Seals & Crofts - Seals & Crofts - Greatest Hits
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.12 You Save: $6.86 (57%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.25 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Seals & Crofts - Greatest Hits
Free Music Review: Trapped on the wrong side of the road
Hit: 5 Stars
Bands and their reputations live and die in the marketing. The Moody Blues could have been sold as soft rock lightweights with a few uptempo numbers, but they did it the right way: they presented themselves as a rock band that knew how to mellow out and explore different kinds of beautiful music.
Seals & Crofts were trapped on the opposite side of the road: these guys knew how to rock out, and were expert musicians with tremendous depth of songwriting and the kind of expansive vision usually associated with art-rock bands like Yes and ELP. But they could never escape their marketing as "easy listening." That's a shame, because they deserve a higher place than history has afforded them in the rock music echelon. The depth of their music, the quality of their voices, the superiority of their sound, and the breadth of their musical range left us some great music, and their Greatest Hits is even greater than the sum of its parts.
Forget the irresistible catchiness of even the two or three most cloying songs included here. "Summer Breeze" is right at the top with all great songs of the last 50 years or more; "Diamond Girl" is as good as popular music gets; and "We May Never Pass This Way (Again)" boasts a chorus as deep as anything that was ever played on 70s radio--without using any words other than the title.
"Hummingbird" and "East of Ginger Trees," among others, are unapologetically committed to a spiritual search, but without the dippy aimlessness of so much of that era's music. These down-to-earth Texans are passionately committed, well-read Baha'is who emphasized such novel ideas as peace, love and understanding.
The real genius of this collection is in the sequencing. While some of the original S&C albums contained a couple of "wholesome" or almost jokey songs (i.e. not the kind you want to hear on a rock record), and any dangerous power inherent in the music tended to be sequenced out, this collection smartly closes with the thought-provoking "We May Never Pass This Way," having taken us through the perfect balance (in the perfect order) of big hits, spiritual journeys, and intriguing side trips.
A proper re-issue would add the huge hit "Get Closer," the Philip Steir remix of "Summer Breeze," and perhaps one or two other pieces, but for a repeatable listen of ten songs that mostly represent this duo at their best, this is an excellent collection that still holds up.
Free Music Review: Their best work is their first album
Hit: 3 Stars
If you've only heard their commercial successes, you've missed the best. So often, a band's first album(s) is their best work. There are two types of artists: 1) those whose non-hits are too inaccessible for all but a dedicated few to appreciate, and 2) those whose non-hits are really good, but just not quite "pop" enough or marketed well. S&C are the latter. Their first album "I & II" is actually the first major release of the first two albums they did. The sound is the same as their later work, but has more "meat" than the pop hits. Its probably more recognizable bluegrass, part of which reflects their religion, part doesn't. They might have lasted on the scene a little longer if they hadn't spent most of their concerts trying to convert the audience to B'Hai (their faith). The I & II double album may only be out on vinyl, possibly cassette. I can listen to their pop hits now and then, but I could listen to the I & II albums every week.Free Music Review: Is There All There Is?
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm not being original when I ask that, but given there were only a few "hits" (all choice), couldn't we be treated to a few more listenable album cuts? Are they being stingy? Are they on an austerity program? If you are reading this, you should know this duo and what the hits were without being told. This is really good lyrical stuff but there could be more. Can I have a second helping? Isn't there any dessert? Five stars for what's here. Next time, try to do better.Free Music Review: Becoming one of my all-time favorite albums
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought this CD as a casual fan, wanting to hear the hit singles "Diamond Girl" and "Summer Breeze". I remember Seals & Crofts' music was huge on the radio when I was a kid in the 1970's. But now, it's as if I'm hearing this music with fresh ears. I believe S&C are wildly underrated: their music is highly melodic, complex and spiritual. My two favorite songs are "Hummingbird", a fascinating song that winds through unpredictable harmonic changes, and "Ruby Dean and Billie Lee" which has one of the most jaw-droppingly beautiful melodies I've ever heard. The songwriting and musicianship on the whole album is of the highest caliber. I especially think S&C wrote the most ingenious middle-eight/bridge sections, like the great "...and I come home from a hard day's work" part in "Summer Breeze".
Why hasn't Warner Bros. released the Seals & Crofts catalogue on CD? This music deserves to be heard in digital clarity (not to mention a lot of people don't have turntables anymore!). It's very strange to me that the band is being overlooked in this way; they were hugely successful. Personally, I would love to hear "Get Closer" on CD.
Free Music Review: Need to hear more of them
Hit: 5 Stars
I want to echo the comments below about this group. I wish their other albums would be made into CD's as well. The music is timeless, and the spiritual message in their lyrics is as valid now as it was then. They apparently have a new CD out named "Traces" that I can only find at the CD Baby web site. Not sure why Amazon doesn't carry it. Guess I'll order it from them and see how it sounds.