America - America - The Complete Greatest Hits
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Free Music Notes for America - The Complete Greatest Hits
Free Music Review: This is the America compilation I have been waiting for.
Hit: 5 Stars
For those of you out there who like a Greatest Hits compilation that contains all of the songs by an artist to chart on Billboard's Hot 100, this CD is for you. I have been waiting for a compilation that contains all of their hits, yet does not include a bunch of other songs that I am not interested in. Previously they have released "History: Greatest Hits" which just focused on the early 70's hits. Then they released "Encore: More Greatest Hits" which focused on the late 70's early 80's hits. Then they released "Highway: 30 Years of America", which was a box set bloated with non-hits. For the America fanatic, I am sure all of the previous compilations were great. However, for the casual listener like me who just wants the hits, this is the CD to get. And you get all of the songs on one disc, which saves space in a CD collection like mine that numbers over 1,000 CD's. Another bonus, this CD plays the songs in chronological order of when they were hits, which I really appreciate. The liner notes are also good with a 20 page booklet with lots of full-color photos, a history of the band, and a track listing that tells where the songs peaked on both the Pop and Adult Contemporary charts.
Some reviewers have commented on how the band turned to shlocky AC in the early 80's. I think the songs from that period were just as vital as the 70's hits. And a lot of people have made negative remarks about "Muskrat Love". At least this version is less embarassing than the Captain & Tenille version with all of the keyboard chirping sounds. I recommend this CD highly for anyone who enjoys 70's and 80's adult pop music.
Free Music Review: Excellent overview for the casual fan
Hit: 5 Stars
America was basically riding the crest of the Crosby Stills & Nash sound, but they did it quite well without coming off as a mere copycat band. This remastered compilation includes every track from the very popular "History: America's Greatest Hits" CD and expands from there with later chart singles and notable in-between tunes. I was happy to see that they weren't shy about including their so-sappy-it's-good 80's hits "You Can Do Magic", "The Border" and the excellent "Right Before Your Eyes". These songs obviously pale by comparison to their more politically charged and psychedelic 70's output, especially in the lyrics department (of the three, only "The Border" was co-written by any band members), but they're great ear candy regardless. America fans of all intensities now have three levels of compilation extensiveness to choose from - this single disc of all their chart hits, or get "History" combined with "Encore: More America's Greatest Hits" to expand on their latter year output, or get the box set for a 3 CD overview! I personally would recommend this one for its pristine sound.An additional note on the song "Daisy Jane" - I've always been a big fan of Janet Jackson, and one of my favorites of hers is the ballad "Let's Wait Awhile" from 1986. I never realized until picking up the America CD that her and her co-conspirators Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis basically pilfered parts of the melody from "Daisy Jane" for that song! In fact, Janet (Ms. Jackson if yo' nasty) must be a closet America fan, seeing as how she also sampled the riff from "Ventura Highway" for her own "Someone To Call My Lover" last year.
Free Music Review: An Underrated band--an above average collection of songs
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm re-discovering a LOT of 70's bands lately and realizing that this decade produced an incredible amount of really good music (disco notwithstanding). America was definitely in the running as one of the high points of this era of music exploration. A truly exceptional collection by a really great group of musicians. Anyone doubt me? Check it out for yourselves. 'Sister Golden Hair' can hold its own today as well as it did almost 30 years ago. But let's not stop there, how 'bout 'Tin Man', 'Ventura Highway', 'A Horse With No Name', 'I Need You', 'You Can Do Magic', 'Lonely People' and MANY more. Not just good music, but GREAT music. The ability to hold up well over the years is something that THIS particular generation of music listeners I believe will never truly understand because the bulk of songs produced over the past decade (or so) are almost all throw-away tunes. What is great today will be yesterdays fodder within a few weeks, and almost NONE of it sounds good after just a few spins. Will Britney Spears EVER stand up to 'Satisfaction' by the Stones? Does Eminem even have a prayer of selling millions of albums 30 YEARS after he stops making music like The Beatles? No feakin' WAY. However, America IS a band that can and DOES stand up well after several decades. IF you count yourself a fan of the 70's and you would count a life without disco as a GOOD thing, give America a chance and let them impress you for several more decades to come. An above average collection of songs by a truly underrated band.
Free Music Review: All the essentials
Hit: 5 Stars
Three sons of American servicemen based in Britain formed this group in 1969 (reduced to a duo in 1977) so perhaps that explains the rather grand group name that they chose. Given all the great music that is recorded in the United States, any group that choose the name America has a lot to live up to.
In the event, America did well in America, with two number one hits (A horse with no name, Sister golden hair) and several top ten hits including I need you, Ventura highway, Tin man, Lonely people and You can do magic - this last song was their only significant success after Dan Peek left in 1977. America were less successful in Britain, where they had only three hits, two of which were minor although they made the top three with A horse with no name. Their other notable songs include Muskrat love (also recorded by Captain and Tennille) and Sandman.
Overall, America's style of soft-rock harmony music owed a lot to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young although they were more successful on the singles chart than that illustrious group (with or without Neil Young).
For most people, this is the definitive collection of their music, containing all the tracks that they are famous for and some other great songs that might encourage some to explore their music in greater depth. If you only ever buy one collection of America's music, this is a good one to choose.
Free Music Review: Finally! The one I've been waiting for all these years!
Hit: 5 Stars
Like most America fans, I've had to be content with "History" for many years but when my first copy experienced the first signs of cd-rot and I was forced to sell it I decided to wait a while and see if somebody would issue a greatest hits compilation of the band that included "You Can Do Magic" and thank goodness for Rhino!
Not only did I get my wish but I got it in remastered sound as well! Every track in "History" is here plus "... Magic", "Today's the Day", "Amber Cascades" & "Right Before Your Eyes" which I had not heard before until I was pleasantly surprised to hear them for the first time on this cd. Very good tracks indeed; although I didn't enjoy the last 3 tracks as much ("World of Light" sounds too much like a track from the great Tom Petty album "Wallflowers" i.e. "Crawling Back To You")but all the other points mentioned earlier more than justify the 5 stars.
If you are new to America and want to get a compilation, this is the one. If you are like I once was, a beginning acoustic guitarist, this is essential listening and if you can get your hands on the music/tablature, do strum along to it and better still put it in your repertoire. If you are a fan but not fanatical enough to buy every album or the box set then this is it.