Search - Various Artists :: Atlantic Records: 50 Years [2-CD SET]

A nice trip down memory lane for Atlantic's first 50 years

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 07/31/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The only complaint about the 2-CD set "Atlantic Records: 50 Years" is that if you have a solid music collection you are going to have almost all of these 26 tracks. I was only missing out on "Baby" by Brandy, which resulted in nary a ripple of regret on my part. But then I also have to admit that most music listeners are going to be heavily into the early music or the alter music, but maybe not both. Trying to cover fifty years of music on two discs is a rather daunting task and this particular collection makes it a bit easier by focusing on R&B and rock. Still, for a trip down memory lane "Atlantic Records: 50 Years" this does cover songs that are some of the best known from their catalogue.



The first disc begins with the R&B and soul music from the 1950s and 1960s, including the long version of "What I'd Say" by Ray Charles. It will drive you crazy that there is only one track by Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin, but the rules of the game are just one bite of the apple per artist, and it is hard to complain about "In the Midnight Hour" or "Respect" as the choices. The songs you find here are the ones most associated with the artists, from Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" to Sam and Dave's "Soul Man." It is only when you get to the rock legends at the end of the first disc that the choices are clearly limited to what singles they released on Atlantic. That explains why Led Zeppelin does "Whole Lotta Love" and the Rolling Stones do "Brown Sugar." Led Zep did not do singles and the Stones only stopped by Atlantic for a cup of coffee, but the album gets bonus points for skipping the single cut of "Whole Lotta Love" for the album version.



The second disc covers much more of the musical spectrum, from the progressive rock of "Roundabout" by Yes and the disco classic "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge to the more eclectic offerings of Tori Amos's "Silent All These Years" and Hootie & the Blowfish's "Hold My Hand." Somehow throwing together Stevie Nicks, Bette Midler and Brandy on the second disc seems more of a reach than having Bobby Darin, Otis Redding, and Percy Sledge on the first. But then how do Chic, Phil Collins and Foreigner not suffer in comparison to the likes of Cream and Crosby, Stills & Nash? It is only with the contemporary artists that the choices of the songs for the respective artists strike me as being debatable (I would have gone with "Winter" for Tori Amos and "Foolish Games" for Jewel). Of course, I have those songs so I can "fix" the play list here if I want and you probably will be able to do so too. As I indicated at the start, this is a nice trip down memory lane but only if you can not do better on your own with what you currently have in your collection.

"