Poor sound and poorer liner notes
Gordon Pfannenstiel | Russell, KS United States | 02/15/2006
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Roy Orbison's legacy is not well seved by this release. The sound is well below the quality of releases of the MGM material that was issued on Rhino and Polydor right after Orbison's death in the late '80s. Considering that those were released at the dawn of the CD era and remastering techniques have improved dramatically since then, there is no excuse for this thin, flat sound. We all know how well-recorded Orbison was.
The liner notes, rather than provide us insight into the songs and stories of Orbison, almost apologize for the quality of the material. Those of us who have waited for the release of Orbison's MGM work don't want to hear apologies for lackluster songs and performances. We love the man's songs and the man's voice, no apologies necessary, particularly as liner notes!
After waiting so long for this and being so excited that Orbison's MGM catalog was finally going to be rereleased, I can't express the depth of disappointment I feel after buying this. What a blown opportunity. It's too bad Bear Family was not able to release this material. I've got the Orbison box they did of the Monument material and it is a beautiful box, lovingly done.
I'm sorry I can't say the same for this reissue."
Get them now!
John B Goode | Nova Scotia, Canada | 05/16/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"great disk and series
we get songs that are not as well known as Orbison's early 60's Monument records, from long out of print albums.
great stuff, from a man who had his own voice and didn't try to play chameleon with styles.
the MGM period is a bit different than the Monument years - less of the saccharine strings that over burdened some of the Monument years hits, and less of the too-often-present chorus on many of the Monument hits. The songs on these MGM albums are thus a bit 'stripped down', with more interesting guitar and drumming.
? why can't we find the 3rd volume of this series - Orbison does Don Gibson and Hank Williams - here on Amazon?
I had to get it somewhere else
anyway, I recommend you get these cds now, because these small reisssue label cds don't stay around forever"
This is Essential Roy
Kevman | White Plains, NY USA | 03/18/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Because the music times had changed by 1965, many of these songs that would have been hits a few years earlier never made it to the singles 45 market. But there are alot of great songs here and more importantly, these MGM albums hold together very well as albums."
Track Listings (24) - Disc #1