Search - Burt Bacharach :: 20th Century Masters: The Best Of Burt Bacharach (Millennium Collection)

Burt Bacharach
20th Century Masters: The Best Of Burt Bacharach (Millennium Collection)
Genres: Pop, Rock, Broadway & Vocalists

Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
1. Look of Love [From Casino Royale]
2. Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
3. This Guy's in Love With You
4. I'll Never Fall in Love Again
5. Do You Know the Way to San Jose?
6. What the World Needs Now Is Love
7. Alfie [From Alfie]
8. (They Long to Be) Close to You - Burt Bacharach, Aris
9. I Say a Little Prayer
10. One Less Bell to Answer
11. Reach Out for Me
12. Don't Make Me Over

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CD Details

All Artists: Burt Bacharach
Title: 20th Century Masters: The Best Of Burt Bacharach (Millennium Collection)
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 1
Label: Interscope Records
Original Release Date: 7/20/1999
Release Date: 7/20/1999
Album Type: Original recording remastered
Genres: Pop, Rock, Broadway & Vocalists
Styles: Easy Listening, Oldies, Vocal Pop, Oldies & Retro
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 606949039325

Synopsis

Amazon.com

It took the martini-fueled lounge music scene of the '90s and some campy placements in a couple of hit movies--Austin Powers and My Best Friend's Wedding--to re-establish Burt Bacharach's genius in the public's mind. Once that was done, his work could be heard with new ears: It was no longer merely elevator music, but rather pop composition at its finest, marked by peerless melodies and arrangements that were complex in subtle ways. To get the full effect of the hits he wrote for artists such as Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, the Fifth Dimension, and many, many others, you should hear them in versions that also feature Hal David's brilliant lyrics (the multidisc set The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection is worth every penny). But this brief overview containing instrumental takes (augmented occasionally by a female chorus and, once, Burt's own warbling vocals) of songs such as "The Look of Love," "Alfie," and "What the World Needs Now Is Love" offers some intrigue, too. If you still feel like having a martini, here's the appropriate soundtrack. --Daniel Durchholz

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CD Reviews

Why this one?

12/10/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You should consider buying "The Best of Burt Bacharach," an excellent colection with many more great compositions, or "_Master_ Series: Burt Bacharach" (not Millenium Colection) "The Best" is a collection that has This Guy's In Love With You as song #1 and Windows Of The World as #20. It includes wonderful recordings of Wives and Lovers, Knowing When To Leave, Make It Easy On Yourself, and Pacific Coast Highway. It does not include the great Reach Out... Even better, though, is another Master Series CD -- currently under IMPORTS; Raindrops #1, Knowing When To Leave #21; it includes also April Fools, A House Is Not A Home, Bond Street, and Reach Out.BTW, two upcoming movies include Bacharach songs: Stuart Little (Walking Tall, with Tim Rice) and Isn't She Great (three songs, with Hal David)."

Don't bother

Daniel M Chadwick | Oakland, CA USA | 06/04/2000

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a big Bacharach fan, but Hal David's lyrics were too essential to the beauty and success of these songs to be left out, and most of these versions are just instrumentals. These songs sung by the artists who made them hits would be a great collection. Otherwise, I'd prefer covers by artists with more contemporary interpretations. Who wants to listen to cheesy, 70's arrangements with no vocals or lyrics? Not me."

A Terrific Retrospective

Nathan Southern | 04/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a fun album... a collection of largely instrumental versions of Bacharach's biggest hit singles during the sixties and seventies... The same cuts were released on Burt's five or six solo albums during that era. Some of the orchestrations here are as heavy and baroque as anything during the late-Brill building period, but listening to them today creates an unmistakable feeling of nostalgia, and the absence of lead vocalists draws attention to the brilliantly-written melodies... a technique appropriate for a retrospective disc of a pop composer. This album would be even more enjoyable without the dated choral vocal accompaniments on a few tracks, but it's still a cool, relaxing, and fun listen. If you're only interested in the versions of these songs that became hits (sung by Dionne Warwick, B.J. Thomas, Dusty Springfield, et. al), look elsewhere."

A Bit Surprising

Quinn Wyatt | Michigan, USA | 03/14/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I am a Burt Bacharach fan and I love "lounge" music and the easy-listening music of the '50s and '60s... so I was a bit surprised that this CD was just so-so in my book. Mr. Bacharach takes a great deal of artistic license with his tunes here (since he wrote them I suppose he's entitled) but not once are they played "straight" or in the familiar fashion we've all come to know. Rather, he presents them using strange arrangements and instruments to give the songs a different sound. A couple of times I even wondered whether the tracks were mixed properly. To me they are classics and don't need any jazzing-up. Sidenote: I could also have done without the "Burt Bacharach Girl Singers"; if he needed vocals he should have tried to get the women from Sergio Mendez to sit in on the recording session; it would have improved things a great deal."

Surprising chord changes, timing and rhythms...but this part

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 12/20/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Burt Bacharach remains a titan of musical genius from the 20th century; and this CD features twelve of his works mostly from the 1960s that he composed with Hal David. The sound quality is very good; and the song selections are great. However, these aren't the versions of the songs that we have come to know and love; and that is a big disappointment. Moreover, the selection of songs represents only the work Bacharach produced with Hal David; there is no work here by Bacharach alone or by Bacharach with another composer or lyricist.

The CD boasts twelve songs written by Bacharach with the help of Hal David; and there are many fine choices for easy listening on this CD. My favorites are the classic ballads "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head;" "I'll Never Fall In Love Again;" "Do You Know The Way To San Jose?;" "What The World Needs Now Is Love;" and "(They Long To Be) Close To You."

The aggravating down side to all this great work is that these tracks are instrumentals with a sporadic women's choir helping out minimally on vocals. I would much prefer to hear the songs as we know and love them. For example, in 1963 Dionne Warwick did a flawless interpretation of "Don't Make Me Over." That version of the song is simply not here. Arrgh!

Moreover, the twelve songs on this CD clock in at 37 minutes; there was time for more music on this disc. Another disappointment; but if the producers of this album want to give us this strictly average level of quality then perhaps it's just as well if they do end at 37 minutes.

The line notes contain an excellent essay about Burt Bacharach's career by Joseph F. Laredo; and the photos of Burt in his younger days are terrific.

I give this CD three stars for the quality of the sound, the unfamiliar yet somewhat relaxing versions of each song and the great liner notes. The women's choir also helps somewhat but it cannot fill the shoes of great vocalists like Dionne Warwick. This CD is for the casual fan who just wants a very basic and cursory introduction to the work of Burt Bacharach. If you want to have a much better understanding of Burt's great work as an artist, I recommend what another reviewer recommends: the three CD box set entitled The Look Of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection.

"