Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971
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Free Music Notes for Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971
Free Music Review: Hitsville USA 59-71
Hit: 5 Stars
Short and sweet- if you are a fan of motown you cannot go wrong with this extensive collection of some of the best motown tunes of all time-all remastered! added bonus is the well designed booklet giving you a ton of info on all the songs and artists-it is a great place to start if you have no or little motown in your cd library---can't miss here!!!Free Music Review: Too much not enough
Hit: 3 Stars
I wish there was a Motown box that omitted the Four Tops, Miracles, Temptations, and Marvin Gaye. Why? Well, because any Motown fan should have retrospectives devoted to all of the above (although I personally despise the Miracles, heretic that I am). Yet there are amazing tracks from lesser-known artists that remain unanthologized or unavailable. I guess that's why they invented iTunes. But seriously, this music should be given to every child at birth.Free Music Review: Motown in Mono! Monster Sounds Masterpiece!
Hit: 5 Stars
The digital age was with us at least a decade before this collection hit the streets and, although other Motown collections have followed, it's still the best around. In the 1960's, monophonic AM radio was king and the era's luminaries concentrated on making their mono mixes as exciting as possible. Stereo mixes were an afterthought, done quickly, and often left to production assistants. Still, until this collection came around, the only Motown available were the inferior stereo mixes, not the ground-shaking mono monsters that exploded from radios worldwide during the 60's. From the massive basslines of James Jamerson, the thrilling arrangements of Holland-Dozier-Holland and others, to the exciting vocals of the Four Tops, the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, and others, this collection nails it! The "Sound of Young America" has never sounded better.
Free Music Review: Greatest box set EVER
Hit: 5 Stars
Motown doesn't get the respect that, say Atlantic or Stax/Volt got in the 60s; "not black enough", whatever that's supposed to mean, is the usual criticism from Rock Snobs. They just miss the point.
This box has the greatest dance music ever made, thanks to the immortal rhythm section of Benny Benjamin and James Jamerson. If the songs don't make you get up, then you must be dead.
Oh, the songs... well you know most of them by heart. You do, don't you? "Money", "Shop Around", "Baby Love"... heck I knew over 80 out of the 104 songs before I bought this. Holland/Dozier/Holland and Smokey Robinson wrote the bulk of them, cranking out hit after hit like Detroit used to crank out Thunderbirds.
As for the artists, it's still amazing that ONE LABEL had the Supremes, Temptations, Four Tops, Martha & the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye. And even they didn't get all the best songs. Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" is THE saddest song in the world and one of the greatest.
Now I'm sure some of you out there are holding back because every song's in mono. Well that's how records were made back then, for AM radio. All you have to do is crank up the volume and be prepared to be blown away by some of the most propulsive music ever captured for the ages.
Free Music Review: Mono, yes, but if you can get past that...
Hit: 4 Stars
I can understand those who just don't want to listen to mono recordings. Certainly, something is lost when you lose left-right soundstage. However, in comparing the stereo and mono versions of the same song, the mono ones sparkle, while the stereo ones are often quite oddly balanced. Many simply won't appreciate this difference, so they might prefer to get a CD with the stereo versions. However, for musical power, these mono masters pack a punch and are a blast to listen to. If you love the music and have an ear for the finer points of musical production, these are worth a good listen.