Search - Burt Bacharach :: Very Best of Burt Bacharach

The Best of the Best

Michael J Edelman | Huntington Woods, MI USA | 11/17/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Back in the 1960s I had to hide my "Dionne Warwick sings Burt Bacharach" album from my excessively hip friends; why would anyone want to listen to that pop in the ear of Cream, Hendrix and all that psychadelia? Luckily the current generation of young music listeners knows what musicians have always known: Burt Bacharach is one of the greatest and hippest composers of all time, and his collaborations with Hal David are some of the greatest pop tunes ever written. I still get chills from "Anyone who Had a Heart", or "Always Something There To Remind Me". These are the great tunes that inspired so many of the great pop writers that followed- people like Andy Partridge of XTC or Gifford and Tilbrook of Squeeze. This is pop at its best.If you can afford it, buy the three-disc set that these tunes are taken from. But if all you can swing is this one disk, buy it. It's truly the best of the best."

Like a time machine back to the 60's and early 70's

sir_isaac_newton | UK | 05/30/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I remember hearing some of these tunes when I was very young, some even as a toddler with my mother. I recently bought this album as a present for my mother -- I must admit I really enjoyed listening to it though. There are a few songs on here that I did not recognize and/or did not care for, but most are wonderful. Personal favourite: "I say a little prayer" by Dionne Warwick. Other great songs include: "Walk on by" again by Dionne Warwick [I also like the Strangler's version -- not on this album -- which is surprisingly faithful to the original. The Strangler's stamp of approval makes this song particular chic!] and "What's new Pussy Cat" by Tom Jones (I wonder if anybody else could get away with this song -- Tom adds macho edge to an otherwise fairly soppy lyric -- result: magic!). Good value."

Bacharach & David in the Sixties...a Pinnacle in Pop Music

Ed Uyeshima | San Francisco, CA USA | 08/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Was there a better pop tunesmith in the second half of the 20th century than Burt Bacharach, and did he ever have a more copacetic partner than Hal David? Nowhere is that more evident than in this wonderful collection of Bacharach's hits. Truly the most impressive tracks are right in the middle of the disc between Dionne Warwick's groundbreaking "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and Marilyn McCoo's swooning take on "One Less Bell to Answer", and it is certainly no coincidence that these songs reflect Bacharach and David during their most fertile period in the sixties.



Dionne Warwick obviously had her fair share of hits from them, six included here highlighted by my personal favorites "Walk on By" and "Alfie". It's also great to hear Dusty Springfield's original version of "The Look of Love", where her smoky tones perfectly fit the mood of the song, which was aptly used for a slow motion seduction scene in "Casino Royale". Jackie DeShannon's symphonic rendition of "What the World Needs Now Is Love" and Tom Jones' Vegas-style "What's New Pussycat?" are also terrific to hear again. The disc does fall short at the beginning where the first two songs feel rather primitive compared to the sophistication of the rest, and sadly at the end where Bacharach partnered with his then-wife Carole Bayer Sager on two of the most overplayed songs from the eighties, "Arthur's Theme" and "That's What Friends Are For". Frankly, I would have preferred "Message to Michael", "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)" or even the Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You" instead. But these lapses are completely excusable.



Although it will make you feel immediately nostalgic to hear these songs one after the other, what will linger in your mind is how potent these songs continue to be as timeless pop classics. By the way, if you are looking for other definitive versions of Bacharach-David songs, check out Barbra Streisand's amazing, fugue-like medley of "One Less Bell to Answer" and "A House Is Not a Home" on her 1971 "Barbra Joan Streisand" CD.

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