Various Artists The Phil Spector Collection Genres:Pop, R&B, Rock Excellent two CD compilation that features the absolute best tracks produced and/or written by Phil Spector, the eccentric musical genius. Disc One is a 22 track collection entitled Wall Of Sound Retrospective that featur... more »es classic recordings from The Ronettes, The Crystals, Darlene Love, The Righteous Brothers and others. Disc Two is his 'Christmas Gift For You' which is out-of-print in the US! The album has grown in stature over the years and has been reissued countless times. If you have to own a record to play half a dozen times during the festive season, then this is the one and only. Featuring the amazing Spector production together with Darlene Love, The Crystals, The Ronettes, BobB. Soxx And The Blue Jeans, even Leon Russell on piano and Sonny Bono on percussion, this is another timeless record that is unlikely ever to be surpassed as the greatest Christmas compilation of all time. Universal.« less
Excellent two CD compilation that features the absolute best tracks produced and/or written by Phil Spector, the eccentric musical genius. Disc One is a 22 track collection entitled Wall Of Sound Retrospective that features classic recordings from The Ronettes, The Crystals, Darlene Love, The Righteous Brothers and others. Disc Two is his 'Christmas Gift For You' which is out-of-print in the US! The album has grown in stature over the years and has been reissued countless times. If you have to own a record to play half a dozen times during the festive season, then this is the one and only. Featuring the amazing Spector production together with Darlene Love, The Crystals, The Ronettes, BobB. Soxx And The Blue Jeans, even Leon Russell on piano and Sonny Bono on percussion, this is another timeless record that is unlikely ever to be surpassed as the greatest Christmas compilation of all time. Universal.
"Though the cover art does not suggest much, this is indeed an official ABKCO release: two CD jewel cases in a thin cardboard slipcase. Even if you are the ardent Phil Spector music fan, who (like myself) already has the "Back to Mono" set and the various "Best of" collections that ABKCO put out in the early 90s, this new 2-CD set is a MUST! While all but one of the tracks on this set are already available on the "Mono" set, this new package offers superb improved sound. The sound on the earlier collections tended to have heavily compressed, muddy sound that, at this point (2006) was just aching for a remaster. The sound here, thankfully, is crisp, clear and bright, with good bass and overall definition. All tracks are (true to form) in mono, with the exception of "River Deep-Mountain High", which is the stereo version.
The Christmas album is of course, a delight, and while I am not sure if it is also newly remastered, the case carries a 2002 date, and it seems slightly louder then the older release. This set carries a special track not heard on previous sets, featuring Phil Spector singing "Spanish Harlem", while playing guitar. It is nice and compelling, though the real draw for getting this set is the sound. The liner notes are also nice and detail the session players who performed on these tracks.
Hopefully this means that the rest of the Spector catalog is soon to be remastered. The "Back to Mono" set is a classic, but ALL the tracks on it deserve to benefit from fabulous sound."
Amazing remastering
Roderick Keech | Australia | 07/21/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"After listening for years to the Back to Mono box set, remastered by Phil Spector earlier, and the illegal but somewhat superior sound of the Marginal Records releases from Belgium, this new set is a revelation to the ears. Remastered again by Phil Spector, but this time in stereo, the sound is fantastically fresh and clear, affording the listener a greatly enhanced experience. I never thought I would hear these old songs sound so great - all we can hope for is that the entire "Wall of Sound" catalogue gets the same treatment - but I guess that may have to wait until Mr Spector is a free man ? 5 stars for CD one - 3 stars for the Christmas album. Maybe it's just an Australian thing, but we don't go in for Christmas albums, no matter who sings them. That said, this is a mandatory purchase for fans of the era - you won't be listening to "Back to Mono" again."
"Killer" Oldies
Timothy P. Molthan | 01/18/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is Phil Spector's best stiff (er, stuff) prestented in crisp, clean mono (except for "River Deep, Mountain High" which is in stereo). This set is miles ahead than the Back To Mono set in sound quality, but I docked it a point because many of these clean mono tracks could have been stereo (I've recently heard that EMI has acquired the masters, so there's hope we don't have to wait for Phil Spector to die to get the stereo mixes). And the absence of the Ronettes' classic "I Can Hear Music" (covered by the Beach Boys) takes away 1/4 of a point. But for superior mono versions of most of the Spector hits, you can't beat this."
A Bit of a Disappointment
Nicholas Hoogs | North Bethesda, MD, USA | 07/04/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This collection is a bit of a disappointment, first, because of the failure to include even the already published stereo versions of at least eight of the 22 tracks (not to mention the already published stereo pressing of the entire Christmas album), and second, because of the failure to include any of the late 60s/early 70s Spector work, e.g. with the Checkmates, Ltd, with Ronnie Spector ("Try Some, Buy Some"), and even with the Ronettes themselves ("You Came, You Saw, You Conquered"). Still, thanks to the solid mastering and the somewhat bizarre inclusion of the Phil Spector solo demo of "Spanish Harlem," this disc is, for collectors, worth the price. And if the rumor about EMI's acquisition of master tapes turns out to be accurate, one can only hope for future release of true stereo mixes of the classic Spector recordings, as well as possibly unreleased tracks (e.g., "Baby, Don't You Get Crazy" by the Checkmates). Notwithstanding Spector's nostalgia about Gold Star and early 60s car radios, the stereo mixes make it far easier to appreciate his superb mastery of his medium -- and, let's face it, it's time to bag the "Back to Mono" mantra!"
