't/wouldn't make the extra effort to put a song with intellect on the airwaves.

These songs are special, they're not your average bubble gum, golly gee whiz type songs. Gino Vannelli is a master at his craft. I suppose (if he wanted to) he could've sold his soul to the musical Satan out there and had monster hits. Because he didn't, I can write you this heartfelt review of his music that I find myself listening to quite often. Thanks Gino for not "selling out", many of us are very grateful!

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Molto grato (almost three hours of pleasure), July 12, 2005

By 

Torquemada "dunlopilo" (Atlanta, Georgia USA / Madrid, Spain.) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)

This is probably the most complete compilation of all the "best of" collections of Vannelli songs released up to now.

Vannelli's career can be sliced in three pieces. The first era goes from his debut record Crazy life to his mega seller Brother to brother. It is the better known one, where he was releasing an album every year (6 from 73 to 78), hitting the charts and being considered as a sex-symbol by many ladies. "Felicia", "Love of my life", and mostly "I just wanna stop" are in fact still played every now and then on the radio.

Slice number 2 goes from Nightwalker to Unconsolable man, a period where there is more time space between each release, where Gino has problems with record labels (he wanted to release his stuff and the companies wanted to get more juice out of the Vanelli product after the success of Brother to Brother), and where he goes into an introspective phase. Even with the poppy Black cars, there is a clear musical shift.

Phase number three includes three albums in ten years : Yonder tree (a jazz album), Slow love (almost all ballads) and Canto (opera oriented, with songs in Spanish, French and Italian, and not featured on this collection). Vannelli now makes music the way he wants it, for a minority (by that meaning a reduced and specific audience), and he is practically retired from public life (last time I saw him in concert was in 95).

All that being said, this triple cd contains all the songs mentioned above, practically distributed in the three periods described (one per cd). The sound is sensational. Even the "old" Crazy Life is completely revamped (the original recording sounded so outdated...) making it a terrific journey, even for people like me who have almost everything he released (I kept out of my collection Big dreamers never sleep, despite the songs "Wild horses" and "Persona non grata"). Note that you get an extended version of "Black cars" and several cuts from his Live in Montreal cd. The only song unfairly left out is "Put the weight on my shoulders".

So, as often said in these cases, this release is what you need if you don't have anything from Vannelli and want most of his best cuts, OR if some pieces are missing in your collection, OR if you are a big fan of Gino Vanelli. Once you get this, despite the price, I would recommend you to get A pauper in paradise; side "B" (the album was first released in vinyl format, 1977) is played with the London Philarmonic and that is worth the ticket by itself.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gino Vannelli's Definitive Collection!!!, July 9, 2003

By 

Louie Bourland (Garden Grove CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)

"The Ultimate Collection" truly captures the very best from Canadian pop crooner Gino Vannelli. His greatest success happened during the 1970's with a string of hit albums and some excellent singles. Since then, Vannelli has had only the occasional hit here and there but he is still out there performing for his many fans 30 years after the release of his debut album "Crazy Life".
This CD collects Gino's biggest hits from the '70s including the pre-disco stomper "People Gotta Move", "Love Of My Life", "Fly Into This Night" and "One Night With You". Of course, no Vannelli collection would be complete without his two biggest hits which are now signature ballads, 1978's "I Just Wanna Stop" and 1981's "Living Inside Myself". For good measure, three hits from Gino's comeback in the mid-'80s are included. The most successful of these was 1985's "Black Cars" which got extensive airplay on MTV when it was first released.
All in all, "The Ultimate Collection" does a fantastic job of showcasing Gino Vannelli at his very best. His voice as well as the musical arrangements (courtesy of Gino and brother Joe Vannelli) are knockouts. This CD serves as a great introduction to Gino Vannelli's music. You get 18 killer tracks with absolutely no filler. So, what are you waiting for? Pick up Gino Vannelli's "Ultimate Collection" and move to the groove.