Search - Melissa Manchester :: Better Days & Happy Endings

THEN & NOW!

Jeanne S. Dunn | Illinois, USA | 07/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have longed to hear this music again for decades! I was 16 in 1976, and this was my favorite album. I played it relentlessly. A few decades, a few life changes, several moves, and somewhere along the way, my vinyl albums were lost. Of the entire collection, the loss of BETTER DAYS & HAPPY ENDINGS was the only one that truly hurt. Having searched without luck for it on CD for years - literally - and being willing to pay a pretty penny, I am overjoyed and giddy that it is finally available! I am a huge Melissa Manchester fan, but I'm passionate about her older albums. Her collaboration with Carol Bayer Sagers is incredible. The songs on BETTER DAYS & HAPPY ENDINGS are beautifully written (musically and lyrically) and lushly delivered. I could go on, critique every song, but I'll end here with a simple "Buy it! You won't regret it!" It's Classic Melissa at her very, very best!"

Better Days & Happy Endings (1976)

A. Russo | Cambridge, MA United States | 08/01/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the Melissa's 4th LP and follow up to her 1975 breakthough LP MELISSA, which featured the top 10 hit Midnite Blue. She continues her plight in relevant times for the evolving woman, love and relationships. The lyrics are poised in a way that few writers of that time could express. The lead single on this CD is Jsut You And I which was a top 30 hit for her as well as being her You've Got A Friend song. She and Bob Dylan sang this song together in the privacy of Bob's home and we sould have loved to have been there! Better Days was the next single and follow up story to the day after Midnite Blue. It became the last song she sang in concert, accapella. The third single was a double sided hit with a single mix of Happy Endings and a remake of Fontella Bass's Rescue Me. Ignored by Arista, however, is the standard that could have been her biggest single Come In From The Rain. It's one of her most popular attractions in concert.



Other highlights include Good News, Stand Up Woman and the Rufus/Chaka Khan sound-a-like You Can Make It All Come True.



If you could get the Japan version of this CD put out by BMG, it is well worth the price tag! Missing and "wounded" from this Wounded Bird re-issue are the lyrics, original colorization artwork and sound quality. Certainly better than your scratch LP, but not up to par with the Japanese version. Maybe if enough of these cheaply released issues become sold, it will prompt Melissa to buy back her rights to her music and re-issue them the right way with bonus tracks and perfection."

Rockin' melissa

James Odom | San Franciso, CA USA | 11/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"wow! miss manchester truly rocks. songs like happy endings, you can make your dreams come true and good news are true gems. the whole album is worth listening. if you are melissa manchester fan, you will not be disappointed, to say the least."