Very Best of Tower of Power: The Warner Years

Tower Of Power | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 17, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B00005LMXQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,314 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. You Got to Funkifize

2. What Happened to the World That Day?

3. Down to the Nightclub

4. You're Still a Young Man

5. What Is Hip?

6. So Very Hard to Go

7. This Time It's Real

8. Will I Ever Find a Love?

9. Soul Vaccination

10. Time Will Tell

11. Below Us, All the City Lights

12. Don't Change Horses (In the Middle of a Stream)

13. Willing to Learn

14. Only So Much Oil in the Ground

15. I Won't Leave Unless You Want Me To

16. You're So Wonderful, So Marvelous

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Soul/R&B
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 17-JUL-2001

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Decent Sampler, September 7, 2001

By 

Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Very Best of Tower of Power: The Warner Years (Audio CD)

If I were the one who compiled the songlist for this album, I would have left out most of the songs that were not either on Bump City or the album simply entitled Tower of Power. But those who assembled this compilation probably figured they had to include at least one cut off of each of TOP's Warner Brothers releases. Despite that, the greatest number of cuts on this compilation come from the two albums I think are TOP's finest.
I am not a big fan of funk, but I am a fan of a powerful horn section in any band and TOP certainly gives you that. Cuts 3 through 9 on this CD show Tower of Power at its hard driving, syncopated, funky best. I can't get enough of such no-holds-barred funk attacks like Bump City, What Is Hip?, and Soul Vaccination. Man, are those horns tight! You're Still A Young Man and So Very Hard To Go are classic R&B romantic tunes that still sound fresh today.
TOP holds its own against the best black funk groups; folks who don't already know it are always surprised to find out that TOP is mostly white and as such, is one of the few white R&B groups to have a sizeable black fan base.
What knocks a couple of stars off this is the inclusion of some of the later recordings which are lusher but don't have the bite of TOP's best albums that gave the band its signature sound. Despite that, this CD is a decent sampler of a wide array of TOP recordings and is well worth owning.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long Overdue... Time for a Soul Injection ! ! !, August 29, 2001

By 

Eddie Landsberg "My 10th year as a reviewer !... (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Very Best of Tower of Power: The Warner Years (Audio CD)

First, let me say if you're a true TOWER OF POWER fan, you probably already have all these tunes on LP, tape or CD- - its not like they're impossible to find... further, if you're a real bonified 110% greased up true blue Towerhead, odds are the more comprehensive ANTHOLOGY boxed set (available through Amazon) is more up your alley, however, this is still a fantastic CD for the curious as well as for more "evangelical" Tower of Power fans who want to share the funk - - A great (and economical) gift to pass on for those in need of a soul injection and a bit of funkification in their life, and definitely a nice mix. Yeah, I know someone is going to note the absence of certain faves, but I think undoubtedly to the uninitiated, this CD makes a great and enjoyable point of departure rather than being a "first and last definitive TOP CD" - - The fact is Tower of Power's output in the '70s was not only voluminous, but substantive, and this CD makes a nice little sampling, especially for those who are only familiar with "What Is Hip" and "Down To The Nightclub" - - of course, there's really only one way to hear TOP, and thank heaven odds are they'll be heading to a town near you real soon ! (If you like this CD check out COLD BLOOD's Greatest Hits CD too !)

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The way we heard them on the radio in the 70s, March 3, 2005

By 

George in So. Cal. (Acton, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Very Best of Tower of Power: The Warner Years (Audio CD)

A lot of hardcore TOP fans will disagree with this, but I was never happy with Live and In Living Color because of the songs it left out and because the horns on You're Still a Young Man just don't sound as good as the studio version. TOP: The Warner Years has the studio versions of all my favorites, just the way I heard them on the radio in the early and mid 70s. If that's what you're looking for, then buy this one!