Linda Ronstadt: Greatest Hits, Volume Two

Linda Ronstadt

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1980
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000002GX4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,229 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. It's So Easy

2. I Can't Let Go

3. Hurt So Bad

4. Blue Bayou

5. How Do I Make You

6. Back in the U.S.A.

7. Ooo Baby Baby

8. Poor, Poor Pitiful Me

9. Tumbling Dice

10. Just One Look

11. Someone to Lay Down Beside Me

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

The latter part of the '70s found Ronstadt roughing up her image a bit, covering songs by the Rolling Stones and Warren Zevon and eventually taking inspiration from the burgeoning punk and new-wave scenes. All of this was a long way away from the laid-back country-rock sound that established her as one of the top female artists of the day. On the material collected here, Ronstadt remains as strong a singles artist as ever. Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 contains winners such as "It's So Easy," "Blue Bayou," and the Chuck Berry romp "Living in the U.S.A.," as well as edgier material such as the Stones' "Tumbling Dice" and Zevon's "Poor Poor Pitiful Me." --Daniel Durchholz

Product Description

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: RONSTADT,LINDA
Title: VOL. 2-GREATEST HITS
Street Release Date: 04/03/2007
Domestic
Genre: ROCK/POP

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rock On, Miss Ronstadt!, July 25, 2003

By	Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Linda Ronstadt: Greatest Hits, Volume Two (Audio CD)

I remember first hearing Linda Ronstadt's amazing voice come crashing out of the radio sometime in the late sixties as the lead vocalist for the folk-rock group, the Stone Ponies. Her distinctive melodic scream of a vocal style is so distinctive it is hard not to compare with Roy Orbison, whose songs she sometimes recorded, as with "Blue Bayou", which is included here. This collection of her hit songs covers the decade or so before she went for the big band and "lush" sounds of her more recent work. It is hard to not appreciate a voice so singular and versatile, even if it is most usually delivered with a fevered wail. I once saw her in a small venue in Lenox, Massachusetts in a small amphitheater setting, with the audience sprawled over an expansive lawn that gradually rose above the covered stage area. She was so good with just her guitar and small group that it is difficult to describe her in words short of superlatives such as phenomenal.

Much of her seminal work is included here for you casual enjoyment, from "Hurt So Bad" to "Back In The USA", from "Poor. Poor Pitiful Me" to "It's So Easy", and all the others, including "Just One Look", "Tumbling Dice", "Oh, Baby, Baby", "Someone To lay Down beside Me", and several others. This album give us many of Linda's formidable hits, with a definitive play list that anyone would want to have to ensure an accurate representation of her volumes of work, from dozens of hit albums recorded and released over more than a decade of popular work. This is an essential album for your collection, and one I have both in the house and in the car. For easy listening as I zoom down the highway. Other than the Beach Boys, on the one hand, or Jackson Browne on the other, nobody articulates the southern California folk rock style as well or as consistently as Linda Ronstadt, the little woman with the big, big voice. Enjoy!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Linda at her peak, January 8, 2005

By	Da Man "Da Man" (Pekin, IL) - See all my reviews

the first Greatest Hits (1976) for Linda Ronstadt caught her as she was still a rising star in the California sound. Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1980) is the culmination of the peak years of Linda's popularity, 1977-1980.

When "Greatest Hits" was released, Linda was still pushing Hasten Down The Wind (also 1976). In early 1977, she had a surprise hit single with "Someone To Lay Down Beside Me", which is included here. The song was not one of Linda's biggest, but it's a powerful, memorable track.

In the fall of 1977, Linda released her biggest album ever, "Simple Dreams". The album contained no less than four major hit singles, two of which ("It's So Easy" and "Blue Bayou") were on Billboard's top 5 at the same time in late 1977. "Blue Bayou" showcases Linda at her best Patsy Cline vocal moment, "It's So Easy" is a classic country-rocker, "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" was a great and sarcastic Warren Zevon number, and her version of The Stone's "Tumbling Dice" shows just what a great female rocker Linda is.

The next year, Linda topped the charts again with "Living In The U.S.A.", in which three hits are culled. "Back In The U.S.A." is sadly one of the weakest hits of her catalog. The Chuck Berry version is classic, but Linda's version is rather aimless. However, all is made up by Linda's smash top 10 jazzy version of "Ooh Baby Baby". Another classic Ronstadt-style track is "Just One Look".

Even though "Living In The U.S.A." was another #1 platinum smash for Linda, it became obvious her formula was getting stale. So Linda decided to shake things up and returned in early 1980 with "Mad Love". Guarenteed to show the Benatar's and Harry's that she is still a force to be reckoned with, "Mad Love" became another huge hit, even if it missed #1. The hard-rocking "How Do I Make You" was the first single and it quickly went top 10, then Linda released a breathtaking remake of "Hurt So Bad" that became an even bigger hit. The third single culled from the album, "I Can't Let Go" harkens back to her Stone Poneys days, but updated to sound 80's.

"Greatest Hits Vol. 2" was released in late 1980 and was the culmination of this stellar hitmaking period in Ronstadt's career. One more rock album (1982's Get Closer) after this and then Linda settled into the world of standards, Adult Contemporary and Spanish music, all genres she has done well at too.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True Legend, May 11, 2003

By	J. M. Zuurbier (Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Linda Ronstadt, to me, is the epitome of what an enterpreter singer should be. Her voice is magical and enigmatic. This second compilation of her music focuses on her hits from SIMPLE DREAMS (1977), LIVING IN THE USA (1978) and MAD LOVE (1980). It includes some inspired covers that she is known for doing, and doing well. Such include "It's So Easy", "Back in the USA", "Just One Look", "Blue Bayou" and "Hurt So Bad". It's worth the price of this CD alone for "Poor Poor Pitiful Me", if you don't have it on the original album. Many would say she lost her touch after this album, with her Spanish albums and Nelson Riddle collections, but I disagree, yet this is a good reminder for those that do hold that opinion, what a true legend she is. There will never be another Linda Ronstadt.