Various Artists - Atlantic Records 50 Years (26 tracks) +Album Reviews

Surprisingly Satisfying

11/16/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have to be honest and acknowledge that I ordered this dual CD set originally for the sole curiosity of hearing Yes' "Roundabout" & Phil Collin's "In the Air Tonight" in HDCD format. Well I was not disappointed with these two songs. I wish only that more titles could be released in HDCD - THEY ARE UNEQUIVOCALLY WORTH IT ON BOTH HDCD & CONVENTIONAL CD PLAYERS. Anyway, I was surprised with how I enjoyed many of the other titles too. Covering 50 years in a compilation is pretty risky since it requires a breadth of taste or at least curiosity on the auditor's part beyond their usual "sweet spot" and always leaves out some noteworthy absent (eg: ELP's "Fanfare for the Common Man"). All these songs were familiar, but I would not have purchased a CD for them; I am glad to have an intro to Ray Charles' "What'd I Say", Ben King's "Stand by Me" or Otis Redding's "The Dock of the Bay" to name just a few. Enjoy this HDCD experience - you will rediscover these songs even if you heard them a thousand times before. By the way, if you like this you must get the "Monster Jazz"' HDCD - it is breath-taking in a different genre!"

The "plays" the thing

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 02/20/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Certainly most serious collectors will already have a large percentage of the extremely popular titles on ATLANTIC RECORDS * FIFTY YEARS among their holdings. The advantage of this great two-CD set is the opportunity to enjoy a parade of individual career highlights in chronological order. So there's nothing at all wrong with duplication, provided some thought has gone into the programming. This is why "Best Of" albums traditionally sell very well.

The songs here span the years 1958 to '96. ATLANTIC's first decade, as well as many artists, have been neglected-- perhaps unnecessarily. Properly done, an additional 43 minutes of programming could easily have been provided-- thus the 4 star rating. Includes a two-page company bio, and all recording dates.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME --

DISC ONE -- 52:00

DISC TWO -- 59:06"

A nice trip down memory lane for Atlantic's first 50 years

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 07/31/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The only complaint about the 2-CD set "Atlantic Records: 50 Years" is that if you have a solid music collection you are going to have almost all of these 26 tracks. I was only missing out on "Baby" by Brandy, which resulted in nary a ripple of regret on my part. But then I also have to admit that most music listeners are going to be heavily into the early music or the alter music, but maybe not both. Trying to cover fifty years of music on two discs is a rather daunting task and this particular collection makes it a bit easier by focusing on R&B and rock. Still, for a trip down memory lane "Atlantic Records: 50 Years" this does cover songs that are some of the best known from their catalogue.

The first disc begins with the R&B and soul music from the 1950s and 1960s, including the long version of "What I'd Say" by Ray Charles. It will drive you crazy that there is only one track by Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin, but the rules of the game are just one bite of the apple per artist, and it is hard to complain about "In the Midnight Hour" or "Respect" as the choices. The songs you find here are the ones most associated with the artists, from Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" to Sam and Dave's "Soul Man." It is only when you get to the rock legends at the end of the first disc that the choices are clearly limited to what singles they released on Atlantic. That explains why Led Zeppelin does "Whole Lotta Love" and the Rolling Stones do "Brown Sugar." Led Zep did not do singles and the Stones only stopped by Atlantic for a cup of coffee, but the album gets bonus points for skipping the single cut of "Whole Lotta Love" for the album version.

The second disc covers much more of the musical spectrum, from the progressive rock of "Roundabout" by Yes and the disco classic "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge to the more eclectic offerings of Tori Amos's "Silent All These Years" and Hootie & the Blowfish's "Hold My Hand." Somehow throwing together Stevie Nicks, Bette Midler and Brandy on the second disc seems more of a reach than having Bobby Darin, Otis Redding, and Percy Sledge on the first. But then how do Chic, Phil Collins and Foreigner not suffer in comparison to the likes of Cream and Crosby, Stills & Nash? It is only with the contemporary artists that the choices of the songs for the respective artists strike me as being debatable (I would have gone with "Winter" for Tori Amos and "Foolish Games" for Jewel). Of course, I have those songs so I can "fix" the play list here if I want and you probably will be able to do so too. As I indicated at the start, this is a nice trip down memory lane but only if you can not do better on your own with what you currently have in your collection.

"

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