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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Frey's Solo Work is often overlooked, March 21, 2005
I probably am in the minority, but when I look at the legendary Rock band The Eagles, I look at the sum of the parts as exceeding the whole. This is not a negative factor on the Eagles - I do think they are an all-time great band. When I look at the individual solo work, I see some very high quality work that often gets overlooked because The Eagles had achieved such great success. Two of the main components of The Eagles are Don Henley and Glenn Frey. This duo basically made up the nucleus for the band. Following the split of band in the early 1980s, Henley and Frey would embark on solo careers. For the most part, it's Henley's solo career that is in the spotlight. Henley's efforts would be more of an 80s Rock sound - and would often be interspersed with some social commentary (i.e. his song "Dirty Laundry"). In addition, Henley would often bring in many top notch studio musicians to collaborate with him - helping to enhance a powerful nucleus of music that had already written. Frey would take a very different approach - he would bring more of a combination of R&B, Soul, Blues, and even some Folk to his music. Frey didn't bring the big name studio musicians like Henley - but there was no loss of quality. Frey brings an equally impressive portfolio of solo work and this is highlighted on the greatest hits compilation entitled "Glenn Frey - Solo Collection". Perhaps the different approaches to music were why the nucleus of Henley and Frey worked so well with The Eagles.
Glenn Frey has released four main solo albums in his career. These albums are all represented. They are: "No Fun Aloud" ("The One You Love"; "The Allnighter" ("Sexy Girl", "Smuggler's Blues"); "Soul Searchin'" ("True Love", "Soul Searchin'"); and "Strange Weather ("Part of Me, Part of You", "I've Got Mine", "River of Dreams", "Rising Sun", "Brave New World"). There are two songs that Frey did for Soundtrack albums. They are "The Heat is On" (on the "Beverly Hills Cop" soundtrack) and "You Belong to the City" (on the "Miami Vice" soundtrack - this soundtrack also included "Smuggler's Blues as well). It is also worth noting that "Part of Me, Part of You" was on the "Thelma and Louise Soundtrack" Finally, Frey includes four solid new songs: "This Way to Happiness", "Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed", "Common Ground", and "Call on Me". One observation is that there is definitely a slant toward Frey's later works. There are five tracks from what was Frey's least successful commercial album "Strange Weather", however I consider that album Frey's best album - so I look at that as a positive (quality over commercial sales). There is an exclusion of many of Frey's early work - most notably missing is the classic Frey tune "Party Town" from "No Fun Aloud".
There is another greatest hits collection by Glenn Frey called "20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Glenn Frey". The "Millennium" Collection does include This is a shorter compilation and does include "The Allnighter" and "Love in the 21st Century Tracks". "Millennium" also includes a live version of "The One You Love". Overall, I'd still recommend "Solo Collection" because it does contain the four new tracks as well as some of the focus on the "Strange Weather" material that is often overlooked.
Normally I prefer my Greatest Hits collections to have the tracks arranged in chronological order. This allows me to see how the artist has progressed and evolved over time. "Solo Collection" comes close to this, but slightly misses the mark. The new songs are listed are the first four tracks. It is with the fifth track that the songs start to chronicle chronologically starting with 1982's "The One You Love". It would have definitely been better if the new tracks were at the end. One other quirk is that the new tracks are in reverse chronological order (the first three were recorded in 1994 while the 4th track was recorded in 1993).
The new songs are worth mentioning. They continue much of the trademark blend of music that has been seen throughout Frey's career. The opening track "This Way to Happiness" is interesting - it almost summarizes Frey's sound. While this song has his trademark R&B sound complete with horns, you almost get a sense of Country and Folk with Frey's vocals. "Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed" is a very bluesy song - also featuring the trademark horns. "Common Ground" starts out with a Country/Folk sound, but then evolves into more of a Folk/Rock sound. "Call on Me" was a theme song from a short-lived Television Series that starred Glenn Frey called "South of Sunset". Despite a Bluesy sound, I consider this the weakest of the four tracks.
The popular songs from the mid 80s are on here - "The Heat is On", "Smuggler's Blues", and "You Belong to the City". These songs are often unfairly criticized. While "The Heat is On" was penned by Keith Forsey ("The Breakfast Club") and Harold Faltermeyer (composer of "Axel F"), this song seems tailor-made to Frey's style. "Smuggler's Blues" is one of the most original songs ever - sung from the point of someone involved in the Drug Smuggling trade.
The material from "Strange Weather" is also worth mentioning. You will continue to hear Frey's trademark sound, but this contains some of the best songwriting he did. This represents some of the strongest material by Glenn Frey. I was pleased that the short instrumental intro "Rising Sun" is included as a segue to "Brave New World".
The liner notes list each of the songs and provide musician and production credits. There is a short one-panel write-up by Frey himself. If there was more material from "No Fun Aloud", this would have been the perfect compilation. Still this is the best of his compilations out there. Highly recommended.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you just want the best of Glenn Frey's solo career..., June 21, 2005
...you won't find all of it here. But Frey's "Solo Collection" is a great place for casual fans to get "Smuggler's Blues", "The Heat Is On" and "Part Of Me, Part Of You" (from the 'Thelma & Louise' soundtrack).
Almost all of Frey's top 20 hits are here, alongside three previously unreleased songs, and while "Sexy Girl" has dated pretty badly, most of these numbers hold up very well. And the new songs are actually among the best of the lot.
Don't expect this to be "The Heat Is On" times 16, though; that one was far from Frey's usual style. After the breakup of the Eagles, Glenn Frey turned himself into a smooth AOR singer with a pinch of R&B and quite a lot of soul in his music, writing most of his songs with fellow musician Jack Tempchin.
That partnership resulted in hit singles like "You Belong To The City", the blue-eyed soul of "The One You Love" and the hard-rocking "Smuggler's Blues", as well as numerous other great songs which would have been nice to have on this album.
The Eagles occationally play some of Frey's songs in concert, stuff like the ballads "Lovers' Moon" and "Let's Go Home", and that low-key side of Glenn Frey is not really represented here...but check out his live album, which is simply called "Live", and then, if you're hooked, his four studio albums "No Fun Aloud", "The Allnighter", "Soul Searchin'" and "Strange Weather".
Besides - a CD can only hold so much, and the "Solo Collection" is a very consistent album and a fine introduction to founding Eagle Frey's years out on his own.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent, April 30, 1999
By A Customer
Glenn Frey's silky voice is absolutely awesome. Solo Collection has a little bit of everything. From the bluesy "The One You Love" to the rocking "Smuggler's Blues," this record is a must buy for the serious music fan.
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