Category: (Music)
14 new, starting at $28.62
8 used, starting at $28.04
ReviewReviewed by Jw Banis, 2009-11-21
The Box was advertised as very good.
Indeed the box and the cd's were very good.
I'm glad with it.
Very fast shipping to Europe.
Not as good as Volume 1, but what is?!Reviewed by Daniel Sweeney, 2009-03-28
I can't believe all of these "Debbie Downers" that are levying two
stars on this collection! The nay-sayers appear to be universal in
their opinion that this set is not as good as Volume One...which is
kinda like saying Derek Jeter is not as good as Babe Ruth! Volume
One contains indisputably some of the greatest songs ever recorded
by great artists during their peak...how can anybody follow that
up?
That said, Volume Two still has much to recommend it. I grew up in
the 1980s with a lot of these songs and hadn't heard many of them
in eons! Let's be honest, we are bombarded with Volume One's songs
ad nauseum and you can turn on any oldies station and get your fill
of those songs. Volume Two does not have this problem -- I can't
remember the last time I heard "Who's Johnny" by El DeBarge on the
radio, as well as many of Smokey Robinson's later hits such as
"Just to See Her" and "One Heartbeat." This collection fills many
gaps in my collection, and at the risk of sounding cheesy, brings
back some memories for me. Give this set a listen for yourself!
Hitsville USA-The Motown Singles Collection 1972-1992Reviewed by Jane Stein, 2008-11-13
I listened to each disc twice and there were some singles that were mega hits but a lot of the stuff was unfamiliar to me. Motown blew it when they left the Motor City for the smoggy skies of the City of Angels. When the Funk Brothers sound was replaced by the Wrecking Crew so went the unique groove and indelibly stamped signature of the music. The salvation of Motown, post-Detroit, was the OUTSTANDING bass work by Carol Kaye. Did you all know that Carol Kaye was responsible for the incredible bass lines on the Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" and Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Were Made For Walking" studio recordings? Anyway, in my opinion, the FIRST boxed set was the REAL DEAL!
Like watching fruit rot on the vineReviewed by C. Kott, 2007-09-08
After the first flawless Motown box set finished up with 1971, it was inevitable that there was going to be a drop in quality on the second volume. When Stevie Wonder's contribution to disc two is the masterful "Sir Duke" and just one disc later we're hit with the wretched-without-bounds "I Just Called to Say I Love You," it's virtually impossible to wonder where it all went wrong. Closing out the set with the hilariously mawkish "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men is the sadly appropriate death knell for a once proud label that lost its way. It's hard to connect most of this music to the label that once released 'Innervisions' or 'What's Going On' or 'Cloud Nine'.
Not the Motown I Know and LoveReviewed by Tome Raider, 2006-07-10
I have loved the Motown sound ever since I was a little kid. So
many of those songs have added pleasure to my life. A few years ago
I bought the first box set and voraciously consumed it. Every song
there was a classic. I only wished it included a lot more
music.
I recently saw that there was a second installment to Hitsville
USA. I bought it immediately, and I was encouraged by the generally
good reviews here on Amazon. But, wow, I regretfully must report to
you that this set does not have the Motown Sound that I know and
love. Perhaps a quarter of these songs are very good, but the other
three-quarters I do not like at all. They are campy, disco-like
atrocities which in my mind are the antithesis of the earthy,
passionate, natural sound of real Motown. I do like soul music
outside of Motown, but these songs do not come close to even good,
authentic soul music. Most of these are bad disco songs which have
the second-generation Motown label affixed for prestige. Please
don't get this expecting the classic Motown sound, because you
won't find it here. Even the small percentage of good songs here
don't sound like Motown; I'm not sure exactly how you would
categorize them.
The remaining 75% of the music on these discs is of that category
of "Music that I Affirmatively Try to Avoid." If Motown was one of
the pinnacles of modern music, many of these songs are the valleys.
Real Motown was silk; this is a plastic tarp. Again, I emphasize
the synthetic, synthesizer-intensive foundation, with the
pre-pubescent, screechy, annoying vocals. Motown is all about a
thumping, plodding deep bass, with a great guitar groove, and
supernaturally beatiful lyrics and voices. Even most of Smokey's
stuff here doesn't do much for me, and I love Smokey. The amazing
documentary film "In the Shadow of Motown" might have discussed
this period in Motown's history, if it did, I'm sure it is
characterized as the (steep, almost vertical) decline. The folks
who were the subject matter of that film were REAL MUSICIANS, the
best musicians the world has ever known; they weren't a bunch of
beeping, buzzing computers and polyester-wearing prancing
disco-dancers.
I will never listen to these discs straight-through again. I'll
just skip over to the few good tracks. The preponderance of these
songs were downright painful, they represent the worst of the 70's
and 80's. I wish they had merely augmented the collection of real
Motown, rather than used the songs which rode on the coat-tails of
the real (and legendary) Motown.
