The Talents of the Late Melanie Thornton Are Missed in the Dance and Pop World. The Voice of La Bouche was Tragically Taken Too Early. The South Carolinian Singer Achieved Rave Notices for her Impassioned Performance on 's... more »weet Dreams'. Her Talents were Confirmed on the Followup 'be My Lover' and Many People Then Knew Just who that Voice Was. Thornton Had Finally Achieved her Dream of a Solo Career Early in the New Millenium, Only to have it End Suddenly. 'i Know We Don't have Any Guarantee that We're Gonna Live Tomorrow. That's Why I Live Everyday as it was My Last.', She Said in One of her Last Interviews. This Compilation Celebrates Both her Group and Solo Career with the Best Tracks from Each Phase. As a Bonus, the Video of 'sweet Dreams' is Enhanced.« less
The Talents of the Late Melanie Thornton Are Missed in the Dance and Pop World. The Voice of La Bouche was Tragically Taken Too Early. The South Carolinian Singer Achieved Rave Notices for her Impassioned Performance on 'sweet Dreams'. Her Talents were Confirmed on the Followup 'be My Lover' and Many People Then Knew Just who that Voice Was. Thornton Had Finally Achieved her Dream of a Solo Career Early in the New Millenium, Only to have it End Suddenly. 'i Know We Don't have Any Guarantee that We're Gonna Live Tomorrow. That's Why I Live Everyday as it was My Last.', She Said in One of her Last Interviews. This Compilation Celebrates Both her Group and Solo Career with the Best Tracks from Each Phase. As a Bonus, the Video of 'sweet Dreams' is Enhanced.
CD Reviews
This one has all the hits and ++++
guillermoj | Washington, DC United States | 11/02/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"For those who may not know anything about this group, they arrived in the US via Europe and hit the big time in the States in the in he mid 1990's (actually 1996 to be exact) along with many other Europop-type groups like Real McCoy, Ace of Base, Haddaway, Livin' Joy, Quad City DJ's, Culture Beat and a group appropriately titled "Europop" among others.Just as quickly as Europop arrived here in the US, it was quickly dismissed, which is too bad as it (like any other genre) has its talent and those not so talented. La Bouche was one of the best and the one which garned the most success with its multimillion selling debut CD "Sweet Dreams", which included several radio/club friendly hits but unlike some others it went beyond the strong female vocals with the cookie- cutter beats (thump, thump) as its lead singer (the late Melanie Thorton) and Lane McCray managed to rise above the pack as they not only had the thump thump sound of the moment, but they released some great covers (Forget Me Nots) and at least for me, I felt a certain humor and humanity that was missing from other acts.Melanie seemed more focused on harmony and melody than on proving that she was a "SINGER" as that was evident. Listening to this collection reminds me of a couple of special summers that revolved around the beach and the sounds of La Bouche. All the hits are here as well as a couple of songs from Melanie's debut CD before she met her unfortunate death in a plane crash.The summer that Europop became huge also brought us the novelty song titled "Macarena" which may have been the kiss of death for the genre. Europop continues to flourish in its continent and although some may say that this music is junk, I think that it is great as it hits the notes with melody and does not last 10 minutes or more per song as some of today's anthems sound.If you like La Bouche this is the one and only release for you as it has all their hits and some stuff that may surprise you. If you don't like their sound, your feelings won't change. For the rest, sweet dreams and God bless Melanie Thornton as she watches from above as her music stills make me happy."
MELANIE THORNTON ---- I WON'T FORGET YOU!
M. LAVONNE | USA | 01/04/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I know I am late in finding out about the passing of Melanie Thornton but I have to say the music of LaBouche brings back so many great memories - and I was searching for why there was no other releases when I found out in December about the tragedy.
Amazing to me, I worked in the World Trade Center during the Summer of 1998 when "YOU WON'T FORGET ME" was released. I was so excited about LaBouche having some new music out - I bought the Single and walked around the Underground Mall at the Trade Center listening to it.
The September 11th devastation made me think how amazing that song still reminded me of that summer and how appropriate the title of that song is to my memory of NYC & the TRADE CENTER.
Little did I know until now that just weeks later the wonderful Melanie Thornton would pass in a plane crash. I just bought her individual released import CD with the song about Flying. All I can say she is a spirit that won't be forgotten here by what I read from other fans of LaBouche and Melanie.
"
Love this CD
Ryan | 10/20/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This Cd is great. It has all the La Bouche hits plus some other ones.Melanie Thornton had a wonderful voice and I was fortunate to hear her perform in person just months before her death.She actually sounded as good if not better in person.
I do not know what the previous guy was thinking,but LA Bouche was definetly one of the better dance groups to come along."
Melanie, we wont forget you.
Eric Smith | Pittsburgh, PA | 07/10/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There once was this duo, Melanie Thornton and Lane McCray. They met about thirteen years ago in a small little American airbase in Germany. Little did they know their little acquantence would turn themselves from unknown singers to electronica superstars. With beautiful looks and an astonishingly beautiful and powerful voice, Melanie was great as the star. With funky rapping and great co-production and writing skills, Lane was the one to close the act. While Euro-dance has been popular for Europe for quite some time, people really didn't care for it much after the early 90's. There was Snap!, The Real McCoy and all those other one-hit wonders. And then...there was La Bouche. Something different. "Sweet Dreams" was released in 1996 and made a huge mark on the charts, as well as the following singles "Be My Lover" and "Fallin in Love." Everyone admired Melanie's extremely powerful voice, hence the name of the group (also translated from French as "The Mouth"). Unfortunatly, their success in America was only temporary. Overseas however, they were a much bigger phenomenon. They released a second CD titled "All Mixed Up" which featured mixes to already big hits as well as some hidden new tracks such as the single "Forget Me Nots", a remake of a popular 70's hit. Then they released another album titled "SOS" (morescode for "Save our Ship") which included hits "You Won't Forget Me" (the only song taking mild airply in the US), "SOS" and the beautiful ballad "A Moment of Love." They couldn't be stopped. As groups go however there seems to be a time when one member decides to go solo, for either personal or creative reasons...and that's exactly what Melanie did. In 2001 she came back with a new album titled "Ready to Fly." It was released for Europe only...and included the single "Love How You Love Me." Also included was a beautiful number titled "Heartbeat" as well as the coca-cola commerical song "Holidays Are Coming." On November 24th, 2001 however fate took a turn, which would cut her career off short. There was news that a plane traveling to Munich crashed, and Melanie was aboard that plane...and didn't survive. Fans and everyone in Europe was shocked. How could someone's life be cut so short? Why? We may never know that answer but we will know that La Bouche and Melanie's music will continue on from the ears of fans. "The Best of La Bouche" includes their hit singles from La Bouche as well as Melanie's solo attempt. Songs from "Ready to Fly" include a beautiful ballad (and the first single) "love how you love me", "makin ooo ooo (talkin about love" (a catchy dance tune), "heartbeat" (a beautiful ballad) and "take me 2 heaven 2nite" (a great techno number). In addition it also includes highlights from their first two albums (very rare in Greatest Hits packages...ranging from uptempo songs to beautiful ballads. Nothing can beat this timeless collection of Eurodance-infused Pop music. Rest in Peace, Melanie Thornton. We Won't Forget You"
More than just a "Best of" - Lots of surprises!
Patrick J. Neals | Toronto, ON, Canada | 02/15/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For casual fans of La Bouche and Melanie Thornton, this is a great collection of their big hits.For diehard fans, this is also an important addition to your collection, as there are a few rarer hits included, as well as the previously unreleased song "In Your Life". Some of the mixes are slightly different from the original album versions, which is a pleasant surprise, and makes this an even more special collection. The full length video for "Sweet Dreams" is included.The liner notes include a special tribute and reflection on the life of the late Melanie Thornton, written by Lane McCray.This is a German import and a somewhat rare album even though it is new, and it would be suggested to acquire this one soon as it is never certain when this may go out of print."
Track Listings (21) - Disc #1