Mosaic of too similar moods
Robert M | Clawson, Michigan | 03/06/2009
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I am something of a completest in the sense that, once I start buying a series of something, I usually feel some sort of mild compulsion to own the whole set. I always think I might be missing something great of I don't get every volume. But after buying four volumes of the "Mood Mosaic" series, including this one, I decided not to get the rest of them. Basic reason is they're simply not very good.
All of the Mood Mosaic volumes I've heard have a few good tracks and then large amounts of what sound like "B' sides or filler cuts on them. If you're old enough to remember buying vinyl and remember buying the album by some one hit wonder group, hoping to find other songs just as appealing as their hit, and them being disappointed to find the album filled with eleven cuts of mediocrity, that's something of the effect these discs produce.
This one starts with Sammy Davis, Jr. doing his elegant best with the Theme from Baretta. The song has a good tune and sits comfortably at the juncture between Lounge and early disco. But it contains such laughable lines as "Keep your eye on the sparrow when the going gets narrow." and it's hard not to imagine Sammy wondering if he really needed the money that badly. Other prime cuts include Henry Mancini's atmospheric and justly famous Streets of San Francisco and Quincy Jones' Call Me Mr. Tibbs, something from his Shaft period, although without the ear catching distinction of the latter. But most of the disc is filled with what I would call B movie chase scene music, notes running around all over the place, car chase music, foot chase music, etc., etc., all adding up to next to nothing and instantly forgettable. It just goes on and on. It's a little like being trapped at a party by a compulsive talker who prattles and prattles and from whom you can't get away. All this mediocrity is especially surprising considering some of the high powered names on the disc: Alan Tew, Jimmy Smith, Eumir Deodato and several other luminaries of the Jazz/Lounge genre. But I suppose every artist or composer has to crank out "product" and it must have seemed a great idea to the producers of the "Mood Mosaic" series to cash in on the recent Lounge craze by compiling this "product" into various volumes for gullible collectors to buy.
The sound is good on every cut and the disc is well enough filled that there's no question of value. So....if you woke up this morning thinking, Gosh, I wish I could find a crime Lounge CD filled with mostly nondescript B movie chase scene music, this might be just your cup of tea. It's just not very much mine."
Just awesome
Rolando C Olivares | Camarillo, CA United States | 04/05/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Great funky TV themes like 'Starsky & Hutch', which will make you feel you're driving in the 70's chasing thugs in your police car...
Great companion to Shake Sauvage, Vampyros Lesbos, and Beretta 70!"
For that Quin Martin Production vibe...
easygroove | Seattle, WA United States | 06/25/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
""Mood Mosaic Vol. 2" is my first experience with the Barnie's Grooves series, and overall I give it high marks. I mean, they kick things off with Sammy Davis Jr.'s version of the theme to "Baretta," so what more do you really need to know? Standouts include Bobby Forrester's sublimely funky version of the Sandford & Son theme, with a burbling Hammond organ replacing the honking horns from the original; a wicked "Rock Steady" by the Generation Gap; and of course Dr. Jimmy Smith's "Ruth Down." If you've only ever heard the Beastie Boys' sample you owe it to yourself (and the Dr.) to check out the original. You've got compositions by your Deodato, your Quincy Jones, Lalo Schifrin, Andre Previn -- all the usual suspects, as well as a few newer recordings.All in all a worthy effort and, like those Quin Martin crime dramas, it holds up well in reruns..."
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1