No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: CARMEN,ERIC
Title: DEFINITIVE COLLECTION
Street Release Date: 06/17/1997
No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: CARMEN,ERIC
Title: DEFINITIVE COLLECTION
Street Release Date: 06/17/1997
"Eric Carmen was the great lost chord that connected the Beatles to the Beach Boys. Blessed with a high pop-perfect voice and the ability to write hooks that could catch Moby Dick, the Cleveland native's first group, the Raspberries, sounded too good to be true, let alone to last (they didn't). Their bubblegum meets hard rock efforts bore chart fruit Go All the Way and I Wanna Be With You, school dance ballad Let's Pretend and the flawless autobiography Overnight Sensation, which kick off this compilation disc in grandiose style. What follows are Carmen's slightly mellower, but equally classy solo career highlights, not the least of which are a pair of biggies he wrote for teen throb Shaun Cassidy (That's Rock & Roll, Hey Deanie), heard to best advantage here in their beat crazy, harder rockin' original versions. The Beach Boys-channeled She Did It, the lovely, yearning All By Myself, and the Dirty Dancing-era guilty pleasures Hungry Eyes and Make Me Lose Control, literal ear candy one and all, round out the fun. Maybe his recorded output has been a tad slight compared to say, Billy Joel or Elton John, but I'd druther hear one TRULY GREAT greatest hits like Eric Carmen's than a bloated box set of almost anyone else. RATING: FIVE RASPBERRIES"
Outstanding, "Definitive" though would require a box set.
Steve Rychard (SRychard@aol.com) | Seattle | 07/24/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I suppose if you had to have just one Eric Carmen CD, this would be the one. Ever track is classic EC and a good sampling of songs throughout his career, particularly the singles. Be advised that this disc is contagious. A couple of listens and you're going to want more, in fact all 4 Raspberries albums, and all 6 solo albums. Eric Carmen is the most underrated and misunderstood singer/songwriter/performer of his time. His infectious melodies are custom made for the most expressive voice in the biz. This disc goes along way to demonstrate EC's versatility, effortlessly moving from scorching rockers such as "Tonight" and "Go All the Way" & "That's Rock and Roll" to smooth as silk ballads such as "Boats Against the Current", "Desparate Fools" and the famous "All By Myself". Take a listen and you'll be amazed. The liner notes are great. This guys got class, and boy can he write, sing, and play."
Eric Carmen is a Master of Pop Music
Steve Rychard (SRychard@aol.com) | 12/27/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Note to Calrocker1@aol.com and others reading their review. Eric never recorded "Without You". The original hit version of this song was done by Harry Nilsson and can be found on his "All-Time Greatest Hits" CD, sold on this website. The song was originally written and recorded by Badfinger on their "No Dice" album.Eric Carmen will always be known as the man who wrote and hit with "All By Myself", which sounds very much like Nilsson's version of "Without You". But Carmen could also rock out, and was the inventor of "power-pop". So if you like tuneful, uptempo pop songs inspired by The Beatles and The Beach Boys, and heartfelt pop ballads that would make Barry Manilow envious, then this CD is what you want."
Definative is right!
Terry Copeland | 05/14/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm gonna carried away with this review! I can't help it. This set is incredible!This collection really is the cream of Carmen! Included are his biggest hits with "The Raspberries" and goes on to include all his solo successes.His days as lead singer and songwriter with the Raspberries are well represented here. "Let's Pretend", sounding like a second cousin of "Wouldn't It Be Nince" is my favorite, along with "Go All The Way" and "I Wanna Be With You". These are all unabashedly feel good power-pop classics of the early 70's. This is feel-good music defined!"The Raspberries" grew up a little with "Overnight Sensation" as many critics agree this songs is a masterpiece.After Eric split from "The Raspberries" his music showed a marked change. Gone were the boy/girl bubblegum love songs, replaced by songs with an amazing depth and maturity, "All By Myself" being the prime example. This song, along with "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" are very much influenced by classical music, and have become classics in their own right.To round off the set, you have the achingly beautiful "Boats Against The Current", the Beach Boy Inspired "Make Me Loose Control" and the Dirty Dancing smash "Hungry Eyes".Also included are the bouncy "Hey Deannie" and "That's Rock and Roll". Eric wrote and recorded both of these songs, and they both hit the top of the charts with cover (and vastly inferior, in my opinion) versions by Shaun Cassidy. This is a must for all fans of power pop!"
UNDERRATED AND TERRIFIC
R. Penola | NYC, NY United States | 12/13/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Eric Carmen first entered my consciousness from my small radio, singing as the lead in GO ALL THE WAY, the Raspberries' incredibly sexy pop hit, featuring Eric's trademark classically-infused melody. His pop music is truly intoxicating, and is drenched with some of the most gorgeously melodic sounds ever to hit the airwaves. This may be the "definitive collection" of hits, but I want the BOATS AGAINST THE CURRENT album on CD -- it is his most ambitious and grand album ever -- some of the tracks are here, but not the best -- and the one I wore out three copies of in vinyl."