Customer Reviews

What I Like About You (And Other Romantic Hits)

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

 

 

If you want just one album by the Romantics this is the one to get. The big hits are here ("What I Like About You", "Talking In Your Sleep"), along with a couple of classic album tracks ("Tell it to Carrie"), and tracks that are now unavailable elsewhere ("A Night Like This", "Test of Time"). It's a great overview. The selected tracks carefully included songs from each of the Romantics albums. Given their frequent line-up changes and the uneven quality of some albums, not ALL of the songs are winners, however, bad Romantics tracks are still better than most bands of the era. Play it loud...

I just got this in the mail today. I hate to say it, but the fidelity on this CD is, while not awful, still noticeably inferior. I have the single "What I Like About You" on a various artists' CD called "Ultimate New Wave Party 1998" (unfortunately mixed), so I bought the Romantics' Greatest Hits album to get a "clean" copy of the track. Comparing the track on the two sources, the copy on the mixed CD simply blows away the copy on the romantics CD, on the fidelity issue. It may not be too noticeable if you just have this copy, but you will notice when comparing with other CDs in your collection. Perhaps it is that the CD was issued in 1990 and is not remastered. Well, obviously there is a better fidelity version out there somewhere, so if you want decent fidelity, you might take a crack at one of the other Romantics' selections further down the page, and spend a bit more money (they may, or may not, be better).

(written a bit later) If you're just looking for "What I Like About You," then a CD called "Sedated in the 80s" (Vol. 1) has this with decent fidelity along with a number of other interesting tracks. It is pretty cheap. If you also want "Talking in Your Sleep," then Billboard Top Hits 1984 has that with good fidelity (usually very cheap CD). Happy Searching!

This CD features all of the The Romantics' hit songs, 2 of which were heard, in heavy rotation over the radio waves, during the mid 80's! Most notably, these 2 songs stand out as their biggest hits of their brief career. You can't help but tap your foot, or break out the air harmonica when listening to their 1st blockbuster hit: What I Like About You....it just happens; it's an infectious song! Their 2nd big hit: Talking In Your Sleep, is a slow grooving R&B rocker which did very well on the charts , as well! Both of these songs were shown as music videos, as so many 80's bands utilized, to promote their records on MTV. The rest of the songs on this compilation were minor hits, but are worthy of listening to without giving the listener the urge to skip tracks....it's all good! Rock You Up is a great upbeat rocker, which didn't get the radio play, that it deserved. I would highly recommend this CD to the dedicated 80's music fan....I was and still am one! Get it today, dudes!

What can I say . The rock band style you liked as a kid but never got to see in person. The drummer is the lead singer. Their toe tappin' signature song "What I like about you" has been used in numerous commercials over the years. Great rock. Man! Were they skinny guys!!

The Romantics were a British Invasion-influenced American band that had a couple of minor radio hits in the early 1980s. "What I Like About You," the best-remembered of these songs, was one of those singles that actually got more popular at the 80s wore on, has been featured on many TV commercials, and gets so much airplay that many people probably think it was a huge hit when it was originally released. The Romantics' other hit "Talking in Your Sleep" was actually more typical of the early 1980s power pop sound, quite catchy in its own right and with a great flanged bass riff. Virtually everything on this disc sounds quite similar to "What I Like About You," which means there are vigorously strummed clean electric guitars, various permutations of the "La Bamba" chord progression, and a strong, somewhat retro, summer vacation vibe.

There's no doubt that the Romantics were working a formula. Like a lot of rock bands in the early 80s they tried to combine the Who with the Beatles. (The compressed guitar chording on a lot of the songs almost comes across as a tribute to Pete Townshend himself). But if you like this formula - and I do - there's a lot of fun to be had here! "Open Up Your Door" is almost a cross between Them's version of "Gloria" and the Beatles' version of "Twist and Shout," and "Tell it To Carrie" is a really lovely song in this genre.

While the CD's running time is short, I would rather have a Greatest Hits CD that really fits the bill rather than trying to be an abridged box set. There's definitely something to be said for leaving your audience wanting more. So here's to the Romantics - they recorded one of the best and most belatedly popular songs of the 1980s and gave us enough songs in that style to leave us happy and not wishing they'd get lost. How many rock bands can you say that about?

Yes, yes, "Talking In Your Sleep" and "What I Like About You" are some of the finest pop songs ever. I agree. But what about everything else this band did?

Judging from the skimpy amount of songs this package delivers, you'd think that these blokes never managed to churn out anything more than two decent songs plus filler in between. The filler on this compilation is rather dismal compared to the primary hits.

I would've liked to have seen this disc at least TRY to approach the 80 minutes that CDs can hold. Alas, that's not the case. As such, we get two great tracks, some subpar tracks and a bad impression of the band.

A disappointing set.

This is a decent represention of the band's radio-ready material, but some of the better songs this band recorded is not present on this disc. The Romantics have a new album due out Sept. 9, 2003, titled "61/49." It's a no-frills, rock 'n' roll record and is more representative of what the band has evolved into. If you want to hear this band in its most honest form, get 61/49 when it comes out.

I was worried about audio quality regarding these older recordings. This album has great fidelity and is not low in volume as many are from years ago. Would strongly recommend this album. Great tunes!

I don't know, the title of this review doesn't really mean anything. But as a four-piece band, it seems like the classic rock band lineup, but aiming for a more pop flavor in the midst of the 80's new wave. In a way I suppose you could say their concept was similar to the Faces, because the boys were said to be lookers with girl-appeal.
Their mega hit was "What I Like About You," and some 20-plus years later it's still as vibrant and energetic as the day it was released.
"When I Look in Your Eyes" is a worthwhile song, also played with high energy, but it's not quite the classic that their biggest hit was.
"Talking in Your Sleep" has a gorgeous wash of guitar work, and a very dreamy narrative and vivid story. I don't remember how it charted and compared to "What I Like About You," but it is also a classic melodic song for the ages.
The song "One in a Million" is a little weaker, but a perfect fit for any movie soundtrack set in the 80's.
In "Test of Time" there's a slight "Come on Ilene" vibe in a part of the melody - well that's how it seemed to me. Beyond that, it's a nicely flowing pop tune.
"A Night Like This" dips into some sultry suggestive playing and singing that feverishly evokes the lonely night(or nights depending on you good or bad your game is) when one reminisces about a past session of fulfilling passion.
Rounding out this "greatest hits" set is "Tell It to Carrie," which stands on its own as a sweet melodic pop song, but a good portion of it is reminiscent of "Needles and Pins." Well, if they intentionally borrowed, at least they knew to borrow good stuff.
Not reviewed here are tracks 2, 4, and 5, which I won't mention by name since I didn't much care for them, although they still add flavor if you're in the mood to play a whole collection with an 80's sound.
For me, this purchase was worthwhile and fun - in fact, I kept thinking that this little set of songs entirely would do nicely as a movie soundtrack of scenes with tons of hairnet spray, massive shoulder pads, leather, lace, weird modified mullets, and all that other 80's fare.

This is a pretty simple collection, only 36 minutes, however the Romantics didn't really storm the charts too often. This does give you what you want though. "What I Like About You" of course is included, and kicks off the disc well. Their other hit "Talking In Your Sleep" is great, and got tons of radio time when it came out. Very catchy. Another song I had forgotten about is "One In A Million", and many might recognize that as well. The rest is good filler, the best of which is probably "Open Up Your Door". In short, this is the only Romantics disc any casual fan should ever need.