Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Spend a coupla bucks more: Get The Ultimate Collection, April 2, 2002
As usual with the Millennium Collection, Universal hasn't even attempted to make a career retrospective of artists. Some of Vannelli's best work, like the huge Canadian hits "Black Cars" and "Wild Horses" were recorded for Arista. The Gino Vannelli Ultimate Collection (search Amazon for "Ultimate Gino" & you'll get it) included those tracks and a total of 18 songs, including virtually everything on this quickie CD. Spend 3 bucks more and get the far superior collection. Oooh, you gotta move.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Passionate Set from a Gemini Maestro, March 28, 2007
Progressive rock, rock-jazz fusion, R&B-jazz fusion -- sometimes music simply defies categorization. Add a sophisticated singer to the mix such as Gino Vannelli, and you find yourself in an EroGenius Zone. Launch yourself into this pulsating, lyrical world in The Best of Gino Vannelli - 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection.
While Gino Vannelli was never on the level of, say, Return to Forever or Weather Report, his music from decades past was definitely progressive and mostly original (as opposed to derivative). Currently, the Montreal-born singer-songwriter-musician-composer is enjoying success with his spectacular CD These Are the Days, which contains refreshing songs such as "Venus Envy." He received rave reviews for his recent concerts in Las Vegas as well, which is not surprising because he always has been a kinetic, jaw-(and drawers-)dropping performer.
When one hears the name Gino Vannelli, immediately the soulful poem "Living Inside Myself" and the torch song "I Just Wanna Stop" may come to mind. Well, they certainly were major hits, but they also prompted many non-industry types to criticize the artist for bowing to record executives' insistence on a surefire commercial sound. Those same folks did not have the patience to realize that a musical artist -- in fact, any kind of artist -- experiences an evolution in his or her style/expression over time.
I was a mere child when "Living Inside Myself" and "I Just Wanna Stop" were released, but now that I have lived and survived through many of the experiences he sang about, I have rediscovered "Living Inside Myself" from the interiors of that song. In the chorus Gino washes over the sweet chords with a tidal wave of passion as emotively as any operatic tenor would in a memorable aria. "I Just Wanna Stop" also has deeper meaning now, and I have experienced its happy melancholy. When he is thinking about "those nights in Montreal" in "I Just Wanna Stop," he sure isn't referring to a hockey game. Go there and you too will know what he means -- as if the heartache in his moody voice in counterpoint with the lush orchestration isn't a dead giveaway.
Although the music in both of the aforementioned chart-topping songs lacks the daring creativity of the majority of songs in Gino Vannelli's oeuvre, who can deny his versatile vocals overall? His octave-leaping vocal delivery ranges from the low register of seduction to the high register of sexually charged euphoria. Great examples of Gino flexing his virile vocal muscles are "Fly Into This Night," "One Night with You" and "Wheels of Life." If you happen to be experiencing romantically referenced emotional pain, allow me to play doctor and prescribe the elixir "Fly Into This Night." That track alone can kick your endorphins into high gear! At the time that Gino was enjoying his first worldwide success (mid- to late 1970s), no musical artist outside of opera's sphere sang like him. In fact, he satisfied our opera cravings with the brilliant Canto CD. In a word: Bravissimo!
The Best of Gino Vannelli - 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection contains progressive-for-the-'70s songs such as "People Gotta Move" -- a major hit for Gino that I recently saw him perform as a swing number, with a big band to boot. Also ahead of their time were the songs "The River Must Flow," "Appaloosa," "Mama Coco" and "Love of My Life." On "Love of My Life," his elastic, penetrating voice rocks out in just the right places in marvelous accompaniment to the polyrhythmic arrangement. Kudos go to Gino's keyboard maestro brother, Joe Vannelli, with whom he transformed synthesizers into an symphonic orchestra.
The Best of Gino Vannelli - 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection is a passionate Gemini's paean to Eros. Gino's throbbing vocals are loaded with enough testosterone to shock the love god back to life.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gotta love that 70's soft rock., January 13, 2007
I have always been a fan of Gino Vannelli, but all but forgot about him till I saw a parody of him on SCTV, recently. The very next day, I logged on and found this particular CD, which had all the songs of his that I loved. Needless to say, I was stoked, and bought it as a b-day present to myself. While I was thrilled that the songs were great and his biggest hits are on here, the tracks get a bit more obscure and boring the closer the disc gets to the end. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but the excitement wears off towards the last half of the cd. Still, if you are a fan of this man you will love this. Even if the songs just chill you out towards the end you will love listening to his voice and the amazing range it has.
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by Gino Vannelli 
