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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful 
Classic producer of the early sixties, October 31, 2004 By This review is from: Phil Spector: Back to Mono (Audio CD) Phil Spector led a troubled life but in his peak years produced some of the finest pop music. This collection is in chronological order for the first three CD's. The fourth CD is his famous Christmas album, which is available separately for those who don't want the other music.
Phil's first success was with To know him is to love him (Teddy bears). Otther early classics include Spanish Harlem (Ben E King) and I love how you love me (Paris sisters) but Phil is remembered (apart from the Christmas album) for producing the Crystals, Ronettes and Righteous brothers.
The Crystals are represented here by classics such as Da doo ron ron, Then he kissed me and He's a rebel. I was surprised to find that there are more tracks by the Ronettes than the Crystals. Both were brilliant but the Crystals were more successful overall. Still, I can't fault any of the Ronettes tracks, the most famous of which is Be my baby. Darlene Love, who was sometimes a member of the Crystals... Read more
42 of 46 people found the following review helpful What a boxed set is supposed to be!, November 30, 2002 By This review is from: Phil Spector: Back to Mono (Audio CD) This set is a compendium of many of the most popular recordings produced by the young genius. Most of the songs included were hits, and there is litle on this set not to remember and like.Say what you will about Phil Spector: He was arrogant, demanding, pedantic and every other derogatory adjective you can think of. Even given all this, however, one cannot seriously dispute the fact that he knew how to produce both popular and very memorable music.
What a concept the Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" was! He would start with a whole boatload of instruments; from violins to castanets. To these he would then add some of the most beautifully haunting voices ever heard (those of Darlene Love, Phil's own wife Ronnie, a young singer known then only as Cher and even Tina Turner to name a few). Blended together, these would create a tsunami of sonic power. It creates a force bigger than any song, or any band, and truly become greater than the sum of the parts. Tack on a set... Read more
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful Cruisin' Music Extraordinaire, May 14, 2007 By This review is from: Phil Spector: Back to Mono (Audio CD) When I saw the "Back to Mono" box for 20 bucks, I first thought of the barrage of criticism that greeted this set when first released more than 15 years ago and, in particular, the near universal condemnation of the absolutely horrendous digital remastering that marred what should have been an unbeatable compilation. Then I thought, "So what? I LOVED this music 45 years - AUGH! - ago! This is the background music of my life! And a great collection! And I don't have much of it, vinyl or otherwise." So I bought it.
And yes, the remastering is indeed horrible, particularly when listened to through earphones. But if you can pump this music through a tinny 5-inch speaker, perhaps boosted from a '57 Chevy, it all sounds pretty damn fine. So: don't play it on your audiophile equipment: my vintage boom box does the music all the honor it requires.
And what music. A lot of this stuff didn't chart in the New York metropolitan area, so I'd never heard several tracks, but... Read more
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| 31 of 31 people found the following review helpful Classic producer of the early sixties, By This review is from: Phil Spector: Back to Mono (Audio CD) Phil Spector led a troubled life but in his peak years produced some of the finest pop music. This collection is in chronological order for the first three CD's. The fourth CD is his famous Christmas album, which is available separately for those who don't want the other music.Phil's first success was with To know him is to love him (Teddy bears). Otther early classics include Spanish Harlem (Ben E King) and I love how you love me (Paris sisters) but Phil is remembered (apart from the Christmas album) for producing the Crystals, Ronettes and Righteous brothers. The Crystals are represented here by classics such as Da doo ron ron, Then he kissed me and He's a rebel. I was surprised to find that there are more tracks by the Ronettes than the Crystals. Both were brilliant but the Crystals were more successful overall. Still, I can't fault any of the Ronettes tracks, the most famous of which is Be my baby. Darlene Love, who was sometimes a member of the Crystals... Read more 42 of 46 people found the following review helpful What a boxed set is supposed to be!, By This review is from: Phil Spector: Back to Mono (Audio CD) This set is a compendium of many of the most popular recordings produced by the young genius. Most of the songs included were hits, and there is litle on this set not to remember and like.Say what you will about Phil Spector: He was arrogant, demanding, pedantic and every other derogatory adjective you can think of. Even given all this, however, one cannot seriously dispute the fact that he knew how to produce both popular and very memorable music. What a concept the Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" was! He would start with a whole boatload of instruments; from violins to castanets. To these he would then add some of the most beautifully haunting voices ever heard (those of Darlene Love, Phil's own wife Ronnie, a young singer known then only as Cher and even Tina Turner to name a few). Blended together, these would create a tsunami of sonic power. It creates a force bigger than any song, or any band, and truly become greater than the sum of the parts. Tack on a set... Read more 20 of 20 people found the following review helpful Cruisin' Music Extraordinaire, By This review is from: Phil Spector: Back to Mono (Audio CD) When I saw the "Back to Mono" box for 20 bucks, I first thought of the barrage of criticism that greeted this set when first released more than 15 years ago and, in particular, the near universal condemnation of the absolutely horrendous digital remastering that marred what should have been an unbeatable compilation. Then I thought, "So what? I LOVED this music 45 years - AUGH! - ago! This is the background music of my life! And a great collection! And I don't have much of it, vinyl or otherwise." So I bought it.And yes, the remastering is indeed horrible, particularly when listened to through earphones. But if you can pump this music through a tinny 5-inch speaker, perhaps boosted from a '57 Chevy, it all sounds pretty damn fine. So: don't play it on your audiophile equipment: my vintage boom box does the music all the honor it requires. And what music. A lot of this stuff didn't chart in the New York metropolitan area, so I'd never heard several tracks, but... Read more |
› See all 68 customer reviews...
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