Rupert Holmes - Rupert Holmes - Greatest Hits
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Free Music Notes for Rupert Holmes - Greatest Hits
Free Music Review: If you like Pina Coladas, getting caught in the r ain...
Hit: 4 Stars
I admit it; I bought this CD solely for the Pina Colada (Escape) song. To be honest, I never heard any of his other songs before but was pleasantly surprised by the CD. I still put the CD in the player for the Pina Colada song (hence the 4-star rating) but I'm not ashamed to play the rest of the CD when friends are around.Free Music Review: Great songs, great arrangements
Hit: 5 Stars
The short story pop song has proved to be the foundation of an amazing career for Holmes, who has gone on to become an award-winning Broadway show writer and recently turned his hand to crime fiction. Each song is well conceived and arranged, and although very much of an era, there are some superb tracks here. 'The people that you never get to love', 'Him' and the later 'Morning Man' etc. Great melodies and arrangements, and clever lyrics. Having stumbled on Holmes around '79, I'm glad I looked beyond the 'Pina Colada song'. He is a true renaissance man. The only pity is the omission of some of the equally strong songs off his concept album 'Full Circle', which are excluded as a result of contractual issues i would guess? Nothwithstanding, at this price this album is great value for money. Get it.Free Music Review: Rupert Holmes - Greatest Hits
Hit: 4 Stars
Great CD; it encompasses a number of his styles and ranges from the ubiquitous Pina Colada song to some smooth big band sounds. Lots of humor; great lyrics.Free Music Review: the incredible songwriting genius of Rupert on full display
Hit: 5 Stars
Rupert Holmes is truly one of the most impressive songwriters of all time. This "Greatest Hits" CD offers an excellent sampling of songs from his first six albums which span the years 1974-1980--every track on here was written solely by Rupert. Track after track displays his sophisticated & awesomely melodic songwriting, & of course, there's his extremely well-crafted lyrics, often filled with humor, yet often heart-tuggingly sentimental as well. "Speechless", "Less Is More", "Terminal", "The People That You Never Get To Love", the epic "Town Square & The Old School", the regretful "Weekend Lover", & "Morning Man", with its luminous, richly-harmonized chorus, all demonstrate his incredible knack for sentimental balladry. Then, there's his "playful" side which is represented with such gems as "Let's Get Crazy Tonight", the hilarious denial song "I Don't Need You", & of course, that notorious, yet classic #1 hit "Escape" aka "The Pina Colada Song". His one other US Billboard Top Ten single, the dramatic infidelity song "Him", is yet another gem. Out of the 18 tracks on this 70+ minute disc, there's very little to complain about. The disc opens with the enjoyable 2000 track "Remember When", his theme song to the American Movie Classics series "Remember WENN", & it's followed by the nod to 1940's-style jazz on the largely splendid "Second Saxophone". I get the feeling Rupert liked the idea of starting this collection with these 2 uncharacteristic tracks, thinking that quite a few people would be buying this mainly to hear "The Pina Colada Song". On the other hand, to put it a certain way, nothing is uncharacteristic for Rupert--he has a great knack for incorporating various styles into his music. With the music here being so consistently excellent, there's really no need to gripe about the songs that DIDN'T get included here, because certainly you can't include all of Rupert's gems on a single CD. I will point out though that a couple of Rupert's albums--1981's "Full Circle" & his 1994 'comeback' album "Scenario"--aren't represented at all on this disc. Although he hasn't had an enormous stack of regular albums, there are still a huge number of gems to be found--he could easily pack a "Greatest Hits 2" with gems without having to repeat a single track from here. This CD also provides informative, typically humorous liner notes written by Rupert himself. Some of the discographical information included seems to have somehow gotten a tad messed up--"Studio Musician" is said to be from his 1976 album "Singles" AND his 1975 self-titled album--it's actually from the latter album--I don't think it was ever included on "Singles" (which is NOT a 'greatest hits' album as the title suggests). Also, his 1980 album "Adventure" is given the date 1981. Maybe there's a justifiable explanation though from someone who knows more than I do. It's a minor gripe in any case. Rupert did have a previous compilation, "The Epoch Collection", which draws from only his first 3 albums & gathers a number of excellent songs not on here--it's out of print in the US, as are the albums "Pursuit of Happiness", "Partners In Crime", & "Adventure". So, when you add to this the fact that this disc has excellent sound quality, this ends up being a collection that's great both for big Rupert fans and for new/ casual fans--it's obviously not the last word on him, but it's a great place to start--his genius is on display in a huge way on this CD.Free Music Review: My Escape
Hit: 5 Stars
Okay, I am too young to remember when Rupert Holmes was popular. I heard Escape on the radio a few years ago and have been on a quest ever since. My husband surprised me today with this CD and all I can say is WOW! I was fully expecting to listen to Escape over and over again, but I actually enjoyed the entire album. Fantastic album! I just have to add that my 4 year old son now loves the "Pina Colada" song. As soon as we get in the car, he asks to hear the "boy" song. Not sure where he got that, but he sings along with it!