Search - Engelbert Humperdinck :: I Wish You Love: 20 Great Love Songs

Melodic bliss

Alejandra Vernon | Long Beach, California | 12/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Warning: May cause eyes to cry, heart to leap with the joy of hearing so much beauty.

There is something so wistful, so intensely beautiful about many of the songs in this fabulous compilation that I rarely get from start to finish in the hour-long program without a few tears being shed.

Engelbert's rendition of Jimmy Webb's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", which was a huge hit for Glen Campbell in 1967, is so exquisitely tender and sad I think it would move the hardest heart to become misty-eyed; it is simply one of the best performances I've ever heard of any song in any genre...and another favorite of mine (and the reason I bought this CD) is "Love Letters", which is rarely included in Engelbert's many compilations.



Charlie Chaplin's "This is My Song" from his film "A Countess From Hong Kong" is tailor-made for Engelbert's soaring voice, as is the 1930s hit for so many artists but never sung better than here, "Stardust", and Eng includes its wonderful intro.

There are a few movie themes in this collection, and "A Time for Us" (from Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet") is surely one of Nino Rota's loveliest melodies, and "The Shadow of Your Smile" ("The Sandpiper") is fabulous.

The re-mastered sound is very good, and thanks to John Tracy for putting this incredible collection together (and including "Love Letters"), and for his clever and informative liner notes.

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