The Best of Melanie [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]

Melanie

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 20, 1990)
• Original Release Date: September 4, 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B0000032TP
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #156,556 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
As an icon of the '60s peace and love movement, this long haired flower child sang in a voice only helium could seemingly induce. Melanie's high pitched squawking is both a period curio and a disarmingly gentle weapon. The tracks assembled here vary in quality. She was given to novelty songs ("Animal Crackers," "Brand New Key") but was at her interpretive best with something as difficult as the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday." These 18 tracks include several songs emblematic of her era--"Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" about Woodstock and "Peace Will Come (According to Plan)"--that shed light on an often overlooked singer-songwriter inextricably linked to a specific era. --Rob O'Connor

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Melanie's Magic, August 8, 2001

By	Timothy J. Slivinski (Toledo, Ohio) - See all my reviews

Perhaps no singer/songwriter of the "Woodstock Era" was more misunderstood than Melanie. For those who have forgotten, yes, Melanie did appear and sing at the infamous outdoor gathering in New York. Alone with an acoustic guitar, she captivated the audience. The experience would inspire her to write one of the finest blends of folk, rock and gospel songs ever: "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain." It summed up the magical feeling of peace and love that Woodstock was intended to represent, and it became Melanie's first top ten hit. Disaster--of a sort--struck Melanie when "Brand New Key," a rather "cute," bouncy song from her exceptional "Gather Me" album became a number one hit. No one wanted to take Melanie seriously after that. And that is a real shame. There is power, strength, and emotion in Melanie's voice; her lyrics are beautiful and moving. She is a songwriter of incredible depth, feeling, and warmth. Unfortunately, most of the record buying public is unaware of this. This "Best of" collection is a good introduction to the tunes that Melanie and her record labels hoped would be hits. There are tracks included here that should have been million sellers: "Love to Lose Again, Together Alone, the Good Book, Leftover Wine." Every one of these a stand out. The actual chart hits are here as well: "Lay Down, Peace Will Come, The Nickel Song, Bitter Bad."

Melanie continues to record and perform today, and her voice is as powerful as ever. If you have the opportunity to see her in concert, by all means take advantage of the opportunity. You will be overwhelmed by the warmth and sincerity of this amazing musician. For those of us who are long time fans, we always look forward to any new release from Melanie; it is always a treat. If you purchase this CD, it will introduce you to the beginning of what Melanie was and is all about. To truly capture her talent, you need to track down all her album releases, many of them not yet released on CD--hopefully someday.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great cd, September 5, 2005

By	Fannie Flora Walker (new jersey) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This cd really has a lot of the songs that I grew up with and know I'm so happy with it and it's nice having a cd in the car that everyone loves and sings along to. If you are a melanie fan this cd is a must.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is probably the best, March 17, 2008

By	Mark C. (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This is the BEST of all the one-disc 'best ofs'.
1990 is a long time ago- this needs remastering and extra tracks-WEA-RINO!

It has "Baby Girl" and "Momma Momma"-both essentials for a best of-but not on any others ive seen; I also compared the "long version" of "Candles in the Rain"-with the short version on said Rhino CD and it is much better of the two-it has more solid, punchy sound-while the long version is a little weaker and lacks Melanies touching counter-harmonizing with herself on both stanzas of "We were so close...."
Its almost mixed out of the tape-or was never added.
Winner: short version on the Rhino 'best of'

There is nothing too exciting on the long version really-

I love her sexy pouty little girl silliness on BRAND NEW KEY-but the distortion/breakup on it is quite distracting in the background, and has to be fixed.

Straight from Woodstock, in 19?? Melanie was so overcome by the love/joy vibe in the air at the festival-that she went straight home and wrote 'Candles'
She said she wanted it sound big and celebratory, to convey the emotion, and realized that she needed a Choir.

Just by luck, The Edwin Hawkins Singers (oh, happy days) happened to be label-mates on Buhdah records. Melanie went to sell Hawkins on the project.

At first, he balked, as there were no references to 'God" or 'Jesus" in the lyrics- and his WAS a Gospel Choir.

Melanie convinced him that the song could be made to literally reek of 'The Holy Spirit' by its implied and felt message, without the need to mention HIM at all.
He caved in, and was said to be quite pleased with the results.
It rose to # 5 on US charts
lucky for us




I wish they would put out the original LPs BORN TO BE and (the first)LIVE are great