Gordon Lightfoot - Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits
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Free Music Notes for Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits
Free Music Review: The World's Greatest Troubadour
Hit: 5 Stars
I've been a Gordon Lightfoot fan for about 30 years. In my opinion, he's one of the best songwriters of the 20th century, and he's still going strong. Somehow he manages to do what only a few others have accomplished: He paints pictures with his lyrics. He's a master at creating imagery in song. Sit back, close your eyes and listen to Canadian Railroad Trilogy.. "There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run, when the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun..." Who can listen to this song without seeing nostalgic images of workers clearing the land, laying tracks, pounding spikes? It's like watching a mini-movie.Recently, I had the pleasure of attended a couple of Lightfoot's concerts in New England. After all these years, he's still playing to packed houses and still has the ability to captivate the audience. And his music has stood the test of time. For some reason, his songs don't sound dated. The music he sang in the '60s and '70s sounds as fresh today as it did way back then.
Whether you are a new fan, or someone who has all of Lightfoot's albums, you should seriously consider purchasing this compilation. It includes all of his biggest hits, and a few of the less well known treasures that he has recorded along the way. The selection of songs is a good representation of Lightfoot's material throughout the span of his 40+ year career, and all of the songs have been beautifully remastered.
Free Music Review: Terrific Collection for the "Hits Only" Crowd
Hit: 5 Stars
While 1999's 4-CD collection "Songbook" still gets my vote for the most comprehensive look at this terrific Canadian singer/songwriter, Rhino does an excellent job of distilling that sprawling collection to twenty tacks covering songs from his United Artists, Reprise and Warner Bros. releases. While Lightfoot had only six bona fide "hits" (beginning with 1971's "If You COuld Read My Mind"), this collection also includes Gord's versions of his songs that were hits for other artists like Peter, Paul and Mary ("For Lovin' Me" and "Early Mornin' Rain") along with several album tracks.
Most of his best known songs are here, but I would have liked to have seen "Did She Mention My Name" or "Ten Degrees and Getting Colder" included. Three songs are here that do not appear on the box set: "Daylight Katy" (not issued as a US single, but reached No. 41 in the UK in 1978), "Stay Loose" (from 1986's East of Midnight) and "Restless" (from 1993's Waiting for You).
Truth to tell, this really needs a second disc, but the marketing folks at Rhino probably felt that would hurt the sales of their box set, so they put this together for the neophyte fan. If all you want are the hits and a handful of album tracks, this collection is exactly what you need. RECOMMENDED
Free Music Review: The best of Gordon
Hit: 5 Stars
In a word, the music of Gordon Lightfoot is nostalgic. Songs like If You Could Read My Mind make you think of the seemingly perfect relationship you once had which somehow didn't quite work out.
His music defies any easy categorization. The best way to describe it would be to say his songs are a hybrid of very light rock, country & folk songs. Does not sound like a winning combination, but it certainly works for Lightfoot!
His songs are saturated with pastoral scenes of countrysides, trains, rivers and boats. His music frequently makes me think of the late Autumn when the leaves are turning and the temperature is dropping (especially Restless).
The gem of his songs is his stirring requiem, The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald. Being a Michigander, they play the song on the radio every November 10th to commemorate the loss of the freighter on Lake Superior. No matter what type of music you like, you can't help but feel the hair stick up on the back of your neck whenever you hear him strum that sad tune.
If you like Gordon Lightfoot at all, this album is a "must have" as it really does include all of his very best songs. If you're unfamiliar w/Lightfoot, then this is a terrific place to start!
Free Music Review: A Compilation That Actually Works
Hit: 5 Stars
The most commonly used cliche people use when describing a greatest hits album is "It's a great introduction for new fans." Most of the time, compilations are merely attempts for a check, but this 20-track capsule of singer-songwriter pioneer Gordon Lightfoot works fantastically; it contains many of his own (better) versions of songs he wrote that were hits for other artists (the melancholy 'Early Morning Rain' and 'For Lovin' Me,' a song Lightfoot describes as "the most chauvinistic song I ever wrote"), and dives into hits he rightfully enjoyed for himself, such as 'If You Could Read My Mind,' the warning of infidelity 'Sundown' and the mournful 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,' all of which were some of the most popular songs of the 1970s. Also represented are Lightfoot's best known songs from his later career, including excellent moments like 'Daylight Katy' and 'Baby Step Back,' a song that boasts Lightfoot's most sneering, deliciously snide vocal performance. It should be considered a blessing that an artist as great as Gordon Lightfoot has been given a compilation treatment that actually does him justice.Free Music Review: You need to go deeper than this
Hit: 5 Stars
The 5 stars are obligatory - after all this is a collection of great songs by one of the greatest artists of the last 50 years. But if you really love Gordon's music, or are thinking of buying this for someone who does, this is NOT the package for you. You must dig deeper. He's been too good for too long to settle for a greatest hits collection. (Besides, how will you know if they're really the greatest until you've heard the others?) My recommendation would be to buy the following: 1) "The United Artists Collection" - a 2-disk set including his complete first four albums from 1966-1968, before he achieved stardom outside Canada; 2) If You Could Read My Mind (1970); 3) Don Quixote (1972); 4) Sundown (1973); 5) Shadows (1982) and 6) Harmony (2004). Each of these includes numerous songs that qualify as "greatest" but are not included here. This list still leaves a lot on the table (notably his most famous song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"), but you'll be off to a great start. Just decide right now that this is one artist who deserves a little more of your time and money to be fully appreciated.