Search - Various Artists :: Straight From The Heart

WHAT MEMORIES - WHAT GREAT MEMORIES!

HUGO | HOUSTON, TEXAS United States | 09/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You can't help but love all the monster hit single tracks and artists featured here - mostly a scattered few late 60's hits and a whole lotta 70's pop-rock chart toppers and quite memorable Top 40 Radio and Chart gold singles! "Oh! What memories - what memories from nineteen 60/70 something..." exclaimed that Dee-Jay on the classic Carpenters "Yesterday Once More" LP's "60's Medley" - and you can't fight the feeling here either! Through the ages, many Pop Music critics have often written many of these genuinely classic recordings off as "schmaltzy pop-rock", but, truth be told - none of those morons ever recorded nor landed a "hit single" of their own! This is CLASSIC AMERICAN POP ROCK at it's ultimate BEST! Don't pass it up!"

Guilty, as Charged!

Booggit | Arabian Gulf | 11/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This boxed set contains one guilty pleasure after another! Even though many of the songs I had not heard for years/decades, I found I immediately recalled the words and was singing along, barely realizing it until I was in mid-song! Even though numerous "styles" of music are included, this is pop, pop and more pop. If you are like myself, and were a teenager in the Seventies, most of these songs will bring back many memories of people, places and events which had been hiding in the far corners of your memory...waiting for these songs to set them free! This three-cd package is guaranteed to supply you with many hours of musical pleasure."

+ 1/2 stars...Truth In Advertising

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 12/07/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"At sixty songs, this collection offers a certain amount of bang for your buck; however, much of the music is a bit too treacly for my taste. ["You Light Up my Life," for example, gets my vote for worst song of the seventies.] Nonetheless, Shout! Factory titled this collection STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART for a reason: these are all love songs--more than three and a half hours' worth! That's more than even the most lovestruck Baby Boomer can handle in one sitting.



But there are some genuine classics here. Nilsson's "Without You" is the definitive version of the Pete Ham ballad. Joe Cocker reaching for that last note--and missing--on "You Are So Beautiful" is poignant in its simplicity. And even though I was only in junior high at the time, "Cherish" was my anthem of unrequited love.



While these songs share the theme of being "Straight From the Heart," it is something of a mixed bag. And even though the cover says "timeless music from the 60s and 70s," "Through the Years" and "Always on My Mind" both charted in the 80s. [And for those of you keeping score at home, 16 of the songs are from the 60s and 42 are from the 70s.]



There is also a 36-page booklet, but it's mostly stock photos of the artists--very little text and the photos are all duotone images. There are, however, three pages of track listings, including release date and highest chart position. Overall, not as informative as it could have been.



If you're looking for a more diverse collection of seventies music, check out Shout Factory's GET READY, HERE COME...THE '70s. That set contains 57 songs (and only five are repeated from this collection). RECOMMENDED [Disc 1 - 67:10, Disc 2 - 73:46, Disc 3 - 66:21]"